Growing up and all the way through college, I studied Latin. I actually have nearly a decade of Latin education trapped inside my brain. And I do mean trapped... as I can't seem to remember a single word of it these days.

Several years ago, Dan and I were at a polo match. We were looking at the barns and noticed a Latin inscription carved at the top and Dan, recalling my superb level of Latin scholarly-ness, asked me what it meant. I studied it for a few minutes and then answered, with complete seriousness: "I think it says something about horses."

Yep. All those years have certainly paid off. Big time.

Now that I'm a homeschool mom and I am easily swayed by peer pressure, I've decided that my children should also study Latin. I mean, I'd hate for them to be stuck at a polo match someday and unable to figure out that the barn is for the horses. Or worse.

So I've begun subscribing to this Latin educators catalog. It has some great curriculum items and some interesting articles. And one of them, I must share with y'all tonight:




1. Keep Your Children Indoors as Much as Possible
2. Never Leave Children to Themselves
3. Keep Children Away from Machines and Machinists
4. Replace the Fairy Tale with Political Cliches and Fads
5. Cast Aspersions upon the Heroic and Patriotic
6. Cut All Heroes Down to Size
7. Reduce All Talk of Love to Narcissism and Sex
8. Level Distinctions Between Man and Woman
9. Distract the Child with the Shallow and Unreal
10. Deny the Transcendent

To put it another way, in my own non-poetic words, the How Not To Destroy Imagination: Make your children play outside as often as possible. Teach your children to self-entertain. Don't buy toys that require batteries. Allow your children to explore new things. Stick with the tried and true stuff and avoid the latest fads. Turn off your TV (or better yet, don't own a TV). Read, read, read. Especially classic fairy tales like the Brothers Grimm. Encourage and nuture your children in their personal relationships with the Lord -- and talk to them about the way He's real and present in your own life.

Creativity and imaginations are gifts from our Creator and it's our responsibility to use them and encourage our children in this. Dream big, for nothing is impossible with God.