You could still combine your two dc in First Form starting this Fall. We are beta testing it now, and it is fantastic. DVDs will also be available when First Form is officially released in the Summer. If you chose that path, LC1 to First Form (which is MP's new recommendation), then you won't be behind in Latin at all. Just another thought. ETA: First Form is for any older beginner or 4th grader who has completed LC1.

Zee, The CW Poetry courses are stand-alone courses. You don't have to go through Aesop or Homer first. I am using the CW Poetry Beginners course with my 6th grader, and we spend maybe a half hour (usually less) 4 days a week.

:iagree:The LC series is indeed designed to lead into Henle. My ds(12) is breezing through Henle after completing LC2. The vocabulary is almost all review--which is very nice--and the grammar is a nice mix of review and new concepts. And I agree that there is no need to start with Prima Latina if you have an older student. LCI is a good fit for a fourth grader.

Kathy, For Aesop, we spent well under an hour. I'd say we were doing a couple of hours a week. For Homer, we made it through Homer A and B spending no more than an hour daily (4 hours per week). Of course, we didn't do the grammar exercises, so keep that in mind. As I've posted all over the place, I LOVE CW! And I don't think that a 5th or 6th grader spending 4 hours a week in a writing class is excessive at all. You can see my sample lesson plans for CW Aesop and Homer on the right sidebar of my blog.

Well, I used CC before switching to CW. THe first 2 levels (fable and narrative) are well done and easy to implement. It was when I got the book on chreia and maxims that I sort of flipped. There just wasn't very much guidance at all. I had no idea what I was trying to teach. Then I looked at CW Diogenes and realized that the level of instruction was so much better. You could always do CC and then switch to Diogenes if it came down to it. I guess I figured that for the effort it would take for me to teach CC Maxim, I could just as easily do CW. And Diogenes really is easy. Food for thought... ps even though I am a big CW cheerleader, I think it's okay to decide it's not for you, not right now. I often think that if my family circumstance was a little different, I just wouldn't be able to do it.

That's pretty cool and reassuring too. We'll be embarking on the Life of Fred path soon.

Thanks for sharing, Kimber. I continue to be intrigued as well.

Okay, I just learned that First Form will be released to the public Summer '09 with Second Form released in beta form in the Fall. ETA: There will also be DVDs available. HTH

If you look at my schedules, you will see that I have them scheduled in for reading practice. I don't use the TMs. So by the time my child is a few lessons deep into LC2, they can handle Cambridge pretty easily. I've done different things. We read and translate. Child reads in Latin silently and then narrates back in English. Trying to break out of translating into reading. Sometimes I draw attention to a particular grammar construct that we have been studying. It varies.

You don't have to subscribe. Just click on Latin Lesson Plans in the sidebar. Then when the choices come up, chose LC1 or LC2 to view and download. My 2-week plan is for LC2, but you could adapt it to LC1. I do Latin only 4 days a week. Another good plan is what someone else suggested: complete one LC lesson per week but add in additional weeks during the Review Lesson. Hope that helps.

Here you go. Minimus and Cambridge.

That's what I was coming to offer. The Latin lessons are in the sidebar. Hope they help. And you might be interested to know that MP recommends spending two years on LC2. Wendy, thanks.

:iagree:We are big Classical Writing fans here. My oldest will be starting CW Diogenes in the Fall.

Another lover of Mansfield Park here. I like Persuasion too, but really loved Mansfield Park.

The good news? That's two years worth of course work there. You don't have to read it all now. You spend 4 weeks on each skill level. That means you have a whole month to understand Skill Level 1 before moving on. It's not that bad really.

They haven't. But I get the feeling that they want it available for use in the Fall.

Here is a post from Barb, Harmony Art Mom, on how she does exactly that.

Wendy, My son is the same way. Henle is a vast departure in format from LC2. My son has done fine with it. But if you like the format of LC, then I would seriously consider First Form. See my post below.

We followed LC2 with Henle and have really enjoyed it. However, I am also beta testing First Form Latin, the new middle school Latin program from Memoria Press. It is fabulous. It covers the material of Henle in a much more systematic way and has lots of drill to master that grammar. The layout is also superior to Henle and will be easier for younger kids. Each unit is introduced by a short biography of a Roman author with a passage of an original work for memorization and translation (ex. Casear's Gallic Wars.) The supplemental book will include puzzles, games, info on Roman culture and short readings. It really is an awesome program. Memoria Press is extremely anxious to hear what people want in a middle school program and have been very open to our suggestions. First Form is for grades 5-8 and the entire series (First, Second, Third, and Fourth Form) will replace Henle and will cover the entire Latin grammar.

Hi Vanessa. I have this book as well and plan to have my 5th grader read it next year when we cycle back to Ancients. Coolidge is a respected source on the ancients, and The Golden Days of Greece is recommended in the Truthquest History guide for Ancient Greece. HTH.

We're up. See what we did in CW Poetry this week.

Here is the Suggested Sequence for Memoria Press's Latin program (including Henle). HTH

Nancy, there are lots of ladies using Scholars on the VP yahoo group.

Katherine, I just wanted to agree with Elizabeth here. VP, as written, is open and go, contains worksheets, and utilizes living books and projects. It can also take as little or as much time as you like; it's very flexible. And as far as settling on a history sequence, you may decide a few years down the line that you don't want a 4-year cycle after all. That's what happened to me. If VP fits the bill for elementary, then by all means use it. You could then spend 7th and 8th grade doing a 2-year World History course before going into the final High School cycle (that's David Hicks' recommendation in Norms and Nobility.). You've got lots of time and options. Just pick what works NOW. One more thing, if you do decide to use VP as written with a first and second grader, please check out the yahoo group. I've got some posts about how Veritas Academy uses the worksheets with younger students. They don't expect them to be able to fill those out by themselves in 2nd grade.

I use these too. I think they are great. They are kind of like the Famous Men books for older students.