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First Form Latin - Urg.........This Isn't Good (Update)


Reefgazer
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Update:  It's been about a year since I wrote this original post, so I thought I'd give an update for those who are interested.  We did find our footing with First Form and finished it and did a darned fine job of it, if I may say so myself.  DD and I aced the tests and feel well-prepared for Second Form.  I really do not like the teacher for FFL, though, because I still don't like rushing through the recitations and so we do our own at a regular human-speak pace.  We started Second Form last week, and so far, so good, although I still do not like that teacher's style.  But we really like the program and learned a lot from it, so we are sticking with the Form series.

 

 

So, DD and I worked MP Latina Christiana last year (6th grade) and we loved it.  DS and I are doing Prima Latina this year (4th grade).  DD and I started First Form today and.....not so good.  The teacher on that video talks a mile a minute and I can barely keep track of what he is saying, and I don't feel that I can teach the class without the video (I am learning along with DD).  All questions in the workbook are not addressed in the video, so you are left hanging for some questions that should be relatively simple. 

 

So, we are going to give this program a fair chance, but if we have to switch Latin programs, do any of you have a recommendation for a Latin program that teaches grammar first/up front and also has a video teacher? 

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I have First Form Latin with videos and Latin for Children. I think First Form Latin's explanations in the book are the best I have seen but I do have the advantage of having taken 4 years of Latin about 35 years ago. Have you looked over the lesson first before watching the video since it may help if you do that. I definitely thought FFL was much better than Latin for Children and Latin Alive which I also have but I could be wrong. My son's school uses Latin Alive. I also have Cambridge Latin which is more immersion style and I did not like at all.

 

This set of flashcards is a fairly quick and comprehensive revoew of English grammar which may help.

 

http://quizlet.com/17966192/classical-conversations-essentials-flash-cards/

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I did look over the lesson first, and it seemed like it would be super-easy - just a review of some things in LC.  We were able to follow the lesson; he just talked very fast and if this had been a whole new ballgame and we hadn't had the benefit of LC first, we would have been lost.  I'm worried that down the road a piece, when we get to truly new stuff, we will be up the proverbial creek?  The questions in the workbook that were not addressed are fairly simple questions, but the answers were not something you would know intuitively or as pre-existing knowledge. 

I have First Form Latin with videos and Latin for Children. I think First Form Latin's explanations in the book are the best I have seen but I do have the advantage of having taken 4 years of Latin about 35 years ago. Have you looked over the lesson first before watching the video since it may help if you do that. I definitely thought FFL was much better than Latin for Children and Latin Alive which I also have but I could be wrong. My son's school uses Latin Alive. I also have Cambridge Latin which is more immersion style and I did not like at all.

 

This set of flashcards is a fairly quick and comprehensive revoew of English grammar which may help.

 

http://quizlet.com/17966192/classical-conversations-essentials-flash-cards/

 

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First Form is a bit tougher. Glenn doesn't hold your hand like Leigh does, that's for sure. But we do like him better. He's much more succinct. And you do have to study the text more on your own. I have no advice. We just work through it.

Maybe just watch it more than once.

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The questions asked in the workbook exercises are in the back of the student workbook. It's kind of like a catechism. The student should be working in memorizing those questions and answers. They are in the tests. MP ramps it up in FIrst Form, there's no doubt about it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

This is helpful for me to read.  My son did LC1 in school last year.  He was able to get about 1/2 of FF lesson 1, but what came to me is that we need to recite the chants daily.  I decided to take more than a week for the first few lessons, so we don't miss something he needs to memorize.  I prefer him much more to the lady with the accent in the LC DVDs.

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We are on lesson 10 this week of FFL. It gets easier. When I first tried to keep up, I said no way we would ever be able to chant that rapidly. Now it's kind of fun to see if we can beat him! 

