The Caesar's English program is a very rigorous program for gifted kids. The intent of the program is for students to begin at a novice level and through effort and perseverance move to a level of expertise.
Why is the Caesar’s English Program used in Enrichment?
Caesar’s English introduces students to a very different kind of studying than they have ever done before! It asks them to develop a different set of skills over a longer period of time to create a "working" definition of Latin stems and powerful words. In studying for Caesar’s English, the initial objective IS memorizing the stem or word meaning, but after that, students must be able to use that knowledge to decode and comprehend words they may not have seen before by recognizing the stem and applying their knowledge of meaning, part of speech, and context. This happens through application so students begin to expand an internalized and individual process for figuring out meanings of words. Students develop skills that serve them in multiple contexts for a lifetime.
What is cumulative study?
Cumulative study is a skill set that is the basis for "scholarship.” To really demonstrate a mastery level of understanding that will guarantee a student's ability to USE the word or stem all through life (when you don't have the benefit of having studied it specifically) you need to develop the skills of interpreting word meaning based upon a very strong understanding of how words or stems "behave" in general. This is a skill that takes a long time to master. The tests are formative rather than summative assessments. Students start at a novice level and over weeks of working with this program, they become experts at language. Cumulative study is a process of “studying” a little bit every day to embed these skills. Students should be studying regularly, not just in response to an upcoming test.
What is the benefit of such a rigorous program as Caesar’s English?
This program allows students to develop an expert level of vocabulary that will be a tool for effective communication and writing now, and in the future. Beyond that, students learn a process of scholarship enabling them to process language to find meaning further than knowing a finite list of stems & words. Caesar’s English introduces students to the discipline of cumulative study. To succeed in this program, students need to develop regular and efficient study habits. This will teach them the ability to use vocabulary with confidence and accuracy whether they encounter it in classic literature or current issues- EVEN when it has not specifically been studied! Sounds daunting, but it actually is often reported by our "grads" as the best skill they learn in Enrichment.
Thanks to several of our students, we now have a website that has flash cards for lessons 1-20 for Caesar’s English level 1! The website is www.quizlet.com. Just type in Caesar’s English in the search and there they are!