Comments on: Why Teach Greek?

By: Janee

Janee — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:57:43 +0000

I am really enjoying reading your blog. I’ve homeschooled on and off for several years. Originally as a means to transitions my kids from one system to another while we dealt with issues at both public and a private Christian school. This is our first year of permanent homeschooling. I always liked the idea but could not get it to work on a practical level with my kids. We are finally in the right place to be able to do it in a way that is functional. I had decided to teach them Spanish but now think maybe we need to look into Greek. One other homeschool family in our group is teaching it to their kids as well (the dad is a Greek professor at a local University). Thank you for sharing your reasons for doing what you do. I wholeheartedly agree with your goals and enjoy reading about how you are going about meeting them.

By: Nicole

Nicole — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 18:11:22 +0000

This is a great thread for me right now. I have wanted my children to learn Spanish, because we live in Los Angeles and have Spanish speaking relatives and neighbors. My husband is fluent in Spanish, and is also currently learning Hebrew. I would love to hear of good resources for introducing Hebrew to my littles. Thanks!

By: Tuvia

Tuvia — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 07:40:29 +0000

Sounds really interesting. Our kids are bilingual in Hebrew and Swedish, and we’re teaching them English as a third language (first foreign language) from 1st grade. And whenever the possibility comes up for another language I think Arabic would come in more useful here in Israel. But Greek would also be great… I wish! But I would really need a good curriculum for both Greek and Arabic since I don’t speak any of those languages myself.

By the way, once you get started with Hebrew, we’re available for any questions you might have. We speak modern Hebrew at home, and the kids are learning biblical Hebrew in their Torah-classes. That’s actually part of the regular public school curricula here in Israel, whether you are religious or secular. The Old Testament is our national heritage – kinda our Shakespeare.

By: Casey

Casey — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 19:37:59 +0000

I also just discovered your blog through the Not back to school blog hop. My son is only in Kindergarten this year, but I’ve been wondering about what language we will use in the future. I took French in high school, but have never used much of it. I was considering Spanish because at least there are some Hispanic people around that they could talk with. But I love the idea of learning Greek or Hebrew so they could read the bible in its original language. I think I would love to learn it with them too! And it really is something that they could use their whole lives. We always hear our pastor telling us what the Greek words are and what they mean, how great to understand it yourself. Thanks for the inspiration today.
Casey

By: Rachel

Rachel — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:47:42 +0000

I recently discovered your blog and have been reading older posts through the links in your new posts. I love the idea of teaching a biblical language to our children. My son is still 2 years away from beginning school but we do plan to homeschool. I am gathering ideas and praying for wisdom now. Thank you for sharing your ideas.

By: Laura Hostetler

Laura Hostetler — Tue, 24 May 2011 13:59:36 +0000

Kori Ireland said “so much is lost in translation”. I am in absolute agreement for the reason to learn it. We are currently teaching our children Greek and would love to work on Hebrew someday for translation purposes and it will have an extra benefit of helping clarify some things for themself. I know for myself there have been times when looking up a word in the Greek really did make me understand it more ( meek and quiet spirit is one example.) I suppose part of it also is I have been in churches before where a preacher used the Greek to try to explain away truths that were clearly taught throu out scripture, and expected everyone to bow to his superior knowledge just because he knew a few Greek words. I should not have used past unpleasant experiences to taint my view of this conversation. It is a valuable thing to learn and I look forward to seeing more post on this topic and tips inhow to accomplish teaching Greek.

By: Kimberly @ Raising Olives

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Tue, 24 May 2011 10:47:11 +0000

Hi Laura,

I’m curious that you say, “it does bother me a little that so many are sure they are missing out on some of God’s truths by not reading the original language.”

Who conveyed that sentiment?

Who is putting “more importance on the language than the message”?

Our motivation for choosing Greek rather Latin is BECAUSE of the message.

By: Laura Hostetler

Laura Hostetler — Mon, 23 May 2011 19:51:59 +0000

I love it that many are interested in learning Biblical Greek. However, it does bother me a little that so many are sure they are missing out on some of God’s truths by not reading the original language. No scripture is given by private interpetation. It is admirable to study the Bible and even look up meanings when you are confused, but be careful not to put more importance on the language than the message. One more thing with these wonderful ambitions of learning Biblical language consider translation work for the many languages that don’t have any Bible available to them at all. There are more than a thousand with out God’s word in their language. Keep up the good work.

By: Kori Ireland

Kori Ireland — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 18:36:29 +0000

I am so glad to read a review on this. I have looked at it off and on. We definitely want to teach it, but haven’t done it yet. Probably out of fear. The more I read the Bible and study it alone and with my kids, the more I wish I could read the original language – so much is lost in translation! I want our entire family to be able to truly study God’s Word.

By: Kimberly @ Raising Olives

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 11:30:24 +0000

Hi Melinda,

I don’t have any recommendations for Hebrew. Developing proficiency in Greek is still taking all of our time.

Our son, Matthew, who I mentioned was interested in Hebrew is now thinking that Hindi may be a better language for him to pursue. (He believes that the Lord may be calling him to be a missionary to India.)

I am still very interested in hearing suggestions for teaching Hebrew to children!