I agree-drill that recitation daily. Vary it up. Play around with other verbs and conjugate them when you lay awake at night or in the morning. I went through a week when a glance in the mirror was my cue to mentally recite the conjugation of sum. Now it's amo in all six tenses when I get ready to go for my run in the morning.

 

Another thing I did that I am fixing to start both boys doing every week is making a lesson card, which is nothing more than the pertinent points of the lesson on a 4 by 6 lined index card that is spiral bound at the top. The card holds the lesson number, the saying, the grammar form, an example of that grammar form, an example of the translation of that grammar form and all new vocabulary, as well as anything that is useful for memory, or a rule-like how to find the perfect stem, for example. It does all fit. Then you have a ready, easy, fast way to review a lesson whenever you want without dragging everything out.

 

ETA: We watch each lesson twice.

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Boy, am I glad to see this thread! I've been a bit overwhelmed with First Form since we started it this year.

 

We completed Getting Started with Latin last year and we all LOVED it! As a gentle introduction, it was perfect.

 

First Form is proving to be a true nuts-and-bolts Latin program. (Read: way harder!)

 

After a few false starts with First Form over the past few weeks, I've decided that I need to spend more time familiarizing myself with the many components of the kit that I bought. This is no open-and-go program; at least it hasn't been so far. Maybe once we get past Lesson One, I'll have a better outlook. :tongue_smilie:

 

 

 

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KrissaK nailed it. Check the grammar stuff in the back of the Student Workbook (the #s are usually referenced in the Teacher Manual). There is also sometimes stuff in the back of the little student text (sentence forms?) that they need to go through. I think I wrote in her Student Text on the lessons she needed to reference the sentence diagramming forms in the back. I wish it didn't have all those pieces & parts to it, but it is thorough.

 

There is a lot of info in the front part on how to keep the vocab fresh (pop quizzes that aren't included in the program) & extra work they just expect you to do without laying it out in the program explicitly - other than the intro materials or in the back of the book. 

 

I did most of FFL with dd#1 last year (skipped out on the last 6 lessons or so). She's doing the online class for Second Form this year.

The DVD teacher is great - but MAN, he does go fast. You get more used to him & how quickly he goes the further you get into the program. But your concern was the same as mine when we started out. Thank goodness we'd done LC1 because otherwise we'd be LOST! You'll be ok!

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Very, very helpful thread. Thank you all so much. I've been waiting for this conversation for awhile -- knowing it would just take some experienced hs'ers to use it, review it, tweak it, and tell the rest of us what they did. :D

My eldest children went straight from LC to Henle but I have been considering FFL for the upcoming students who seem to need more of a bridge. All of my questions have been addressed in this thread so I think we'll go ahead.

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This is what I've found after a few weeks in.  Now that I know we have to pay close attention to the text and not rely on the video teacher so much, it is going much better.

irst Form is a bit tougher. Glenn doesn't hold your hand like Leigh does, that's for sure. But we do like him better. He's much more succinct. And you do have to study the text more on your own. I have no advice. We just work through it.

 

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I really hate the quickness of the chants, and I don't see the point in attempting to talk as fast as a disclaimer in a pharmaceutical ad.  I kind of just ignore the recitation because I am uninclined to attempt that fast speech.  We do recitations, but not that fast.  I'm not sure I see the point in talking as fast as humanly possible.  But I like the program much more than I did at the beginning, anyway.  I don't really like the video teacher in FFL, though.

We are on lesson 10 this week of FFL. It gets easier. When I first tried to keep up, I said no way we would ever be able to chant that rapidly. Now it's kind of fun to see if we can beat him! 

I agree-drill that recitation daily. Vary it up. Play around with other verbs and conjugate them when you lay awake at night or in the morning. I went through a week when a glance in the mirror was my cue to mentally recite the conjugation of sum. Now it's amo in all six tenses when I get ready to go for my run in the morning.

