mom2boyzez Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 I would like to start Latin next year for my then 6th and 8th grader. We have no Latin experience (myself included) and maturity/development-wise they are like having two 7th graders (FWIW). I might have access to free Latina Christiana I and/or II. Should I start there? Or should I just get First Form Latin instead? The $$ is not the issue, I just want it to be a success. We did Rosetta Stone Italian this year and got about halfway through level 1 and they enjoyed it. We will be continuing that as well. Thoughts? Whichever we choose, I'm prepared to buy the whole kit and kaboodle (DVD, CDs, etc.). Help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 We really like Latin Alive from Classical Academic Press. Level one is designed to be accessible for a 7th grade beginner. All CAP products make it easy for a mom who is learning the language along with the kids, in my experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2boyzez Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 I watched the sample video and it made me want to cry-- like I'd be completely in over my head. :crying: Not a good start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 We like Memoria Press. I would go with First Form with DVD. I hope their DVD wasn't the one that made you want to cry! We used their latina christinia and loved it before first form existed. I found the DVD'S really helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2boyzez Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 (edited) My 8th grader has a hard time with English (speech issues with syntax). I am tempted by the simplicity of Latina Christiana I. I am afraid that if we being with something too difficult, we'll quit. Plus if I have the younger doing First Form as a 7th grader, he'll be able to count it more towards high school. And no, it was the Latin Alive that made me weep! I prefer the First Form DVD. Latin Christiana had the girl with the drawl who said "um" too many times. Kinda annoying. MP has a chart on their site that said I should do LCI followed by FF, based on ds1's age and our lack of experience. Edited May 17, 2012 by mom2boyzez Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classical Katharine Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 (edited) You might also want to look at Getting Started with Latin, for a very slow and incremental approach with one word or concept per short chapter; works well for a range of ages; search here for issues on what to follow it with Great Latin Adventure, for detailed grammar explanations, lots of worksheets, derivative work and English-to-Latin translation; it's perfect for 6th and good for challenged 8th; lots of things follow it well Latin Road to English Grammar should also work for your sons' ages and is more of a notebooking program, with an emphasis on grammar; it has four levels or so, so you don't have to figure out what to follow it with, at least not for a long time Did anyone mention Latin Prep? You might also enjoy this thread on what to look for in a program. Happy hunting! I think you'll have no problem combining your two into one program. http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=357753&page=2 BTW, would you want to elaborate on your older boy's syntax issues? Also, have you done any English grammar programs with him? Edited May 17, 2012 by Classical Katharine add question Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughing lioness Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 First Form I- buy everything. Do it faithfully. Go over the forms once a day, every day. We LOVE it!! We did LC I & II as well but for the ages of your kids I'd suggest FF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aelgraham Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 First Form I- buy everything. Do it faithfully. Go over the forms once a day, every day. We LOVE it!! We did LC I & II as well but for the ages of your kids I'd suggest FF. I am following this thread, as I have a rising 8th grader too. We did LFC A and part of B ages ago-- not sure how much he remembers. So I am wondering... what makes you and your kids love this so much. How long does it take every day? Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethben Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 I'm learning Latin along with my ds with First Form Latin (I have the complete set). It has some great built in review and no fluff. I really like how it teaches Latin. For example, today we had a worksheet using the subject, a verb, and a direct object. There were 12 or so sentences with the same 3 words used in different ways - using plurals, using the two nouns in the direct or subject place, mixing all of that up so that you could really understand what you were doing. It's pure Latin - no Roman history, no little antidotes about a Roman family, pure Latin. I plan to continue with it next year. Beth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendall Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 8 years ago I tried Henle 1 myself in preparation for doing Latina Christiana I with my boys who were rising 5th/7th graders. I was overwhelmed by it and shelved Henle. (It probably didn't help that I was trying to do it late at night with a newborn who would intermittently scream/sleep) I did Latina Christiana I with them in 5th/7th grade, and very poorly at that. We didn't finish the book, didn't get to it every day, didn't do much of the worksheets. In 6th/8th grade we started Henle I. The little bit of background that LC 1(and many other programs) provided was enough to really help us get going in Henle. I learned it along with my boys. I had no Latin and no foreign language background. It wasn't overwhelming. My point is, at least I think I have one:) - Pick something that looks good and doable for you and do it for a year. Then consider moving to some high school Latin program and move slowly. My children (4 so far with varying abilities and interests) have all liked it when we move from a highly forms based program to Henle. Forms are important and we work on them daily and quickly! But they liked it much better when they learned a form, drilled it a little and then translated lots. From what I have seen of First Form and what I know of LC 1, they are mostly learning vocabulary