We started with Latin first, for no particular reason than it seemed like that was what most other homeschoolers were doing (and it think it's recommended in the WTM & LCC). My dd has studied it for two+ years and I really see the benefits. I've heard Latin teaches English grammar better than English and I can now see it's true. It's not just another language; it exercises your brain and really gets you thinking about sentence construction. Think of it this way ...... if you have a cookie, you can eat the cookie and eating it will tell you a little bit about the cookie, but if you have the recipe, it allows you to delve deeper into how the cookie was constructed. (Are you hungry yet? ;) )Latin has definitely made it easier for my daughter to understand the other languages that she's learning.

We used Prima Latina beginning in grade three. I bought the DVD because I didn't know any Latin and needed a 'crutch'. I would say that it was a good purchase. It gets you used to the structure of how the lessons are presented and gives the child more practice as well. I have the DVDs for Latina Christiana I & II ~~~ now that I'm used to the lesson presentation I don't need them but I still like having them to use as extra review. We really enjoyed Prima Latina! It was a gentle introduction if you don't want to put lots of time into Latin instruction in the beginning. I'd say each lesson took about 15 minutes per day spread throughout the week and, using the flashcards daily, it's a program that gives good consistent review to cement the vocabulary and concepts. Have fun with it!

Hi AprilMay! I'm new as well! I've been homeschooling since my dd was in grade 1. In my area, there are lots of homeschoolers but many are linked with the public schools and use vastly different curriculum than I'm interested in. The WTM board has been a breath of fresh air and a link to like-minded thinkers!

Thanks for your response. The reason I asked is that I'm interested in doing an immersion approach with my daughter in a language. This year she took a French class and a German class where both teachers promised the class would be immersion. Unfortunately they didn't follow through and the classes are now taught in English which is NOT what I want. It seems like many teachers panic if the children don't understand right away and they don't have the patience to wait for the information to sink in. In any case, don't know Spanish well enough to teach it on my own but I do know it well enough to follow a scripted program. From your information on Calico Spanish, it sounds like it would work. Level 2 that is coming out soon is apparently not scripted so we may only be able to use one year of it anyway. Thanks again!

Has anyone ever heard anything about it or used it? ....... Any information would be much appreciated! :001_smile:

Thanks for the look in! I envy your organizational skills! The plan for my dd so far is: Reading: Read-alouds & independent reading with basic lit. analysis questions. Perhaps a couple of Omnibus I secondary reading selections. Writing: Classical Writing Homer A, moving to B (or possibly Beginning Poetry) Grammer: Rod & Staff 6 Math: Aaah! I think Horizons or Singapore (I've been looking at MEP) Every year the Math decisions drive me crazy! History: my brilliant ;) but not yet put together plan that is floating around in my head, using Guerber/Miller The Story of the Ancient World for a spine, lots of books, projects, etc. Latin: Latina Christiana II Greek: Hey Andrew 3, then Elementary Greek French: Auralog (Tell Me More) with various books & DVDs German: OSU German Online Spanish: (we're adding this) Calico Spanish Science: The Elements (McHenry) & Exploring Creation Human Body Art: artist study, How Artists See Series, maybe Jansson's Art book Shakespeare: studying Romeo & Juliet & A Midsummer Night's Dream Music: piano lessons & composer study (2) I think that's it. Wow, it's making me whoozy just looking at it! We certainly don't do everything every day. And yes, my daughter is a language nut. She informed me next year she wants to learn Spanish, Italian, Japanese and Africans (of all things!!). I drew the line at Spanish. It's so interesting to see what everyone else is doing ......:001_smile:

