GSWL is inexpensive and awesome. Less than $20 on Amazon, or $9.99 for Kindle version (which you can use in a cloud reader if you don't have a Kindle). You don't need anything else. And the recordings are free, as PP mentioned. I highly recommend it, even for young kids. I did it with my DS @ 6 (now 10), and with my DD @ 6 (now 7). Worked like a charm for both. Streamlined, inexpensive, easy peasy to implement.

Lingua Latina!!! Ok, I know that doesn't sound "teeny tiny". But just do a teeny tiny part of it. Aim to read just the first two or three chapters over the course of the year. Read and reread and reread, and you will find yourself reading in Latin! I'm a huge fan of GSWL, but I am not sure it is meant to be stretched out that long. The problem isn't that drawing out GSWL is lazy. The problem is, in my opinion (and experience), GSWL over that length of time could definitely either get boring (b/c too slow) or frustrating (b/c you forget earlier vocab and concepts b/c of going so slowly). Or worst case, both boring AND frustrating. So, if you do stretch it out, make sure that you are 1) reviewing vocab regularly, 2) reviewing the charts it teaches you, and 3) reading a tiny bit of Lingua Latina every now and then (the first couple of chapters will be fun and easy during/after GSWL). Technically you don't even need to buy anything but the Lingua Latina Familia Romana book, but if you want a glossary of the vocab and a bit of grammar explanation, I highly recommend A College Companion.

really? nobody? where are the grammar girls? I know you are out there! :D

Let them eat cake! Let us thank him. (I assume that is the same diagram, right?) Subject would be an understood "You" Predicate is "let" Is them/us the direct object? What is the proper term for the "eat cake" or "thank him" part?

Why not after 8th?

I don't like the term Memory Work because I feel like it has been so widely used that it has a connotation of rote learning and unpleasantness. Not that we never learn things by rote, or that it is always pleasant, lol! But in general our "memory work" is meant to affect our souls, enliven our discussions, and move our hearts towards God. So, what can we call it that reflects *that* connotation, rather than just the ol' "Memory Work" connotation? I like terms like - - remembering - by heart - memory - work (See, I like both the words individually, just not together) ??? I am wanting to use this new term with adults in our church, too, not just kids. So I don't want anything that sounds cutesy or childish. Any ideas?

Yes, I think this is maybe what I'm going to do for a while, though not every day. Maybe 2-3x/wk? One problem with it is simply that I don't like writing and not editing it. I'm not very good at addressing only the "most egregious" errors, lol! We have tried a bunch of things over the last two years: IEW Writing & Rhetoric (CAP) Killgallon Cover Story Classical Composition Classical Writing MCT (actually, we have used MCT for grammar, but I didn't like the writing stuff with it so technically we never really tried it). Bravewriter (I own the Writer's Jungle but haven't been able to figure it out enough to give it a real try) LTW (currently, with co-op) Writing With Skill (currently, but we never get it done, so does that even count?!) We are currently doing LTW in a co-op made up mostly of kids his age and older. It is interesting and very helpful re: invention, but not actually all that much writing (at least so far). Ten yrs old probably sounds too young for LTW, but he is bright and precocious and it is definitely not too hard for him. Anyway, since there isn't too much writing so far, we are also doing some WWS when we don't have LTW to do. Or at least we are supposed to. *sigh* Over the last three years, I have read literally 14+ books about writing (some on how to write, others on how to teach writing), and watched 3 Great Courses on it. I feel like I should be rockin' and rollin' by now! Admittedly, I am a bit of a curriculum junkie, but in other subject areas I am honestly not a curriculum hopper like I am with writing. I just feel like I can't find where we belong. Sheesh, writing this all out really makes me seem like quite a nutcase.