 

Another thing I did that I am fixing to start both boys doing every week is making a lesson card, which is nothing more than the pertinent points of the lesson on a 4 by 6 lined index card that is spiral bound at the top. The card holds the lesson number, the saying, the grammar form, an example of that grammar form, an example of the translation of that grammar form and all new vocabulary, as well as anything that is useful for memory, or a rule-like how to find the perfect stem, for example. It does all fit. Then you have a ready, easy, fast way to review a lesson whenever you want without dragging everything out.

 

ETA: We watch each lesson twice.

 

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DD didn't like him at first, but he grew on her. I didn't like him before we started, but I did after a couple of lessons. So, he grew on me much quicker. I was sad to find out that he was only the video teacher for FFL & SFL, not 3rd or 4th Form.

 

He definitely doesn't cover everything. In fact, one of the first thing he tells you is that he isn't going to cover the vocab. You're on your own for that. It seems to me that Memoria Press is assuming older kids will use the Forms & they are giving less help than in the PL & LC series from a video perspective. Or perhaps they just think they don't need to spell out the vocab because they already have the info in the text & on the audio CD. . . 

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We do both fast chants and slower ones. When we do the chant with the instructor it's fun to go fast. It sort of energizes the whole thing. Makes it less dull and more like a game. Wakes my very verbal boys up. That's our reason for trying to keep up or beat him. Sometimes we can't and it turns into giggles. That's all good for us.

If I'm asking for a recitation I go slower. I will often vary things. I will preface the recitation by asking for the tense before we just sail off into it. This is more useful particularly if I am doing an oral drill and want them to focus on the translations. 

 

Basically both types of chants have value for us.

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DD and I did MP's LC program as well (5th), and we really liked it. However, we were having some of the same problems you are with FFL this year. The instructor goes way too fast and the workload is much heavier. My DD went from enjoying Latin to dreading it.

 

So here's what I did. Since I had already purchased Visual Latin 1 as a supplement, I just switched DD over to that. She LOVES the instructor and the worksheets are short but concise and more importantly, she's getting it. Once we finish VL2, we'll try FFL again.

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I'm not having any problems with both kids in MP Second Form and last year with First Form went great as well.

 

I decided I just can't do Latin with them and have them move at a pace that was reasonable.  I'm ok with that.  I have other skills  ;)

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First Form is a definite adjustment after doing Prima & Latina C. But, it's solid and you will have the grammar forms down cold with this program. I had to sit down with all the pieces and work out a schedule so we were doing plenty of drill. Here's what we've ended up with:

 

Day 1 - DVD, workbook pages 1 & 4, quiz the vocab drill

Day 2-  Teach the lesson from the manual, listen & recite with the CD, workbook page 2

Day 3 - Grammar Questions, vocab flashcards, and workbook page 3

Day 4 - grammar forms recitation with flashcards, vocab drill, workbook pages 5 & 6

Day 5 - Latin sayings flashcards, oral drill, quiz

 

It helps too if I can at least study the lesson a week ahead and look over the workbook pages. I'm seriously considering getting a second workbook (for me!) when we get to second form Latin.

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First Form is a definite adjustment after doing Prima & Latina C. But, it's solid and you will have the grammar forms down cold with this program. I had to sit down with all the pieces and work out a schedule so we were doing plenty of drill. Here's what we've ended up with:

 

Day 1 - DVD, workbook pages 1 & 4, quiz the vocab drill

Day 2-  Teach the lesson from the manual, listen & recite with the CD, workbook page 2

Day 3 - Grammar Questions, vocab flashcards, and workbook page 3

Day 4 - grammar forms recitation with flashcards, vocab drill, workbook pages 5 & 6

Day 5 - Latin sayings flashcards, oral drill, quiz

 

It helps too if I can at least study the lesson a week ahead and look over the workbook pages. I'm seriously considering getting a second workbook (for me!) when we get to second form Latin.