I'm a big language 'buff' and am pretty picky about programs so I tell you what I found ..... Rosetta Stone is good to support a comprehensive language program or perhaps for an introduction for a younger child, but with regards to the reading/writing/grammar area, it is quite weak. I also found the way it progressed was a little confusing. That said, it does give practice in speaking and listening, which is often lacking in other programs. I wouldn't continue with it if your child wants to be fluent in a language but if you just want exposure, it's fine. We used it VERY briefly for Spanish. Right now my daughter is using Tell Me More German and French. It is an immersion program so you have to be comfortable with not understanding everything right away. Eventually you tend to learn the words in context (there are solution and hint buttons that can help as you go). It is a better way to learn, as you don't want to always be mentally translating from English into the language you are learning. I really like the introductory CD-ROM because it is a much more gentle introduction. German does not have the introductory CD-Rom and it makes it more challenging (Spanish does have it). So far we are not finding it is covering 'business' topics. There is a different homeschool version so you have to make sure to order the correct one. Overall I'm pleased with this program. It's not perfect but it's the best I've found so far. It seems to cover most concepts thoroughly, with dictation, unscrambling sentences, choosing the correct word, word searches, crosswords, etc. as well as the listening comprehension and speaking. It is geared towards older children (gr. 5 and up) but they can do it quite independently. One other thing to note: I find the mic picks up adult voices better than children's voices. It's not 'tear-your-hair-out' frustrating but my daughter sometimes has to repeat herself a few times before it picks up her voice.

Hi Jeri, It's nice to hear a 7th grader is using it. We're trying it next year and my daughter will be in the 6th grade. I think she'll be fine because she's already familiar with cases and ending from her other languages, but there's always some trepidation. Do you get a weekly call from the teacher and does she try to speak mostly German with your dd? I think it's $389 per course up to German IV and the higher price is for the AP course. Auf wiedersehen!

Hi Newbie from another Newbie! Just testing adding quotes!

My daughter is going to a small homeschool class and the teacher uses Der Grune Max (by Langenscheidt). It is all in German so you have to have some basic knowledge of the language in order to teach it. It comes with a teacher's book, a student workbook and a CD. She enjoys it. We have also been using Tell Me More Auralog which works well to supplement. I've also heard that German Online at Oklahoma State University is good. German I through IV is supposed to be designed for high school students and it has many wonderful recommendations on the high school boards. We're going to give it a try next year!

My daughter is doing LCII now. My understanding from the Memoria Press site, is that you move from LCII to Second Form Latin. There is apparently a 'bridge' that you need to complete first but if you e-mail the administrator at Memoria Press, I believe they send it out to you free of charge. After you complete the 'bridge', you can start Second Form.

Yes, Aesop A covers one year. Each year I have to hold up my curriculum and repeat, "Remember, I am not a slave to this book ..... I am not a slave to this book!" Hee hee! :001_smile: You can go as fast or as slow as you want, depending on the ability of the child. The main goal is to get them to enjoy writing. I helped my daughter quite a bit at the beginning to give her confidence. We started off doing one lesson every two weeks but mid-way through Aesop B she was suddenly able to handle one lesson per week. We're now in Homer A and I've backed off again to one lesson every two weeks. Although she could handle one lesson per week, this pace is good for us and we like to spend the time on other subjects. Her writing now is very good; I can give her extra writing projects and she can handle them with minimal supervision. It's nice to be able to look back and see the improvement!

You could also try doing one lesson every two weeks. I've done that with my daughter and it allows time for the material to sink in, not to mention it gives the child more time to practice. I would advocate the flashcards and just go over the declensions slowly. If you have particular musical ability, you could try making the declensions into songs. Younger children often learn well this way. As for understanding it yourself, just keep going. I was terrified of having to learn the declensions and didn't 'get it' either at the beginning, but it will start to become clearer as you progress. Hope this helps a little!

I agree with Prairiegirl ...... you make the curriculum work for you and Classical Writing is flexible enough to do that once you learn how it works! Because Aesop A was only about 18 weeks of lessons (if I remember correctly) we split the analysis and writing components up, so each lesson would take 2 weeks. For younger children it seems to work better this way. Our schedule looked like this: Monday: Read model, narrate and ask questions Tuesday: choose spelling words (only as many as you feel the child needs), do spelling analysis on one word, find related words Wednesday: Whatever part of the grammar section you feel will benefit the child. We had a grammar program going concurrently Thursday: copywork or dictation Monday: read model, narrate & write outline (if needed) Tuesday: write rough draft Wednesday: edit Thursday: write final draft Some days took 10 minutes and some 30 minutes depending on the day. As for outlining, I would help the child as much as possible by asking them questions to get them to start focusing on the main words of the sentences. With practice they will eventually get it. Have fun with Aesop! :001_smile:

Just testing to reply .......