We've just been advised that DD (11) has been put on the G&T register and has been offered to do Latin GCSE (!?) in 2 years time - would appreciate a chinwag about this with someone who's in the know

[MadreInglese]

I don't really know anything about the G&T register. We've always known that DD was bright and we're very proud of her but I'm concerned that doing an early GCSE in an extra subject might put her under too much pressure (she can be a bit of a stress-head).

What does G&T mean to you? Do you think it has helped G&T children to have it recognised? Are they all taught at higher levels or just in certain subjects? I feel that Latin is an odd subject to offer as an extra GCSE, will it be of any use (I can only think of gardening/florist or medical use of latin words) or is it more to flex their brains by learning something completely new? DD wants to do it, I'm just a little unsure.

Would appreciate your thoughts and comments on this, thanks.

[katiestar]

I did Latin O level and actually found it fairly easy -easier than French and German.I found it helped a lot with learning the grammar in other languages.

[DillyTantay]

i learned three forrin langs with NO law at all

[snorkie]

Hope she enjoys it .

[MadreInglese]

Looks like DD is all fired up to do the course after a chat with her form teacher, so we've decided to go for it and just see how she gets on along the way.

Thanks for all the advice!

[hatwoman]

read the other posts now - so lovely to see so many Latin fans. I'd love my dds (currently 9 and 7) to have the chance to do it. In my work I read a lot of badly written, badly structured stuff. Sometimes I find myself thinking that this wouldn't happen if the writers had had a healthy dose of Latin at school...

[hatwoman]

I haven't read the other posts so might be repeating...and I know nothing about G&T. but I did do Latin at school and feel that for some kids it would be very enjoyable - it's so beautifully logical and a bit complex - it's more like maths than a language. and it's great for understanding grammar, and language, as a concept. In the longer term I do believe it can help you develop good writing skills (in English, and possibly other languages) - which will stand you in good stead whatever you end up doing. But I do thing whether your dd will enjoy it is the key thing - not racking up early GCSEs.

[GrendelsMum]

If she wants to do learn it but can get a bit stressed, why not go ahead but remind her that the point of learning is for the fun of being intellectually challenged, not to get an A grade in an exam. Or you could even see if she can study the course and not bother about taking the exam at the end.
You could perhaps plan a family holiday to Rome (or just to Chester?) so that she gets to use some of her Latin on inscriptions, tombstones etc?

[seeker]

My dd is very definitely not G and T - just averagely bright - and is loving latin!

[Litchick]

As has been said, Latin is a great mental exerciser...it realy tests logic and reasoning skills, and makes the brain work in ways that are often not called upon.

My children have justed started it at 10. But it is offered to everyone and is part of the curriculum, not just those considered gifted.

[Milliways]

Latin is compulsory at DS's school from Yr7, and he has chosen it as a GCSE option as "No speaking/accent required" and it is "very logical".

[seeker]

My dd is doing Latin and loves it - she's just gone into year 9 and this is her second year of Lain. When I asked her a while ago why she likes it she said "It's not slippery, like some subjects are"!

[snorkie]

It's good for English and languages. It's also interesting for historians and good as a mental exercise. They do it as a 'normal' curriculum subject at dc's school and ds is taking GCSE this year and enjoys it a lot. Dd is in her second year & also enjoys it, but I don't know if she'll choose the GCSE yet. One of ds's friends who is very linguistically talented fast-tracked it and did the GCSE in two years (sat in year 9 after starting in year 8), but he missed an A* by one mark which I think was a bit annoying for him, but still an excellent result.

I think doing a GCSE early is quite a good idea to give you confidence and experience before the main set, but probably only worth doing if you are reasonably sure of getting a high grade. It is considered a harder GCSE and I think 2 years might be optimistic to cover all the work, considering her young age. I'd suggest she starts the course and if she enjoys it continues, but only sit the exam that early if she's really confident of doing well. Could she take an extra year and sit it in year 10 if necessary?

[MadreInglese]

I hadn't really thought much about how useful it might be, but it seems the general view is positive so that's good

[pagwatch]

DS1 just got his latin GCSE and is doing it at A level.
He loves it and it sits with the others he is doing. It is just a good academic subject - he enjoys it in the same way he enjoys maths, logic and puzzle like.
And I enjoy those occasions when he asks me to help him with his homework as I can lie on the floor and laugh.

[susie100]

I absolutely loved Latin at school. It teaches you to think logically, helps with other languages and is generally very enjoyable. Lovely to be able understand latin terms as well, very good for all round cultural awareness especially if you are Italian by background which your nickname suggests?

[MadreInglese]

Music - yes she plays violin

I don't know about resits

[bruffin]

At DS's school they fast track either german or french for some ,they then do the GCSE in YR9 and they have mostly come out with A*s

[mumof2222222222222222boys]

When I was at school we did Latin for a couple of years - I regret to say I didn't concentrate and didn't get much out of it. Even though I am a lawyer now and have a vague understanding of latin phrases.

My SIL who is very high powered and in the city did concentrate and did classics (ancient greek and latin) at Oxford. It has done her no harm at all!

[ZZZenAgain]

If possible, I would arrange to speak to the Latin teacher about it and base my decision on that talk.

Generally I think you could try it. If she is overwhelmed, she need not see it through (however I might not at this stage actually say that to dd).

[undercoverelephant]

If she wants to do it then great. Latin is useful and interesting for all the reasons mentioned above.
Interesting thirtysomething, what you said about grades. I suppose it could be a bit demoralising to get anything less than an A if you felt you were doing the exam early because of high expectations about your ability/achievement.
But then GCSEs are just a passport to the next level of academic study.
In other words, the grade is important if she wants to pursue Latin/Classics beyond GCSE. Otherwise it's just another GCSE pass - nice if it's a good grade, but the indicators are that she'll get several other good grades when she does the rest of her GCSEs.
If she did the exam early and got a lower grade, could she resit if she wanted?

[thirtysomething]

Latin is brill as a general mind-training subject and makes learning Italian, Spanish etc a lot easier. It teaches grammar in a way that the kids don't usually get exposed to nowadays and helps with general literary skills etc. However it's not easy learning and reading the literature you have to get through for GCSE...I have heard that in some cases when children take the exams two years early they may get say a B or a C because they're just not up to the discipline/concentration even though they're bright enough...whereas if they take it at the normal age they get an A* etc - they'd be stuck with the B or C amongst their GCSE results for ever and people don't tend to notice that they took them early etc....just a thought...

[Ponders]

Latin is a good mental exercise, like music - does she do any music?

My son did Latin in Y8 & Y9, enjoyed it & did well, but his school doesn't do any early GCSEs so he had to drop it in Y10 for one of his other choices, otherwise he might well have continued with it (& he does do lots of music too)

[RTKangaMummy]

My Ds is now 14 and is doing LATIN GCSE and he loves it he also did GREEK last year which he also loved

Loads of our english words come from Latin or Greek

[Lizzylou]

I did Latin at school, not to GCSE level though.
I found it always helped me whilst playing Balderdash , as it is the basis of most languages, you can guess a lot of word's meanings.