 

They recommend getting a second workbook -- and I did for First Form. I started early & stayed mostly ahead of dd#1 until the last 12 weeks or so. For awhile, I was neck-and-neck with her, but I finally burned out & didn't finish the last 6 or so lessons. I signed her up for the online class this year so I wouldn't have to keep up. But, as it happens, I do have to keep up in a way because they don't do a ton of teaching (at least I haven't noticed that they do). This is a great schedule, Tonia. Thanks for posting it. (I think I read in the SFL book that the vocab quiz is meant to be used after you do the workbook pages, but I could be wrong. So, we did the grammar questions from the back on Day 1 & the vocab drill -- when we fit it in -- on Day 4.)

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Perhaps this is where I am making my mistake.  I watch the DVD with DD and then we set out and do the worksheets.  We are learning together, so we each have a workbook and take the quizzes together.  But you watch the DVD and then review the lesson in the workbook, correct?  I haven't actually "taught" from the text, but I will start doing that.  We are doing very well on the quizzes, though (all 90s), so maybe it will be OK in the long run.  We haven't had our first test yet.

First Form is a definite adjustment after doing Prima & Latina C. But, it's solid and you will have the grammar forms down cold with this program. I had to sit down with all the pieces and work out a schedule so we were doing plenty of drill. Here's what we've ended up with:

 

Day 1 - DVD, workbook pages 1 & 4, quiz the vocab drill

Day 2-  Teach the lesson from the manual, listen & recite with the CD, workbook page 2

Day 3 - Grammar Questions, vocab flashcards, and workbook page 3

Day 4 - grammar forms recitation with flashcards, vocab drill, workbook pages 5 & 6

Day 5 - Latin sayings flashcards, oral drill, quiz

 

It helps too if I can at least study the lesson a week ahead and look over the workbook pages. I'm seriously considering getting a second workbook (for me!) when we get to second form Latin.

 

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There is sometimes something in the TM that isn't "taught" int the DVD lesson. It also tells you which grammar questions to review in the back of the student workbook each lesson. Do make sure to also review the lesson in the student text as there is grammar stuff in the back that is crucial!

 

I found that I almost always aced the quizzes (including the bonus questions) but did not do as well on the tests. The tests stretched me much more. In fact, DD & I both got a 89% on the first test. I adjusted my (and dd's) studying and our grades were mostly mid-90s and up from then on.

 

Perhaps this is where I am making my mistake.  I watch the DVD with DD and then we set out and do the worksheets.  We are learning together, so we each have a workbook and take the quizzes together.  But you watch the DVD and then review the lesson in the workbook, correct?  I haven't actually "taught" from the text, but I will start doing that.  We are doing very well on the quizzes, though (all 90s), so maybe it will be OK in the long run.  We haven't had our first test yet.

 

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They recommend getting a second workbook -- and I did for First Form. I started early & stayed mostly ahead of dd#1 until the last 12 weeks or so. For awhile, I was neck-and-neck with her, but I finally burned out & didn't finish the last 6 or so lessons. I signed her up for the online class this year so I wouldn't have to keep up. But, as it happens, I do have to keep up in a way because they don't do a ton of teaching (at least I haven't noticed that they do). This is a great schedule, Tonia. Thanks for posting it. (I think I read in the SFL book that the vocab quiz is meant to be used after you do the workbook pages, but I could be wrong. So, we did the grammar questions from the back on Day 1 & the vocab drill -- when we fit it in -- on Day 4.)

 

I believe it's the oral drill that's supposed to be before the quiz. The vocab drill is another of those sections in the back of the student book, after the grammar questions.

 

 

Perhaps this is where I am making my mistake.  I watch the DVD with DD and then we set out and do the worksheets.  We are learning together, so we each have a workbook and take the quizzes together.  But you watch the DVD and then review the lesson in the workbook, correct?  I haven't actually "taught" from the text, but I will start doing that.  We are doing very well on the quizzes, though (all 90s), so maybe it will be OK in the long run.  We haven't had our first test yet.

