Our goal is to enhance the homeschool experience of our students by offering a challenging, traditional academic experience that enlivens the mind and refines the soul. At Highlands Latin we take a Latin-centered classical approach to, as Aquinas says, “ordering things rightly” in the heart and mind of the student. We order the mind with Latin. The study of Latin begins as soon as the student read
s English fluently and with mastery, typically in 2nd grade, and provides a unifying spine for our language arts curriculum. Vocabulary, spelling, and grammar are all augmented through a mastery of the Latin language. Latin study also orders and disciplines the mind. As the mother tongue of Western Civilization, Latin is central to classical education. We are focused on the liberal arts, which are the skills needed to equip a thinker to approach any subject. They consist of the trivium and the quadrivium. The trivium are language skills:
Grammar – the structure and science of language
Logic – the structure and content of argument
Rhetoric – the art of persuasion
The quadrivium are mathematical skills:
Arithmetic – the study of discrete number
Geometry – the study of continuous number
Music – the application of discrete number
Astronomy – the application of continuous number
We teach the Great Books. These books form the literary foundation of the Western World. We read the classics in their original languages. We read and discuss the best of literature throughout the ages supported by the Memoria Press curricular materials. Uniforms
The goal of Highlands Santa Pasadena's dress code is to foster academic focus, dignity, and community to each student. Orderly outer dress and appearance reflects one’s focus and self-discipline.