Latin Plans or What do I do after Minimus?

[Closeacademy]

We are using Minimus this year for 2/3rd grade. It is going very well and she is retaining quite a bit. She always does best with whole to parts.

 

I have been reading the Latin threads and am wondering about what we want to do next year. As I see it we have several options:

 

Secondus (con--expensive, haven't heard good things about this one. pros--continues what we have done.)

Then after that we move to Cambridge. Right?

 

Lively Latin (con-expensive, poor customer service, part to whole. pros--heard a lot of good, includes history.)

After this we would do Henle or Latin Prep.

 

Latin Prep (con--moves quickly, part to whole. pros--heard a lot of good, looks great).

After this series we would do Cambridge. Right?

 

I think my oldest would do best with Cambridge as our ending point. What should we use between Minimus and Cambridge and would she be ready for Cambridge in 5/6th grade afer Secondus or would it be better to do the Latin Prep books.

 

My youngest will probably be on the Song School Latin, Latin for Children track as she learns totally differently.

 

Thanks.:001_smile:

[Alex]

salve Closeacademy,

 

We just finished Minimus with my 7yo son (2nd grade), and we are moving on to Secundus. I don't think Secundus is as good, but we cannot bear to leave our friends. I think we will really push through it at one week per lesson to finish this year. That way, we can begin a new program in the fall.

 

My son will be 8yo in 3rd grade next year. We are going to plunge into Lingua Latina. I found minimus to be a combination of whole to parts and grammar/translation approach. I do not think a combination approach is very successful, as you sacrifice the best elements of each approach for a reduced benefit. We chose Minimus not because of a desire to acquire good Latin instruction so much as a gentle and engaging introduction to Latin. Now that my son is hooked on the language, I want better instruction.

 

Lingua Latina does look intense. That said, I expect we will go slowly through it. Based on our Minimus work, I am confident that my son can handle the first chapter already. You should check it out online at:

 

http://www.pullins.com/txt/LinguaLatina.htm

 

and sample pages here:

 

http://www.lingua-latina.dk/index2.htm

 

Our outline will be one lesson per week (there are about 3 lessons per chapter), with the fourth week devoted to the exercises in the textbook (as distinct from the exercises in the workbook, which we will do each week).

 

I will handle the bulk of the teaching on Saturday mornings, with two or three short sessions of review on weeknights and indepentent exercises to be done by my son during the week.

 

vale,

 

Alex

 

d

[Jenny in Florida]

My son is a little older than your daughter, just turned 10. He did Minimus last year and is going through Secundus this year. I would agree that Secundus is not as well done as Minimus, but I had it on hand (left over from my daughter) and just wasn't ready to move on to anything else this year.

 

We're alternating Secundus with Learning Latin Through Mythology, which is also from Cambridge. My son does two weeks of Secundus (one chapter) followed by a week of LLTM. He loves LLTM, tolerates Secundus, but I suspect that is largely because LLTM is so much less demanding.

 

We did experiment for Latin for Children, which was okay for the first year but he absolutely hated by the time we set it aside mid-way through year two.

 

Next year, I think we're going to start Galore Park's Latin Prep. It's not whole-to-parts, but it's colorful and fun-looking and incorporates some humor, which my son always appreciates. Also, we're using their English Prep this year, and he really likes that.

 

As I understand it, the three Prep books will leave him ready to move on to So You Really Want to Learn Latin book 3 (which I conveniently already have on hand, another leftover).

 

Another series I've had recommended that seems similar in approach to Cambridge is Ecce Romani. [Here's the Amazon description: http://www.amazon.com/Ecce-Romani-Reading-Program-Meeting/dp/0131163701] It's "reading based," and I know some people really love it.

 

I'm sorry. I'm babbling. I hope I've said something helpful!

[Kay in Cal]

My oldest ds is just finishing up Minimus after finishing PL and giving up most of the way through LCI because he was bored. Minimus has been a hit--though I'm glad my dh has a good Latin background because I think he is able to explain the grammar in more depth than the text does (my dh is the sole Latin teacher here, for the most part). I just ordered Secundus from Amazon a couple of days ago.

 

We're planing on moving on to the Galore Park Latin Prep next. It looks great--and my ds want's something colorful and exciting. I expect we'll be starting it sometime next year, but since it's a step up I think the delay won't hurt.

 

I'd like to head for Cambridge Latin eventually, but not sure how that will work out...

[nmoira]

We are using Minimus this year for 2/3rd grade. It is going very well and she is retaining quite a bit. She always does best with whole to parts.

 

[snip]

 

Secondus (con--expensive, haven't heard good things about this one. pros--continues what we have done.)

Then after that we move to Cambridge. Right?

DD did well with Minimus, but Secundus was a disaster for her. IMHO the material isn't presented in a sufficiently systematic way for the parts be seen in the whole. At the time I thought that its whole to parts nature was to blame, but since then I've seen her blossom with The Learnables Spanish, which is unequivocally whole to parts.

 

I'd recommend Lively Latin. It's very good and very gentle (for both child and parent). If you feel strongly about whole to parts, Lingua Latina would be an option. There have been several threads here recently about using it with young children. The downside of Lingua Latina is that the parent/teacher consistently need to be several lessons ahead of the child. It's a good program; I used it in university in conjunction with Wheelock's and started boning up with it before starting Latin with DD.

[Closeacademy]

Thanks. I've got quite a bit to mull over and some good advice.

 

Lingua Latin

 

Lively Latin

 

Latin Prep

 

Latin Through Mythology and Secondus

 

Good thing I have until October to complete my research.

 

Thanks. And if you haven't posted yet but have 2 cents to add please do so.