We have trouble getting writing done in our house. We don't actually hate writing, and we aren't too terrible at it, really. But DS10 and I both continually procrastinate doing it because it is such hard work, it has a "vagueness" and subjectivity about it (unlike math!), and we like too many other subjects more, LOL. I recently read about the Pomodoro Technique to combat procrastination, and while at the time I just dismissed it, I'm now wondering if it might help us get out of our writing funk. I also read the book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink. It's basic idea is that the way to increase motivation (particularly for creative tasks, like writing) is to increase: 1) autonomy, 2) mastery, and 3) purpose. So how could I combine the Pomedoro Technique (or others) as well as keep those motivational principles in mind (which are in contrast to the traditional carrot-and-stick ideas, btw) to motivate DS10 and myself to get.the.writing.done?! Any thoughts orideas?

A few more questions for H-3 - - What general requests do you get most? - What specific curricula do you get requests for most? - Do you/could you post this info on your website? It would be handy to see periodically what you are looking for. - Where are you located? By the way, I checked out your corporate sponsorship page (not that I'm a curric provider; I was just curious!) and am wondering if you have ever approached providers about funneling materials your way that are either outdated editions and/or damaged and would otherwise just be tossed? It might be a tax benefit to them, and potentially less "costly" to them than a cash donation. Another idea is to ask them for "scholarships" for PDF versions (of course, you would have to know the family could make use of a pdf). Anyway, just a couple of thoughts off the top of my head. Another idea would be an "angel tree" type of thing, where a homeschool group could come to you (I'm envisioning a WTM thread ;-) and you could say, "Here is a particular family and a list with kids' ages and curric needs, and the group could work together to get as many of the materials as possible. No idea if that could work - just a crazy idea that popped into my head! Keep up the good work. I'm sure it is a blessing to many!

Whether it is money or rules to follow or whatever, if Landry says these are the rules (e.g., use this curriculum, platform, whatever), and the teacher agrees to them, why is it the business of the govt? I understand there are *laws* about this; I am simply saying that there shouldn't be. People should be allowed to freely enter into their own voluntary business agreements.

I wholeheartedly disagree. I am not speaking of the tax law here, I am speaking of principle. I don't disagree with the law as you represented it in your post - I don't know much about it, honestly, and assume you are correct. That being said, Landry agreed to pay a teacher X amount. Teacher agreed to work for X amount. Students signed up. Everyone was happy – Landry, teachers, and students (including all the customers on this thread). But gov't says noooooo, you have to pay Teacher X+Y amount ("Y" being the additional benefits and taxes associated with being classified as an Employee instead of IC). Let’s say Landry knew this years ago and tried to do that. What happens in that scenario? Landry has to either 1) not hire the teacher, or 2) raise prices to offset the increased amt (Y). They might try to do option #2, but they will likely not end up with enough students at that higher rate, and will ultimately end up with option #1... therefore not offering the course, and not meeting the needs of many families out there. So... what is the real result of the IC vs Employee tax laws? No one wins!!! Landry offers fewer courses at higher prices, hires fewer teachers, has fewer students, and fewer families' needs are met. Who wins in that scenario? No one. If the govt would just stay out of it and let people voluntarily enter into their own business agreements of their own free will, we would have teachers voluntarily teaching for an agreed upon amount, students taking courses for a fee they agree to. Just as we have had up until now.

Ooooh I'm on it! Thanks for the heads up about it.

(nm, fixed it)

Re: Fac diem meum, my dictionary says dies is masc, but "occasionally feminine when referring to a fixed day or time in general". So I guess in this case it is masculine. It is exactly like the first sentence except that the DO diem is Masc/Acc/Sing, so the adjective meum is also Masc/Acc/Sing.

Hopefully this helps :-)

I understand what you are saying. And I do agree that older kids can often learn faster. But my observation and experience is that learning at a faster pace is not necessarily mastering, and very often is merely cramming things into short term memory to pass exams. Not always, but often. I went to well-regarded universities for my undergrad and master's degrees (not ivy, but just below that) and if I had it to do over again, I would not care about graduating in four years, and I'd take a lighter load each semester, so I could spend more time learning things in a better and deeper way for long-term retention. I wasted way too much time and money speeding through classes, and I think that is extremely common. One of the things I love about homeschooling is the difference in priority between timeframe and level of mastery. In a traditional school environment where the amount of time is held consistent (9 mos or whatever), whatever level the student achieves in that amount of time is his level of mastery (reflected in his grade). In contrast, in a homeschool environment, the student can be held to the requirement of a certain level of mastery, and the amount of time can vary as needed in order to achieve that level of mastery (whether it is 3 mos or 15 mos). What difference does it make how fast or slow the material is learned, as long as it is learned well?

