Latin 1

For each skill instructors have determined whether it is a prerequisite skill or a skill to be developed throughout the course. For lower school, instructors indicate where parent support is expected.

• With Parent Support: Skills that most lower school students will need help with.
• Developing: Skills that the instructor will help develop and emphasize throughout the year.
• Mastered: Prerequisite skills that the instructor is expecting students to possess.

STUDENT SKILLS NEEDED:

• Ability to read and follow instructions.
• Ability to respectfully engage with teacher and fellow-students.
• Ability to read, write, and type.
• Ability to write a respectful message to the instructor (for formatting, see below)
• Understanding of basic English Grammar (parts of speech, parts of a sentence)
• Familiarity with Canvas and ability to submit assignments on time, read feedback, and respond to feedback (This should be mastered more-or-less within two weeks of classes. For more, see below.)

CLASSROOM ETIQUETTE

• Video on at all times and sound in working order.
• Dressed appropriately.
• Sitting in an upright position.
• Focused on class and not on other activities; willing and able to answer and ask questions.
• Have your homework done well and on time.

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MORE IN-DEPTH DETAILS

CANVAS SKILLS TO BE MASTERED

• Be able to set notifications settings to alert the student of class announcements, homework assignments, due dates, instructor comments made on assignments, instructor comments made on individual student submissions, instructor comments made on graded items, etc.
• Be responsible for reviewing teacher feedback, suggestions and comments about student work and employing that feedback as necessary.
• Be able to manage Canvas assignments and submissions (view assignments, check for teacher messages, submit homework as pdf file, submit revisions if necessary, set Canvas notifications for the class, view class notifications when posted, etc.).
• Be able to review notifications ongoing throughout the year; notifications which include: class announcements, homework assignments, due dates, instructor comments made on assignments, instructor comments made on individual student submissions, instructor comments made on graded items, etc.
• Be able to respectfully, wisely and formally engage with instructor through private Canvas messaging.
• Be able to respectfully and wisely engage with other students and the instructor on Canvas discussion boards.

EXECUTIVE SKILLS EXPECTED

• Be able to hand-write answers in complete sentences.
• Be able to write sentences with basic sentence syntax (i.e. capitalization of first word in a sentence, punctuation at the end of each sentence, space between sentences, capitalization of proper nouns, each sentence having a subject and predicate, etc.).
• Be able to spell at grade level and employ course vocabulary cumulatively throughout the course.
• Be able to read material independently and identify questions which require clarification or further explanation from the instructor.
• Be able to type short answers in complete sentences.
• Follow class discussions and seminar conversations to record notes without the instructor identifying specifics.
• Be prepared to generate thoughtful questions to enhance the class discussion, to identify areas needing clarification, and to make valuable connections with other course content.
• Be prepared to thoughtfully answer questions when called on in a group setting, during class.
• Be prepared to volunteer thoughtful comments, answers, and ideas in a group setting, during class.
• Follow along with instructor-led note-taking and record notes during class.
• Follow along with instructor-led workbook completion and record answers during class.
• Understand the difference between assignments given by an instructor and the necessary and independently initiated need for private study of material.
• Be able to schedule and manage multiple projects from multiple instructors and courses.
• Be able to schedule time outside of class to complete independent review of materials.
• Be able to determine the best places and ways to study at home (i.e. quiet, undistracted, utilizing various methods of review (auditory, written, visual, practice tests, flashcards, etc.).
• Be responsible to study at home for quizzes, tests and other assessments.

*Required Materials:

• Latin Alive! Book 1 (Student Edition)**, ***
• A notebook for taking notes
• Physical flashcards are optional, but may be helpful.

*Required texts are not included in the purchase of the course.

**Version 3.0 is required for this course. Older versions of the student edition are not compatible with the course.

*** The instructors will be adapting and augmenting the curriculum as they see best for the learning objectives of the course.  Some vocabulary has been modified and the textbook readings adapted.  Students should know that we will not be completing every exercise and reading available in the book in class. Additional materials provided by the instructors may include worksheets, games, and spoken Latin activities. As such, students should be prepared to regularly print PDF files supplied by their teacher well in advance of the class in which they will be used.

Edward Kotynski, Chair of Latin Department, grew up as a missionary kid in Indonesia, where his parents were Bible translators. He attributes his love of languages partly to his parents’ work and his childhood experience. He received his BA in ancient languages from Wheaton College in Illinois in 2004, and his MA in classical languages from Vanderbilt University in Tennessee in 2007. Mr. Kotynski has been teaching Latin and Greek for the last fifteen years, mostly at classical Christian schools. He loves sharing his passion for the ancient languages with his students, weaving in historical context and modern connections. He has edited two volumes of Latin Alive! for Classical Academic Press and has also been working on their Greek for Children series with Erin Valdez. He is very excited to be continuing with Scholé Academy this year. Besides Latin and Greek, Mr. Kotynski drinks coffee, loves reading, helps homeschool his kids, and plays board games. He lives with his wife, six children, and two cats, enjoying the craziness of life together. ejkotynski.scholeacademy@gmail.com