memorizing forms, endings, etc with minimal translation of sentences. A helpful start but my kids couldn't take years of that. YMMV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 Have you considered Lively Latin? You can buy it once and use it for both boys. My son is a 6th grader and is in book 2. He really enjoys this program. A couple of his friends have asked him about studying Latin and he always recommends Lively Latin. They have looked at his book and made positive comments. None of them thought it was for younger kids. He enjoys the history and 'famous men' sections. He does fine with the lessons. At this point, in book 2, he is entirely self directed. So, you use book 1 with a 7th and 8th grader and you don't have them do their own history book...so no colouring. That is really the 'young' part of the program. Well, my son would want to do the colouring even in 7th and 8th grade, but not all kids do. I know that LL is mostly considered for younger kids, but I do think it is fine for the middle grades. If anything, you might get through it quicker. It took us two years to get through the book. It is looking like it may take longer for LL2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2boyzez Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 BTW, would you want to elaborate on your older boy's syntax issues? Also, have you done any English grammar programs with him? He went to PS for many years starting in special needs preschool for speech. Late talker, poor verb conjugater, misuser of pronouns. We have been hs'ing for 3 years and every now and then he'll throw out a sentence that makes you go "huh?". He almost sounded like someone whose first language wasn't English... except it was! We have used Grammar Usage and Mechanics, Hake (which helped but was so time consuming that we wouldn't get to it every day) and Easy Grammar. Admittedly, grammar is not my favorite, so if we don't get to something, that would be it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenniferlee Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 I just posted about this on the K-8 board. But we LOVE Getting Started With Latin. It helps you go through the grammar slowly and gives a review on what the terms mean (in english). However, I think we would be pretty lost doing any Latin program without having done basic grammar for the last couple of years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 We really liked Latin Prep. Ruth in NZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 We're finishing up Lively Latin and have Latin Prep lined up for the fall. It looks amazing, I am really looking forward to using it. It's targeted at kids who are 10+. I think that is where I would begin with an older kid. Lively Latin moves a lot more slowly, which was great for a 3rd/4th grader, but we are wanting to ramp it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughing lioness Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 I am following this thread, as I have a rising 8th grader too. We did LFC A and part of B ages ago-- not sure how much he remembers. So I am wondering... what makes you and your kids love this so much. How long does it take every day? Thank you! It's simple, straightforward and moves at a decent pace. We've had lots of stops and gos with Latin since the house fire and FF reminded my ds 17 how much he really loved Latin- THAT is worth the program for me!! They teach grammar, phrases, vocab, conjugations, declensions--they cover a lot but it's all in bite sized pieces that aren't overwhelming. My 12 yo is moving along and GETS it. The video is about 15-20 min a day. The homework = 20-45 min a day, if you do it every day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgrubbs Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 What about Visual Latin? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 You can make Lively Latin move much faster if you skip the history and famous men sections. We did the program twice. The first time we did the whole thing and it took two years. The second time we skipped all the history etc, and we got through it one year. I have even heard of folks here getting through the entire thing in one year simply by doing it every day, and doing a couple exercises at a go. I was more relaxed because my kid was younger at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melmichigan Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 :bigear: I have The Latin Road to English Grammar 1 on the shelf, but haven't had time to look at it yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 That's a great age for Latin Prep from Galore Park. There are samples on the GP site. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2boyzez Posted May 18, 2012 Author Share Posted May 18, 2012 So I have Latina Christiana I in my possession now, plus the Ludere Latine I accompanying activity book, CDs and flash cards. REALLY tempted by the bird in the hand!!!! Also have "Of All the Gaul" activity book. MP's website says for this age to do LCI followed by First Form 1,2,3 for HS credits. I like the idea of it for the credit with no conversing skills necessary. Would this be a good age to do this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2boyzez Posted May 20, 2012 Author Share Posted May 20, 2012 bump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 We have just shelved Latina Christiana for Latin Prep. I really liked LC and wanted it to work. My ds just did not click with it. We tried Latin Prep and he loves it. It is harder, and it took me awhile to fully understand it, but now we love it and he has gone from low marks to high marks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fritzalitz Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 I am beginning Latin as well with 2 boys who will be in 5th/7th. I've decided to start with LC1 this summer and try to get through that and some of LC 2 during this year, then switch over with both of them to Henle next year. Hoping it works out:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvaleri Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 A couple of years ago, we worked through LCI. I'm sorry, but Leigh Lowe's constant smacking of the lips, rolling eyes, and saying "um" drove me (and two of the three kids) batty. JM 2cents, Teresa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.