Ooh, thanks for the link. I'd not heard of him before, and we have mostly just made up our own method for diagramming in Latin following English conventions we'd already learned. It will be helpful to see the diagrams of someone who knows what he is doing!

YES! We love the MCT-style analysis, and use it periodically in our Chinese studies, too. It is so interesting to see how different languages handle grammar, and doing 4-pt analysis helps reveal that. The method does need tweaking for different languages, but that is part of why it is so helpful! Ok, I really must get to work now - my to do list is a mile long and I'm just having fun thinking about Latin instead, LOL!! Hope I haven't overwhelmed you with my LLPSI opinions and ideas. Let me know if you have more questions or thoughts about it, but my replies might be spotty because of my crazy week ahead :-)

By the way, when I say "redoing" Exercitia, even the sentence (free answer) exercitia can have different levels of challenge. Here are some ideas: Level 1 - Initially, look up the answer in the book. They are comprehension questions, so the answers can be literally quoted straight from the book. This is helpful at the beginning, since it keeps you from making grammatical errors. Level 2 – Later, redo them, but don’t look in the book until after you have written your answer. Then look in the book and correct any grammar or vocab errors. Level 3 – Redo them again, but use some of the new grammar you have learned in later chapters. I do this by making DS a list of grammar concepts we have learned. He has to use at least one of them in each sentence he writes. Here is an example of a grammar list: > All five cases > Ablative of means > Ablative of agent (passive voice – use carefully!) > Ubi / QuÅ / Unde > Locative case > Vocative case > Relative pronouns > Personal pronouns > Eius vs. suus > Interrogative pronouns > Tam … quam … > Imperative > “-ne†question > “et … et†and “que†> In + abl and in + acc > NÅn sÅlum… sed etiam… Etc…….. Level 4 – Redo them again, but try to say things in a different way than the book does. Either use synonyms or definitions, or just by adding more details and complexity. DS and I love to try to come up with funny and/or creative answers, and then we work together to figure out how to say it using correct grammar and the vocab that we know. Level 5 – (we aren’t really to this level yet, but it is a goal) Redo them only orally/conversationally. Up until this level we always write our sentence exercitia out, because we need to check our grammar. But I can already tell the early chapters are pretty doable for us orally. The problem is I’m not an expert, and I don’t want us to get into wrong habits without knowing it… so for now we stick with writing things out mostly. A couple of examples: Question: Why is Lydia crying? Answer: Level 1 – Lydia is crying because she doesn’t have a ring on her finger. Level 3/4 – She is crying because she is a bad girlfriend who thinks only of herself and her naked finger! (uses personal pronouns, a relative pronoun, adjectives, a reflexive pronoun, etc.) Question: What does Medus put on the table? Answer: Level 1 – Medus puts his bag on the table. Level 3/4 – On the table he puts his bag, which is full of money with which he will buy his girlfriend a ring. (uses personal pronouns, possessive adjectives, relative pronouns, future tense, etc.) Just like with reading the chapters, you can be at different levels of sentence Exercitia for different chapters in the same week. So over the course of a few of weeks, you could do these activities: Easy reading: chap 3-6 Level 1 sentence exercitia: chap 16 (includes reading ch 16) New reading: chap 23-24 Level 2 sentence exercitia: chap 14 (includes reading ch 14) Level 4 sentence exercitia: chap 5 In addition to sentence exercitia, some grammar concepts lend themselves well to writing a set of sentences. For example, for relative pronouns, we wrote out sentences using every relative pronoun in every gender, number, and case (total of 30 sentences). We also used the grammar checklist, so we had to use a grammar concept in every sentence (and no duplicates until all had been used at least once). A couple of other ideas: Periodic MCT-style 4-level analysis (maybe even add diagramming if you are into that… which we are :-)), especially if you are struggling to understand something Imitate sentences – find a good sentence in LLPSI that demonstrates a particular grammar concept. Rewrite the sentence with totally different words but the exact same grammatical structure. For an added challenge, require that all the new nouns are the opposite gender of the noun they are imitating (so you have to do pronoun/adj work to make them match in gender/case/number). Use the same writing style tips that we use in English, but apply them to Latin. This is especially applicable as we are starting to write paragraphs instead of just sentences. Vary sentence structure, use parallelism, make every word count, use strong verbs and specific nouns, alliteration, simile and metaphor, imagery, personification….

