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Latin, HELP????
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I’d like to start Latin with my oldest two (ages 12 and 13) next school year. I’ve seen so many programs recommended on here that I’m overwhelmed. I know absolutely NOTHING about Latin or how to pick out a good Latin program.
Can anyone help me with how to pick out a program? Or maybe tell me what you are using, whether or not you like it? What you would or wouldn’t recommend? Anything else that may help?
Thanks, Rebecca
Rebecca,
We use First Form from Memoria Press. It is a wonderful program. I have very limited Latin experience (hymns in Mass), but have found this program easily doable(Praise be to God). Memoria Press just finished printing this set last summer. There is a student text, workbook, teacher manual, test and quizzes book and answer key. You can also use the audio CD and the DVD’s which I would highly recommend.
First Form is the initial of four forms. My eldest daughter is soon to be 12, and she is loving this Latin; as am I. We started last fall and plan to continue through the forms. It is geared at 5th grade and up.
You can look it over at http://www.memoriapress.com
Hope I’ve helped. There are also forums on that site that you can go to and read others opinions and questions regarding First Form. Tanya will help you and you can also be a part of a First Form yahoo groups where any needs you have or questions you have will be answered. I can send an email regarding things I or my daughter may wonder about.
In fact, I do have a teacher’s manual here that needs a home. It is the Beta form; meaning they sent it to me before the final printing was done. So, I have two in essence. If you would want it to look at, I can send it to you.
Take care, and may God guide you in your search!
I feel like a broken record sometimes here, but I’ll recommend it again: We love, love, love Latin in the Christian Trivium. It is a very user-friendly program, the teacher manual is great, there is free online help available if you get stuck, the program is well-organized. It involves reading stories (mostly Bible stories in Latin) right from the start, teaching the reading right along with the necessary grammar and memorization. There is a fictional family that you meet in the storyline, that begins in Rome and goes to Israel and encounters the Savior there. My kids have great Latin notebooks, boxes of vocabulary that they have learned well. They took the National Latin Exam this year and did very, very well. We feel the program has exceeded our expectations, and our oldest has had so much fun he is considering majoring in Latin. I was somewhat familar with Latin when we began, but I had forgotten a lot. I feel a “new to Latin” teacher could do very well with the teacher’s manual, there is a lot of explanation and lesson plans built right in and games. There are student activity books, audio CD’s, as well as the student texts and the teacher’s manual. We have been very pleased.
Bookworm, what age do you recommend starting Latin in the Christian Trivium?
Thanks.
EDIT: Opps…just googled it and found the website. Recommended for ages 12+. I should’ve looked myself before asking.
That’s OK. I’ve started it as early as 10-11 with one son, but my third son, who is just turning 10, is not ready for it yet.
Thanks for the replys (and for willing to be a broken record bookworm : ). I looked at both programs that have been mentioned so far and the ones that Sonja mentions. They all look good. Is there not much difference between them? Or is there something I should be looking for/at to help me determine how to pick which will be better for us?
Languages really stump me! I can figure out most of the rest of the subjects but languages : /. I’d rather turn and run the other way but don’t want to pass that on to my kids : ).
Thanks, Rebecca
Do you know if you want classical or ecclessiastical pronunciation?
We’re using Latin for Children for my 4 th grader this coming year. The same company makes a new program called Latin Alive for Middle grades and up (http://www.classicalacademicpress.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=14).
Here is a good site to browse through all fo the curricual out there for comparisons to help you determine which is which http://www.homeschoolchristian.com/curricula/reviews/latincomparison.php
HTH,
Rachel
Thanks for the chart, Rachel. That helped a lot-nice to see them side by side and be able to compare.
We are thinking ecclessiastical pronunciation.
For those that have mentioned programs, how long does it take to prep for the lessons? How long do you spend each day (I’m thinking 5 days a week) on Latin?
Thanks for all the help!
RebeccaHi Bookworm. I have been looking at Latin in the Christian Trivium for my dd7 (for the future). Did you start your children with this program? Somehow I thought it would be too difficult to start without any Latin background, so I have been thinking of going through something like Getting Started With Latin or Prima Latina first.
Thanks for your help.
Suzanne
Rebecca, our program (Latin in the Christian Trivium) uses ecclesiastical pronunciation. Do NOT however, worry too much about this. We know the “rules” for both, and it is NOT hard to go back and forth. My kids can do it. We just think classical sounds very, very funny. My kids make up sentences that sound funny in classical. 🙂
LitCT has very little prep at all–I read the week’s stuff over briefly and then I study as the kids do. We spend about 40 minutes per day, 5 days a week, now to move through the books at the rate of 1 a year, but we began the first two years with about 20 minutes a day, just moved a little slower through the books.
Suzanne, my kids had one disastrous year first with Latin’s Not So Tough, but we didn’t really learn a lot. 🙂 We had no difficulty with it without much background. My son who is currently 9, though, (almost 10) is not ready for the pace of LitCT yet, and we might play around with GSWL next year, but it is really not very difficult and doesn’t cover a whole lot. It might be a gentler beginning, because I know my current 9yo will have trouble with LitCT right now. I hope to move him into that the following year.
Bookworm, I can totally see my boys enjoying making up funny sentences-sounds right up their alley : ).
May I ask how long your total highschool school day lasts? I’m trying to figure out my eldest’s first high school year and it seems like a lot. Would be nice to have some idea as I plan.
Thanks everyone for the help! It is so nice to come here and get answers when I’m stumped or overwhelmed!
-Rebecca
First Form Latin is ecclesiastical pronunciation with a classical guide in the back of the teaching manual. It takes us around 45 minutes depending on how long my darling daughter takes to finish her workbook. But we are liking the program A LOT. We use Lingua Angelica along with it too; and that makes the lesson take longer. These are Hymns which add a wonderful element of our Catholic Faith into the program too.
Preparation time is minimal. Once you’ve used the program for a week or two, preparation time isn’t really an issue. You get used to the flow of the program. Those at Memoria Press are wonderful at helping with any questions or issues too.
I have been using the Memoria Press Form series with my daughter. She is 11 and we are just a few chapters into Second Form. While I have been very pleased with the Forms series, I am finding that we need to take it slow in order to master the material. Even with slowing down the pace, my daughter greatly struggles with translation. I have given consideration to switching to the Cambridge Latin books, but don’t know how to or if I should switch this late in the game. My daughter has been doing the Memoria Press Latin program for four years. We began with Prima Latina in second grade. Latin is not very enjoyable for her and I think it is because she is so focused on the grammar side and not being able to see much reward with translation. Any thoughts on making that switch?
My son has been using the Cambridge Latin Course. We got the main text used on Amazon and you can access the workbook materials and do the exercises online.
I have a very different suggestion, depending on what your ultimate goal is for your kids. My kids are younger, 10 and 7, but my goal for them at this point is exposure, not mastery. We play the game Rummy Roots once a week. It is a simple and fun game that is helping all of us learn Latin and Greek word roots. And because many languages share these roots, I look at it as they are getting exposure to the base words in several languages. We are also learning some prayers in Latin.
Obviously, this is not a complete curriculum, but could be a simple place to start OR a fun supplement.
Best wishes!
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