Amanda Reeves, Lower School Lead Latin Instructor,  has a BA in Greek and Latin from Stanford University, where she received recognition in her department for both her enthusiasm for the classical world as well as her excellence in scholarship. After finishing her degree, she spent a year living abroad in Rome, Italy, designing and facilitating short-term study-abroad programs for students studying Latin through the Paideia Institute for Humanistic Study. She currently lives in New Haven, Connecticut, but as an avid traveler, can more times than not be found in Italy, Brazil, or anywhere else she thinks would be interesting to get to know. It is one of the great joys of her life to pass along her enthusiasm for Latin to her elementary, middle, and high school students. Having learned Latin online herself, Amanda is passionate about distance learning and enjoys integrating traditional grammar and translation methods with spoken Latin to produce the best educational experience for her students. She has taught and tutored Latin online for over a decade and particularly enjoys seeing how each unique student’s personality shapes the learning environment. When she is not exploring the world, she spends her time waxing poetic about the Parthenon Marbles and Stanford football, always with a strong cup of coffee in hand. magistrareeves@gmail.com

Danae McGregor Edsallholds a B.A. in Classical Liberal Arts with an emphasis in Literature and Latin from Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, VA. Danae’s own background in the public, home, and private school traditions has provided her with a unique perspective on the intricacies of each system. She has taught in a variety of education models, including private, homeschool co-op, collaborative, classical, and subject-specific tutoring. Her teaching experience spans nearly all levels of education from primary to secondary school. Danae finds her deepest joy in teaching the Humanities, including English, Composition, Logic, Literature, History, Poetry, and most especially, Latin. Most recently, she taught Latin for five years and served one year as the Foreign Language Department Chair at a private school in northern Virginia, where she oversaw the administration of the Spanish, French, and Latin programs for the school. Danae believes that language plays a beautiful and powerful role in the pursuit of the true, the good, and the beautiful. Whether through reading well-known stories or writing a complex epigram, she is convinced that the study of language offers something for everyone to learn.

Danae currently lives in the mountains of Blacksburg, VA where she enjoys an active and often adventurous lifestyle. She spends much of her time weight training at a local gym, biking around the New River Valley on both road and trail, and hiking on the weekend with her husband. Danae is thankful for the Lord’s providence in her life to infuse her multi-faceted background with greater purpose than she can see, and she is excited to partner with her brothers and sisters in growing Christ’s kingdom through education. dmedsall.scholeacademy@gmail.com

Tyrone Benson loves language and studied classical languages throughout his undergraduate and graduate careers. He holds a B.A. in Bible and Educational Ministry (double major), an M.A. in Christian Education, and an M.A. in Theology. While in Bible college, before graduating summa cum laude as the valedictorian of his class, he relished four semesters of Biblical Greek, received the distinguished Greek award, and served as lead campus tutor of Biblical Greek. Afterwards, while engaging the classical theological disciplines as a graduate level seminary student, he studied both further Biblical Greek and Biblical Hebrew, from which studies he naturally transitioned into the study and teaching of classical Latin.
Although a lifelong student of various disciplines (even as a magister “teacher,” he ever remains a discipulus “student”), Mgr. Benson is currently focusing on the Latin language, particularly its spinal role within a classical liberal arts curriculum, linking language(s) to history, literature, and theology, and paving the path of grammar into logic and rhetoric. For five years, he has been using the Latin texts of Classical Academic Press in teaching Latin out of his love for learning. Having been drawn to Scholé Academy by this very love, he seeks to instill the same love in all his students. Among other hobbies, Mgr. Benson enjoys chess and is excited to teach a new Scholé course in chess this summer.​ magisterbenson.scholeacademy@gmail.com

Computer: You will need a stable, reliable computer, running with a processor with a speed of 1 GHz or better on one of the following operating systems: Mac OS X with Mac OS 10.7 or later; Windows 8, 7, Vista (with SP1 or later), or XP (with SP3 or later). We do not recommend using an iPad or other tablet for joining classes. An inexpensive laptop or netbook would be much better solutions, as they enable you to plug an Ethernet cable directly into your computer. Please note that Chromebooks are allowed but not preferred, as they do not support certain features of the Zoom video conference software such as breakout sessions and annotation, which may be used by our teachers for class activities.

High-Speed Internet Connection: You will also need access to high-speed Internet, preferably accessible via Ethernet cable right into your computer. Using Wi-Fi may work, but will not guarantee you the optimal use of your bandwidth. The faster your Internet, the better. We recommend using a connection with a download/upload speed of 5/1 Mbps or better. You can test your Internet connection here.

Webcam: You may use an external webcam or one that is built in to the computer. Webcam Recommendations: Good (PC only) | Best (Mac and PC)

Headset: We recommend using a headset rather than a built-in microphone and speakers. Using a headset reduces the level of background noise heard by the entire class. Headset Recommendations: USB | 3.5mm

Zoom: We use a web conferencing software called Zoom for our classes, which enables students and teachers to gather from around the globe face to face in real time. Zoom is free to download and easy to use. To download Zoom:

1. Visit zoom.us/download.
2. Click to download the first option listed, Zoom Client for Meetings.
3. Open and run the installer on your computer.
4. In August, students will be provided with instructions and a link for joining their particular class.