LOL, glad it helps. I woke up this morning and worried it might have come across as a bossypants "do it this way or fail!" kind of post. Obviously, do it however works best for you and your kids!! I'm just sharing some (ok, a lot!) of the nitty gritty about our experience because I think part of what has made LLPSI such a success in our house has been because how we have ended up doing it, and that ended up being a little different than I anticipated when we began. And btw, I loved that article and think he is mostly spot-on. I say "mostly" mainly because he didn't advocate doing the Exercitia, which we have found extremely helpful. However, I think the reason he didn't need it is because he came to LLPSI already knowing a LOT of Latin, and that was not our situation. Anyway, his is not the first article I have read from someone recounting frustration with trying to learn to read Latin through traditional programs, only to find Orberg to be a breath of fresh air and the key to finally achieving some true reading fluency. It seems that the people who love Orberg really LOVE Orberg! HAHA my DS would LOVE Star Wars chants!!!! I will have to look into doing that! For declension endings, we like . I think the guy who sings it is a cutie, lol, but it might be easier to get the tune if you listen to the real song here. For pronouns we LOVE the Lyrical Latin CD (it might be downloadable somwhere, too). There is a song for relative pronouns (qui, etc.), personal pronouns (is, ea, id, etc.), and two songs for demonstrative pronouns (ille and hic). There are also songs for declensions but we don't find those to be helpful since I like having all five declensions in one song like our YouTube video. There are also songs for verbs but we haven't really bothered with that (we had learned the endings for a few tenses through LFCA early on, so we practice those still, but they aren't introduced in LLPSI until more than halfway through the book. Also, the charts for the verb tenses are relatively small in comparison with, for instance, the pronoun charts. In our experience, the four pronoun songs alone are worth the cost of the CD. There are some other grammar things we want to memorize that I can't find songs for and will probably eventually come up with something on my own. I just made up one last week to This Old Man for memorizing which prepositions take ablative and which take both. But Star Wars would be so much more fun than This Old Man, hahahahaha! I think that sounds like a great plan! And the cyclical thing really is fabulous, especially because you can be in different phases of different chapters in the same week. So, for instance, in a single week, we can be reading new stuff in ch 23, rereading well-known vocab and grammar in chapter 4, and redoing Exercitia in chapter 8. And meanwhile reviewing everything efficiently through Anki. Ahhhhhhh! Love it!