 

Yes, I do both. On day one we watch the DVD (I have the teacher's book open to that lesson so I can read and take notes). The next day I present the full lesson from the teacher's manual, following the numbers. 1 - oral recitation/review, 2 - Latin saying, 3 - vocab, etc. I think it helps us both. The DVD is sort of our 'introduction' to the week's material. Then the next day we dig into the lesson and discuss, write out conjugations on the white board, recite, etc.

 

Doing a little bit every day and constantly reviewing/reciting is really helping.

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Doing a little bit every day and constantly reviewing/reciting is really helping.

This. We all recite amo in all 6 tenses every day and then the run-down of the declensions. One thing I do wish, is that the workbook was a bit more spiral in its approach. One or two sentence translations each day would be nice, instead if just one day writing the vocab words and then one day having a dozen translations. That's one thing my boys really struggle with is translating a sentence with an adjective or two and a direct object. That takes time and it takes a lot of time doing a lot. Then it just becomes drudgery. I suppose I could go through their workbook and divide up the exercises, but that would be more work for me.

 

Still, DS finished the final exam for First Form on Friday and he passed. I am curious as to how Highlands runs that class because that test was a doozy. I suppose we could spend more time studying, but he is only a 6th grade boy and we do have other subjects.

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I do need to add, that finishing First Form Latin was a huge accomplishment. dS1 finished it last Friday. He passed his test with a 75%. And today, he did something he has never done before. He asked for a ceremony to start Second Form Latin. It was kind of funny, and I "Bestowed Upon Him" each book with great fanfare, granting him "all the rights and privileges thereof...". It was funny, but it made me realize how significant it was to him to have made it through that course.

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I do need to add, that finishing First Form Latin was a huge accomplishment. dS1 finished it last Friday. He passed his test with a 75%. And today, he did something he has never done before. He asked for a ceremony to start Second Form Latin. It was kind of funny, and I "Bestowed Upon Him" each book with great fanfare, granting him "all the rights and privileges thereof...". It was funny, but it made me realize how significant it was to him to have made it through that course.

 

:party:

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Still, DS finished the final exam for First Form on Friday and he passed. I am curious as to how Highlands runs that class because that test was a doozy. I suppose we could spend more time studying, but he is only a 6th grade boy and we do have other subjects.

 

I noticed from your sig that your 4th grader, ds#2, is doing First Form. Is he taking it slower than you went with ds#1 or about the same speed? Just curious as I'll have one on the young side next year (dd#3), possibly, doing FFL along with dd#2.

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I noticed from your sig that your 4th grader, ds#2, is doing First Form. Is he taking it slower than you went with ds#1 or about the same speed? Just curious as I'll have one on the young side next year (dd#3), possibly, doing FFL along with dd#2.

He's not in 4th grade. Oops! When I re-did my siggy I must have neglected to change his grade. My 6th grader just started 2nd Form (took him over a year to complete First Form), my second son is in 5th grade and is in lesson 8 of First Form and my daughter is in 3rd and started Prima Latina this year. Sorry about that.
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Thanks again for all the helpful info.  We are only on L2 right now.

 

I've decided to start DS2 on Prima in January and take him through Prima, LC1 and LC2 before he gets to FF.

 

I think LC2 would be redundant before FF. In fact MP publishes a free "bridge" unit for kids who have done both LC books to go directly into Second Form rather than First. The kids in my class did Prima and LC1 before moving into FF with no problem.

 

In case you are planning that far ahead . . .

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Thanks again for all the helpful info.  We are only on L2 right now.

 

I've decided to start DS2 on Prima in January and take him through Prima, LC1 and LC2 before he gets to FF.

 

Agreeing that you might not want to do LC2. The Forms series is set up completely different, as evidenced by this thread, but it is better than the LC books, IMO, in its depth & amount of practice.