By: melinda

melinda — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 08:58:58 +0000

Erin and Kimberly, did you ever get that Hebrew for kids recommendation? I thought I read that you (Kim) used something specific but I can’t find it now. I think I’d like to start some Hebrew…if I can just figure out how

By: Jenny Davis

Jenny Davis — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 01:20:10 +0000

I was thinking of leaning towards Spanish… I think it’s because, not only is it so widely used today, but also because I took a few years of it in High School and am fairly confident about teaching it. On the other hand, I can literally use the cliche “It’s all Greek to me”, because I know NOTHING of the Greek language. NOTHING! It really comes down to a lack of confidence… Am I the only one unsure in my abilities on the subject?

By: 4 Moms Open House: Living Areas | Raising Olives

4 Moms Open House: Living Areas | Raising Olives — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:05:04 +0000

[...] large table ($25 at a bookstore going out of business sale) is where the children work on Greek, handwriting, math and copy work as well as art or craft projects. It’s larger than it [...]

By: Not Xanthos’ School…But Awfully Close « My Big Green House

Not Xanthos’ School…But Awfully Close « My Big Green House — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:29:02 +0000

[...] to GA, while digesting lots of good info from a favorite blog RAISING OLIVES, I discovered a post (http://raisingolives.com/2009/10/why-teach-greek/) concerning how this family was studying Greek and their choice of curriculum. WHAT? How [...]

By: Kimberly @ Raising Olives

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 16:10:14 +0000

We’re teaching the children Koine Greek so that they will be able to read and study the New Testament.

How neat to have a Greek heritage!

By: Dauna

Dauna — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 04:59:03 +0000

Is it modern Greek of ancient Greek you are teaching the kids? I always wanted to learn ancient Greek. Then I married a Greek man (who, subsequently knows little Greek, but half of his family lives in Greece, and his dad just moved back 3 years ago). It makes way more sense for me to teach my kids modern Greek, but my father in law says he can only read about 30% of the Bible because he doesn’t know ancient Greek. This makes me a little sad, but learning both seems way too ambitious for me. I have been once already before kids (and we’ve been married 9 years), but we are planning to go every other year from now on, so I gotta get moving with the kids lessons…

By: Kimberly @ Raising Olives

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Fri, 14 May 2010 00:37:43 +0000

I agree. Who said that homeschooling eliminates peer pressure?

By: John

John — Thu, 13 May 2010 16:35:58 +0000

I love this post. It made me consider how much of our current thoughts on HS curriculum is influenced by the “in” thing. We had said that we would like to teach Latin to our children when they are old enough but that was mainly because that is what all of the classical ed folks do. We were going to add Greek in Highschool but that was a concession to my passion for the biblical languages (I have my undergrad degree in biblical languages). However, that “concession” never sat well with me since we are pursuing a Deut 6 model of education in our home as well. This helped clarify and clear some of the “clutter” away so I could re-examine our language choice in light of our eternal goals. Thanks!

By: Homeschool Greek | Raising Olives

Homeschool Greek | Raising Olives — Wed, 12 May 2010 20:47:26 +0000

[...] arrived in the mail. I know I’m getting ahead of myself. I had planned on telling you why we chose to teach Greek and then how we have taught it up to this point, but these books look like so much fun, I just had [...]

By: Kimberly @ Raising Olives

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:51:04 +0000

Spanish is another language that I would love to be able to teach the children. As you mentioned there are many practical uses for it in our area.

By: My Boaz's Ruth

My Boaz's Ruth — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:22:26 +0000

This is fabulous! I’ve often thought the two languages I’d want to learn the most are Greek and Hebrew (I even took a half year of Hebrew courses; had to drop out due to logistical problems). (though living where we do, I’d put Spanish in there, not primarily for the ability to get jobs, but also for mission opportunities! IT is very difficult for me to talk to half our neighbors because they don’t speak much English — they are primarily Spanish speakers. The husbands tend to have more English because they work out in the “world” but the wives and young children don’t. Inviting them to our church would be both difficult and pointless; I can not imagine they would feel comfortable if they don’t understand most of what is being said. So that puts it more on me, personally, and our children to model Christ and, one day, to be able to share Him with them.

Finally, because of the large number of Spanish speakers in our area, one productive avenue for reaching our neighbors is English-language tutoring.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 21:42:04 +0000

I recommend this self-teaching book for learning the Hebrew alphabet:
http://behrman.powerwebbook.com/productdetails.cfm?PC=6065

By: Kimberly @ Raising Olives

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:40:05 +0000

I appreciate you looking into that for me.

Our oldest son (10) is very interested in Hebrew. We want him to get a little more established with his Greek, but will be looking for something in the future.

By: Erin

Erin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:42:57 +0000

Unfortunately, I don’t know of a program to teach Hebrew to kids. We used the text book “Fundamental Biblical Hebrew” by Andrew Bartelt when I was first learning Hebrew. It’s published by Concordia Publishing House. I’ll email my Hebrew professor and ask him if he knows of any good resources for teaching kids Hebrew.

By: Kimberly @ Raising Olives

Kimberly @ Raising Olives — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:12:12 +0000

I hope that at least some of our children will progress to learning Hebrew. What a great background to have experience with both.

Do you know of a good program to teach Hebrew to kids (especially if the parents don’t have that knowledge?)