Okie dokie, I’m gonna try!! Apologies for the enumerated lists, but I thought it would make it easier for me to explain myself :-) First, a little bit of background and current status of my situation – I knew absolutely no Latin when we started. I had taken 3 yrs of French and 2 yrs of Chinese in high school and college, loved both, but never approached fluency in either. Why, why, why?? I think this is a perennial experience of many language students, and I was no different. My DS is a bright student, but not extraordinary. I would describe him as “linguistically precocious†in some ways; he did not speak or read early (in fact, didn’t really talk until around 3, and started reading around 5.5). However, even before he could read, he had a precocious understanding of grammar and absolutely loved it. He loved talking about parts of speech and subjects and predicates and that sort of thing, so we did a bunch of grammar just because he thought it was fun. But it began to get very repetitive, so I started thinking about adding in Latin at around 5.5. My energy and enthusiasm wane when faced with inefficiency, busy work, ineffective teaching, things that are too easy, and things that are too difficult. As a result, I have come to adore researching curricula and teaching approaches and figuring out what program or approach will work best both for me and for my student. I love to understand (and need to understand) the “big picture†of whatever I am learning and teaching. I believe in Socratic and discussion-based teaching, but find myself needing to always learn, learn, learn in order to equip myself to actually HAVE those discussions. That is fine with me, since I love to learn J I believe we have exchanged posts in the past re: Anki, and I recall that you were the one who recommended Fluent Forever to me (FABULOUS READ, btw!!!), and I think we have some similar perspectives on learning and teaching, and we seem to overlap in several currics we have chosen (MCT, Most Wonderful, SM, SOTW, BFSU (though I confess I don’t use that as intended), DuoLingo). So that is one reason I really wanted to encourage you about LLPSI – because I honestly think that you might love it…! (Btw, I admire that you have a blog; I’ve always wanted to but can never find the time!) Our Latin sequence so far – DS learned English grammar to the point of knowing parts of speech and basic parts of the sentence (e.g., through MCT Island level) GSWL – we started when DS was 5.5 and took a year on it (and I just finished doing the same with my DD6). For an older student – say, 10 or 11 – it might take 6 mos. As an adult learner you could probably do it in a couple of months if you were really committed, but I think taking longer is actually better, so I’d probably space it out to 3-4 months. However, I’d suggest doing the first half of the book in the first month (it is super easy) and then using the rest of the time on the remaining lessons, because they do get more complicated and time-consuming. But really the whole book is great –easy to implement, with no fluff or silly time wasters along the way. His teaching approach is simultaneously extremely incremental and yet also whole-to-parts. While doing GSWL I was rather obsessively building a ridiculously large library of used Latin curricula (to try to figure out what to do next). Seriously, it was out of hand, LOL. But it was helpful because I could use different books as references to look up grammar concepts I was learning in GSWL, and could compare both the presentation of the concept as well as the overall scope and sequence of the different curricula. When we finished GSWL, we dabbled in several different programs (particularly LFCA and Latin Alive). I dropped LFCA fairly quickly, because it was just soooo little reading after GSWL. Then I moved on to Latin Alive. One of my goals was to teach Latin *in* Latin, and Latin Alive offered some language tips to help me do that, so I thought we could make it work. It’s actually a pretty good program, and if I had to use a “regular†program, it would be a contender. However, one day we opened up LLPSI and DS was amazed and excited that he could actually read not just sentences, but *pages* of Latin! We have been committed to LLPSI ever since then. We do use some additional resources (more on that later), and we have discovered some helpful study habits over the years (also more on that later). We are currently on chapter 23 of 35. That seems like slow progress, but considering that it’s a college textbook, DS was 6 when we started, we have had some breaks along the way, and we also began studying Chinese 1.5 yrs ago, and Spanish 6 mos ago – well, I think our progress is pretty good! And at chapter 23, DS knows 1000++ words (and **really knows** them, not just kinda knows them), as well as all the declensions, all the parts of speech, all the (zillion!) pronouns, lots of uses of ablative, and loads of other grammar concepts (you probably already know LLPSI includes all Latin grammar). I think that is all pretty good for a 10 yr old. We actually enrolled in Lone Pine Latin 100 this year (it uses LLPSI and covers chaps 1-16 in the 100 level); DS already knows all of the vocab and grammar they will cover for the year (though he is technically too young for the class), but it has turned