 

However, if you do decide to do LC2, I'd probably still do FFL instead of the bridge & going right into SFL because it is so helpful to understand the format of the program. SFL ramps it up another notch, IMO, from FFL. If you haven't already, you really have to start using a method for attacking translations rather than just relying on your memory and gut feel (like I had been doing at the end of FFL) to get through them.

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If you haven't already, you really have to start using a method for attacking translations rather than just relying on your memory and gut feel (like I had been doing at the end of FFL) to get through them.

Could you please explain what you mean. Do you mean, like, methodically finding the verb first and dealing with that, then the subject, etc.? We're doing pretty good with all the rest, the memorizing, etc. but it is the translations that are tough. And the walls of our school room are covered with declension charts and conjugation charts. Yes, we memorize all that, but when it comes to translation work.... We all need the charts. I did find a website that provides worksheets with extra translations that supposedly correspond with the lessons in the Form Series (can't think of it right now), but it just seems like more work. And yes, translating is work, but I'd like something a little more interesting than "The soldiers attacked the town." and a bunch of other random sentences. I've done a cursory search for some easy Latin readers for the kids to use and translate, and actually found some, but I'm not exactly sure what level they are for.

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Could you please explain what you mean. Do you mean, like, methodically finding the verb first and dealing with that, then the subject, etc.?

 

Yes. That's what I mean. DD's online teacher for Second Form gives them a multi-step process to go through which starts with finding the verb, then the subject, etc. just like you said.

 

The Forms series seems to have a limited vocab (compared to some of the other programs), possibly because it is based on Henle's limited vocab, and that limits the sentences you can make somewhat.

 

I've seen some people add a second program that is more translation-oriented vs. grammar oriented, but not usually to MP's Latin, unless it is the religious/song-oriented one MP sells. Perhaps someone can suggest an appropriate translation supplement? (I found a couple Spanish ones, but haven't looked for any Latin ones because the work in Forms is enough for us.)

 

ETA:  I found where at least one person supplements with Visual Latin. You can get the PDFs for free, I think. There is a lot more translation work in those lessons and they are reputed to be funny sentences although I have not seen them personally. They recommend some free readers & even show where they recommend starting them:

 

There are many public domain readers. We provide some of them as free downloads at Compassclassroom.com. HereĂ¢â‚¬â„¢s how they match up with Visual Latin:
Add Cornelia after lesson 21
Add Ora Maritima after lesson 37
Add Fabulae Faciles after lesson 45
Add De America after lesson 55
Add Puer Romanus after lesson 57
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I think LC2 would be redundant before FF. In fact MP publishes a free "bridge" unit for kids who have done both LC books to go directly into Second Form rather than First. The kids in my class did Prima and LC1 before moving into FF with no problem.

 

In case you are planning that far ahead . . .

Ok.  Thank you.  I didn't realize that.  Actually I like that even better, because then we can take our time.  I'd rather take our time with such a foreign subject than go too fast at first and miss important concepts.  DS1 is taking two weeks for the FFL lessons right now.  I have a feeling it'll speed up later, but I want to make sure he gets the vocab memorized and conjugations down.

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Ok.  Thank you.  I didn't realize that.  Actually I like that even better, because then we can take our time.  I'd rather take our time with such a foreign subject than go too fast at first and miss important concepts.  DS1 is taking two weeks for the FFL lessons right now.  I have a feeling it'll speed up later, but I want to make sure he gets the vocab memorized and conjugations down.

 

Actually, I would be surprised if you decided to speed it up too much. You just keep layering and layering more vocab & grammar and it takes a lot of review (for us, at least) to keep it all in your head. I found that the further along we went, the longer it took us to complete (some of) the lessons. Part of that was the vocab & part was that the translations became more complex (verb tense & declension-wise).

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Actually, I would be surprised if you decided to speed it up too much. You just keep layering and layering more vocab & grammar and it takes a lot of review (for us, at least) to keep it all in your head. I found that the further along we went, the longer it took us to complete (some of) the lessons. Part of that was the vocab & part was that the translations became more complex (verb tense & declension-wise).

