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Favorite Latin for middle schoolers with no previous Latin?


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I was thinking it might be fun to do a year of Latin with my 6th and 8th graders next year. Looking for something light and fun but thorough and possibly something we could continue with if my 6th grader enjoys it? They both have 3 years of French but no previous Latin (unless you count the Building Language MCT book ;) )

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We used First Form and that has stood Trinqueta in excellent stead when she started Latin 1 with Jenney which is a difficult text book. It's not a rip roaring good time, but it's not overwhelming. It's broken down into manageable chunks and it has lots of teacher supports including videos. I'd highly recommend it for the year before you start high school Latin.

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I have the Galore Park Latin curriculum (not sure if it's the same one as Latin Prep above) bought and ready to spring on DS circa summer of 6th grade... I love their curriculum for French and English and Latin seems similar.

Ps. I don't know Latin(I do know Italian and a little French). I can totally teach the first book of this.

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I love GSWL, but a motivated 6th grader could rip through that book in 6-8 weeks. We spread it over the whole year in 4th grade, but I don't think dd ever spent more than 15 min on a lesson.

 

I would go with Latin Prep if you want fun. The author is funny and engaging. The translations and illustrations are hilarious. My dd loves it. You can definitely teach it, but I will admit that it has been hard for me to keep up. My dd catches on faster than me, and she has more time to study than I do. I am planning on outsourcing Latin next year. I still might buy LP 2 for myself. ;)

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Would it work to use GSWL and if that isn't "enough" move into Latin Prep? I'm thinking I only want 15 minutes to be honest! We already have French so I'm not wanting to replace foreign language time, more just to supplement like an elective.

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Would it work to use GSWL and if that isn't "enough" move into Latin Prep? I'm thinking I only want 15 minutes to be honest! We already have French so I'm not wanting to replace foreign language time, more just to supplement like an elective.

 

Absolutely, that would work. Keep in mind that 15 minutes was a long day. Your 6th grader will probably do the first 5 lessons in 15 minutes. GSWL is a great intro, though. Starting there and moving on if wanted is a good plan.

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My DS did GSWL in 6th grade, then Visual Latin I in 7th, and will do Visual Latin II in 8th.   My goal was a gentle introduction to Latin (which he asked to study) that was totally hands-off for me, and something that would give him a foundation for high school level foreign language study.   We have loved both programs.

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Would it work to use GSWL and if that isn't "enough" move into Latin Prep? I'm thinking I only want 15 minutes to be honest! We already have French so I'm not wanting to replace foreign language time, more just to supplement like an elective.

I haven't seen Latin Prep, so I can't comment on that, but 15 minutes will get you through GSWL quickly, and no matter what you decide to go with later, GSWL is such a nice, solid introduction. I use it over a year or more, doing it two days a week, 15 minutes or less per day, starting with about fourth grade and taking it slowly, but it could easily be done faster. Once in a while, my fourth grader whips through two lessons in a day, but usually it's just one, and more like ten minutes in a day. My seventh grader is using Latin's Not So Tough, which has lengthy sentences with multiple nouns and adjectives by the level she's in (finishing up 5 out of 6), and we do about two pages a day. It might take ten minutes, and it might take twenty, and occasionally, because kids' brainpower varies in any given day, we whip through four pages or barely get through one. All that to say, I think your plan for 15 minutes a day sounds great!

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Yes you can. I have taught both my kids Latin with zero knowledge, and have used Henle, Latin Prep and Minimus. I love Henle, but for a "fun" year, it may not be the best choice ;)

Halcyon,

Why do you love Henle? How does it compare with Latin Prep and Wheelock in terms of level of difficulty and effectiveness? I also looked at LNM. It seems too expensive. I am seriously considering Latin Alive 1. Henle seems good at teaching grammar from the reviews I read.

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I'd suggest GSWL, then Visual Latin *with* Lingua Latina Familia Romana (including the College Companion and the Exercitia Latina with it's answer key). Visual Latin is fun and entertaining, but also very short. Howevever, Duane maps the grammatical concepts to Lingua Latina. Lingua Latina is a challenging program, but taken slowly and using the College Companion, it can be an enjoyable and effective way to learn a lot of grammar and vocab. I'd aim for getting through about ten chapters in a year with a 6th grader who has had 3 yrs of French, but honestly even if you get through half of that it will still be well worth it!

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Latin Book 1 by Scott and Horn has been excellent for my dd. The text of the book and answer key are free on the corresponding Yahoo group, and the text is available inexpensively on Amazon. Each lesson has both grammar and reading, and every few lessons there is word study. There are excellent essays about aspects of Roman life and culture, and the periodic review lessons work well as tests. My dd (and I) have learned a lot.

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I'm surprised that I haven't seen The Great Latin Adventure recommended yet! This is such a terrific program to use for someone who has had no Latin experience. The instructions written to the parent teacher are so clear and helpful. The lessons can be used for younger children, say in 5th or 6th grade, but can also be gone through more quickly for your older child's Latin program. There is nothing juvenile or babyish about it. This is such a great primer program that really prepared my children well for taking on higher level Latin. You can find The Great Latin Adventure at www.classicallegacypress.com

 

Hope this helps!

 

 

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Listening in...

 

My DS just found out that Latin counts as a foreign language (um, yeah) and is beside himself with excitement to start learning it. We found The Cat in the Hat in Latin at the library bookstore yesterday and a whole set of flash cards (please can we get these, mama? They look SO fun!).

 

I bought English from the Roots Up a couple months ago just as a fun extra, but now I'm thinking he might want a whole program. I like the look of Latin Prep; I definitely want to keep it fun this year. I'm a bit nervous--I never expected this!

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I suggest Latin Prep (solid grammar-translation, fun). Make sure you chant your paradigms to memorize your grammar/vocab. I think the workbooks, while not essential, gives extra practice that's good for solidifying things before moving on. We do a chapter in book, then do that chapter in workbook. There are great free you tube videos from Latin Tutorial that give pronunciation, grammar lessons, and are nicely done. They don't correlate directly with LP, but still useable.

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I suggest Latin Prep (solid grammar-translation, fun). Make sure you chant your paradigms to memorize your grammar/vocab. I think the workbooks, while not essential, gives extra practice that's good for solidifying things before moving on. We do a chapter in book, then do that chapter in workbook. There are great free you tube videos from Latin Tutorial that give pronunciation, grammar lessons, and are nicely done. They don't correlate directly with LP, but still useable.

 

Great to know! I'll definitely be checking those out on YouTube. I found the book and workbooks for next to nothing this morning, so I figured we might as well jump in this year. :scared:

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I wanted to add to the discussion my thoughts on Henle. I looked at it at a fair this year. It looked good. But the type was small, and the book was short and fat. For other people, that's not a problem, but I wasn't thrilled by it, and I knew it would be an instant turnoff to my daughter. I know, I know, sometimes school isn't fun, and you suck it up, buttercup, but Latin is her favorite subject. I'm unwilling for it to make her miserable. So I decided that I didn't care if Henle was the absolute best there is; if it's not a good fit for us, best doesn't matter. I ended up buying CAP's Latin Alive to use after we finish Latin's Not So Tough, and both she and I liked the clean, tidy look to it. It has historic and culture stuff too. I have read that it is based on Wheelock's.

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