out great anyway, simply because the teacher includes a ton of Roman history, culture, and mythology that has been a good challenge for him. The main reason we enrolled him in it, though, was simply to reinvigorate our own Latin studies. I thought DS needed to see other motivated and enthusiastic kids enjoying Latin, as well as have a Latin expert respond to some of the writing we were doing as part of his Exercitia (the free-answer questions are not answered in the Answer Key). We are both really pleased with how it is going. So that is what we have done so far. Apologies for being so long-winded, but I really believe the success of using LLPSI is not just in the book itself, but also in how it is used. So I want to give you some additional practical recommendations: Have basic English grammar down first (definitely all eight parts of speech and the basic parts of the sentence (subject and predicate, and preferably also DO, IO, PA/PN, prep phr) Do GSWL first. Orally is fine. While doing GSWL, you can start chanting endings for the declensions and conjugations it teaches (I believe 1st and 2nd decl and 1st and 2nd conj, and a couple of irregular verbs). I don’t recall that the book actually tells you to do that, but I think it is helpful. Writing them out might also helpful if you have the time. Try to learn how to converse *about* Latin *in* Latin. This helps you get more comfortable with the language, and in time is gets pretty easy. But it does require some upfront effort to learn how to ask the basic questions that you will eventually ask of your DS once he is studying with you – things like: What case is it? What number? What gender? Which declension? Which conjugation? etc. I can share my homemade cheat sheet with you if you want. It is a work in progress, of course. Occasionally – and especially on any sentence where you are really struggling to figure it out – do an MCT-style 4-level analysis on a sentence. Label all the parts of speech. Then for verbs, determine their conjugation, number, and tense. For nouns, see if you can figure out what declension, gender, number, and case. From that, determine your subject. Identify prepositional phrases (and the case of their objects). Ideally, once your DS is studying with you, you can have this whole conversation with him in Latin. ;-) After GSWL, start LLPSI. Don’t try to translate it – just read. You will impress yourself as you easily read through the first chapter or two, and it is fun! As you start LLPSI, immediately begin vocab review using a spaced repetition system (I recall you use Anki, which I love love love!). LLPSI teaches a LOT of vocab. It is fun and interesting to learn (and relatively easy to learn since it is all taught in a story context), but it does pile up. Spaced repetition is by far the most efficient review method, and if you use Anki, I can share my decks with you (they definitely are a work in progress, but they are a huge leg up from nothing; I’ve spent many hours creating them – PM me if you are interested). (By the way, I totally understand the appeal of Henle’s small amount of vocab; but the fact is, to read in Latin without your progress being constantly hindered by reliance on glossaries, you need to build a large vocab. LLPSI makes it a pleasure, and spaced repetition makes it efficient.) ** Two specific tips re: vocab cards – 1) Make sure to use full dictionary entries, not just the form used in the chapter, and use macrons because they help with both case identification and pronunciation, and 2) add context sentences as hints. This idea just popped into my head one day, but it may also be mentioned in Fluent Forever (they actually recommend more complicated cards than I am doing, but so far I like my hint sentence method better). Basically, for any words that are not immediately easy to remember, pick at least one sentence directly from LLPSI that includes that word, and include it on your card. In Anki, put the sentence in a separate field so that you can manipulate it differently (I make it a hint, so basically, the card gives you the Latin word (dictionary format), and if you can’t remember the meaning, you can click to see the Hint Sentence, so then you see the word in context and try to remember it that way. I always click Again if we had to see the sentence before remembering, but a case could be made that if you know the meaning of the word in context, that should be sufficient for a Hard rating.) Use the College Companion book to help explain grammar concepts. Also use other resources for further explanations (Wheelocks, Henle, Latin Alive, etc.), and use the Exercitia book for practice (in addition to the pensum in the textbook). Most of the Exercitia are fill in the blank (which are answered in the Answer key) but some are short answer, and you will need to find a way to get those corrected. There is an LLPSI forum on reddit that has helped me a bit with that in the past, if you don’t know any Latin pros irl. DS and I might also be able to help with that, too… PM me if you are interested. Add grammar to your spaced repetition system also. This has been a recent addition for me, but it is of great benefit and I wish I had started it from the beginning. Basically, I add questions that explicitly discuss a grammar concept (e.g., “How is passive infinitive formed?