Thank you again.  I'm much more interested in him acquiring the knowledge than rushing through it.  We stretch our school year out, to allow for taking longer with subjects like this.  :)

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Actually, I would be surprised if you decided to speed it up too much. You just keep layering and layering more vocab & grammar and it takes a lot of review (for us, at least) to keep it all in your head. I found that the further along we went, the longer it took us to complete (some of) the lessons. Part of that was the vocab & part was that the translations became more complex (verb tense & declension-wise).

I would agree with that. While my kids have an incredible amount of information committed to memory, it's a huge mental exercise to translate a sentence. As I said before, we have the charts up all over the room and use them. I guess we are all visual learners. Latin as a language is so different than English in the way it is structured that you can't just substitute one word for another and call it good. It's taken my 46 year old brain a while just to wrap my mind around that idea and then to have to put it into practice.... oi vey!
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I've seen some people add a second program that is more translation-oriented vs. grammar oriented, but not usually to MP's Latin, unless it is the religious/song-oriented one MP sells. Perhaps someone can suggest an appropriate translation supplement? (I found a couple Spanish ones, but haven't looked for any Latin ones because the work in Forms is enough for us.)

 

ETA: I found where at least one person supplements with Visual Latin. You can get the PDFs for free, I think. There is a lot more translation work in those lessons and they are reputed to be funny sentences although I have not seen them personally. They recommend some free readers & even show where they recommend starting them:

 

There are many public domain readers. We provide some of them as free downloads at Compassclassroom.com. HereĂ¢â‚¬â„¢s how they match up with Visual Latin:

Add Cornelia after lesson 21

Add Ora Maritima after lesson 37

Add Fabulae Faciles after lesson 45

Add De America after lesson 55

Add Puer Romanus after lesson 57

Thanks for adding this. I'm going to check it out!
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Have you checked out the Lingua Angelica Program from Memoria Press? It is a beautiful collection of songs and prayers that are meant to be used as a translation complement to Memoria Press Latin. The teacher's guide has a coordinated schedule that goes with the books. It incorporates what is being learned in the grammar and vocab into the translations in a very manageable way. The songs and prayers are also on a cd.

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I'm so glad we're not the only ones who have to squeeze our eyes shut tight and really concentrate to translate a simple sentence, LOL!  I thought there was something wrong with us!  And DD and I both think it is much harder to translate from English to Latin than vice versa.

I would agree with that. While my kids have an incredible amount of information committed to memory, it's a huge mental exercise to translate a sentence. As I said before, we have the charts up all over the room and use them. I guess we are all visual learners. Latin as a language is so different than English in the way it is structured that you can't just substitute one word for another and call it good. It's taken my 46 year old brain a while just to wrap my mind around that idea and then to have to put it into practice.... oi vey!

 

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I'm so glad we're not the only ones who have to squeeze our eyes shut tight and really concentrate to translate a simple sentence, LOL! I thought there was something wrong with us! And DD and I both think it is much harder to translate from English to Latin than vice versa.

Oh yeah! I'd much rather translate from Latin to English. I don't know why it is so hard the other way!
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So, DD and I worked MP Latina Christiana last year (6th grade) and we loved it.  DS and I are doing Prima Latina this year (4th grade).  DD and I started First Form today and.....not so good.  The teacher on that video talks a mile a minute and I can barely keep track of what he is saying, and I don't feel that I can teach the class without the video (I am learning along with DD).  All questions in the workbook are not addressed in the video, so you are left hanging for some questions that should be relatively simple. 

 

So, we are going to give this program a fair chance, but if we have to switch Latin programs, do any of you have a recommendation for a Latin program that teaches grammar first/up front and also has a video teacher? 

 

Lively Latin has video lessons on the website. Magistra explains grammar well, imo.

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