Latin For Children Primer A question & need encouragement

[cintinative]

I feel a little silly asking this, and if it has been asked before please direct me there.  

 

We are on week three of this and I am so confused on the way they are teaching the verb tenses. Why are they having us memorize the 1st person singular present tense, the infinitive, etc.  for a bunch of different verbs? Why not just learn the infinitive for all the verbs, and then all the verb conjugations based on tenses?  I think I am confused because when I studied Spanish like 30,000 years ago we learned the infinitive form of the verbs and then learned how to conjugate them. In some ways this feels like that and in other ways it seems they are throwing other stuff in to memorize.

 

Can someone encourage me that this is all going to make sense later? Is this because I am a part to whole or whole to part learner that I am struggling with this??

 

We really liked Song School and I could follow that, but this format is throwing me off. 

 

Also, it says you can get the material down with 30 minutes a day, five days a week. Did you find that to be the case? I don't think my kids have everything fully memorized by the week end.  I am not sure if I should slow it down or if they will catch up. 

Edited August 29, 2016 by cintinative

[ScoutTN]

The four principle parts are what your students will need to know later to make all the various forms of the verb. Not all forms are made from the present infinitive (second principle part).  The third and fourth part cannot be deduced from the present infinitive, so you just need to memorize them. This is just how Latin works. 

 

Yes, it will make sense. Latin is generally orderly and sensible with fewer exceptions than English, by far.

 

Take as long as your kids need to have a reasonable grip on the material. There is plenty of review as you go along. Mastery is not expected in the first chapter something is presented. Review vocab and forms every day for a few minutes before you begin the lesson. Do your kids do Quizlet or Headventureland? The vocab sets are already made in Quizlet - very easy. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 29, 2016 by ScoutTN

[cintinative]

The four principle parts are what your students will need to know later to make all the various forms of the verb. Not all forms are made from the present infinitive (second principle part).  The third and fourth part cannot be deduced from the present infinitive, so you just need to memorize them. This is just how Latin works. 

 

Yes, it will make sense. Latin is generally orderly and sensible with fewer exceptions than English, by far.

 

Take as long as your kids need to have a reasonable grip on the material. There is plenty of review as you go along. Mastery is not expected in the first chapter something is presented. Review vocab and forms every day for a few minutes before you begin the lesson. Do your kids do Quizlet or Headventureland? The vocab sets are already made in Quizlet - very easy. 

 

Thank you for this!  

 

We are doing Headventureland but only once a week. I might need to find a way to fit it in. We also have the Clash Cards which I was just looking at today--I haven't started using those yet and I think i should.  We are reviewing the vocab and forms every day but it's not all sticking quite yet. Do I need quizlet if we subscribe to Headventureland do you think?

[ScoutTN]

Thank you for this!  

 

We are doing Headventureland but only once a week. I might need to find a way to fit it in. We also have the Clash Cards which I was just looking at today--I haven't started using those yet and I think i should.  We are reviewing the vocab and forms every day but it's not all sticking quite yet. Do I need quizlet if we subscribe to Headventureland do you think?

 

 

Quizlet is fast and simpler, but Headventureland is more fun and creative. If you have it, use it! It might be worthwhile for you to sort through the options, though and give your kids some direction. Some of the activities are more useful than others and some pretty rambling and time consuming for what you get in terms of review. I saved it for non-school time. 

 

If you are going to stick with Latin for a while with your kids, it will be worth your time (you know, that non-existent, extra time) to work ahead in your materials or even do a Latin-in-a-week course in the summer. 

 

Latin is a good thing. Totally worth it. Persevere!

[cintinative]

Quizlet is fast and simpler, but Headventureland is more fun and creative. If you have it, use it! It might be worthwhile for you to sort through the options, though and give your kids some direction. Some of the activities are more useful than others and some pretty rambling and time consuming for what you get in terms of review. I saved it for non-school time. 

 

If you are going to stick with Latin for a while with your kids, it will be worth your time (you know, that non-existent, extra time) to work ahead in your materials or even do a Latin-in-a-week course in the summer. 

 

Latin is a good thing. Totally worth it. Persevere!

 

Thanks! Agree that I should work ahead and that I should probably do it over the summer as well. It was on my list for this summer and of course, did not happen. 

 

I have seen so many used copies of LfC (first fifteen pages in pencil . . . ) so I know I will need to persevere where others have crashed and burned. Thanks for the encouragement!!

[SoCal_Bear]

I had a friend who had previously taught and knew First Form Latin and was super upset to be assigned to teach LFC-A at her co-op. She grumbled about it for about the first month or two. When I checked back in with her in the spring, she just loved the program and thought it was a great program. It just took preserving through the beginning. It helps as I look towards starting it in the spring. My kiddo is on the younger side, so I am going to just got slower and just taking our time. It's a marathon, not a sprint is the mantra I am keeping in mind.