â€), but then I also add much of the Exercitia itself to Anki (thanks to Fluent Forever!). Adding the Exercitia is *so* helpful because it continually re-exposes you to a grammar concept or sentence pattern even when you are long past the chapter containing that concept. I am way behind on adding these to Anki (since they are a late addition to our study habits), but now that I see how helpful these are, I definitely wish I’d done it from the start. Add “recitation†tasks to your studies as you encounter concepts in LLPSI. As much as I love the reading method of learning, some explicit grammar instruction and practice really is beneficial. The scope and sequence of LLPSI is very different from other books, and after the first few chapters he starts introducing pronouns, and by chapter 8 you have a full arsenal of pronouns, interrogative and relative pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, etc. in all their various forms. It can get crazy! Having a habit of writing them out periodically really will help reading comprehension and retention over time. Do LOTS of rereading! Don’t think of LLPSI as linear (as in, read chapter 1, then 2, then 3, then 4, …). You will get far more out of it if you view it more cyclically, with different tasks to do, and different chapters along the way. For instance, in our studies right now, we are newly reading chapter 23 (and we understood that fairly easily the first time we read it). However, I’ve only entered vocab into Anki through chapter 17, and we have done Exercitia only through chapter 15, and entered Exercitia into Anki only through chapter 6 (since I only started that in this past fall). Over time I’ve realized that it is better to read a chapter several times before encountering the vocab in Anki (that way when we do get the vocab in Anki, we usually already know it, so it gets spaced out more quickly). And we only want to do Exercitia for a chapter once we really know the vocab and grammar, otherwise the Exercitia takes us for.ev.er (esp in later chapters)! Take a LLPSI break when you need one. Sometimes we get to a point where we just need to “tread water†for a while and not make new progress in LLPSI. When those times come, I keep going on all of our Anki reviews (both vocab and grammar) but just stop reading ahead. I typically pick up Minimus, Cambridge, or any of a number of free old-timey Latin readers I’ve found free online. It’s fun to see how much we can understand, and it really does reinforce our learning even if they have glosses. It also helps me to appreciate LLPSI all the more, since most early Latin readers are not written anywhere near as well as LLPSI in terms of being “Latin onlyâ€, and they don’t explain themselves within the text. But they are still good reads, and super helpful during breaks. Don’t be in a rush. This Lone Pine class we are in has been eye-opening in it’s speed in particular. We love the class, but it covers chapters 1-16 in 9 months. That might be doable, but I’m not yet convinced that kids trying to go through LLPSI at that pace don’t end up with a pretty shaky grasp of both the grammar and vocab (particularly considering all the history, culture, and mythology she also requires). At least I think we would, if we were in that situation. By contrast, DS really knows this stuff inside and out because of having had such consistent spaced repetition review through Anki over a longer period of time. Ok, this is ridiculously long now. Sorry!!! I’m going to send it off without proofing since I’m too tired to read through it at the moment… hopefully it’s helpful to you, though. I really do think you might love LLPSI, and if you do end up doing it, I’d be happy to answer more questions about how we have done it so far. My goal is to be totally done with Latin grammar by the time DS is 12 or 13, and get ourselves into reading real Latin texts by then. So far we are on track for that, and really enjoying the journey so much more than I ever anticipated.

Awwwwwwww, I saw your post last night and wanted to sing the praises of LLPSI to you, and share my LLPSI method with you! Am I too late? Can I do it anyway? Can't now, but maybe tonight... unless I'm really too late, LOL ;-)

I know there are loads of ideas for "easy" ornaments online, but I'm looking for something that we could make to bring to the nursing home. DS will play piano and my DDs will pass out a little "gift" to anyone who stops (I expect a lot will, since my DCs are little and always get lots of attention when we are there other times). It seems best to give them something "consumable" since I'm sure they don't want clutter, yet I'm also not sure that give elderly folks food gifts is a good idea either. Oh, and would, of course, prefer to not spend a ton of time or money... So... any ideas?

Very nicely done! I love how she made up the story of the dolls' outing. Totally cute, and clever marketing! I don't know anything about blogging but I hope it helps her sell her items. They look lovely!

I second this recommendation! I love listening to In Our Time Science and In Our Time History - lots of great topics and interesting discussions. You can find them on iTunes, too. Btw, they are not specifically for kids, so keep that in mind when the topic might have gritty details...