Prima Latina or First Form Latin... HELP PLEASE!

[butterfly113]

I have a 10 year old ds, beginning 5th grade this fall. He is smart, makes good grades, and learns quickly. He has completed Rod and Staff English 2, 3, and 4. So he has a good foundation in grammar.

 

We started Prima Latina last year.... for a couple weeks.... he did fine... and it seemed really easy for him. Then life took over with other things going on.... and well.... you know the story, here we are.

 

I am looking to pick back up with Latin this coming fall and am stuck as to where to start. Part of me thinks lets just go with Prima Latina.... but it just seems too easy for him. So my next thought would be to go with First Form.

 

I am considering First Form, as from what I understand it is more 'grammar based' verses mostly memorization. From what I have read, it seems LC I and II are not as grammar based.

 

Am I correct in understanding all of this? What would you do? Please help push me over the edge in one direction or another.... I am tired of the teeter totter today! :tongue_smilie: :lol:

[robsiew]

I was recommended to study in this order:

 

Prima

LC I

First Form

 

We did Prima last year and will do LCI this year. If it were me I'd put your ds in LCI. There's a lot more to LCI compared to Prima. I'm not sure what you mean by grammar based, but there is grammar work in each lesson. Most lessons include translation, grammar, derivatives, and verb conjugations. Later she adds in declensions. HTH a little...

 

Oh, and my ds is going to be 10 in Nov. He's quite bright and I think LCI is a good level.... not to say you'd think the same, but JMO...

[butterfly113]

Thanks for your reply Robyn...

 

I guess I am still unclear on the big difference between Latina Christiana and First Form then.... sigh.....

 

Anyone else want to chime in?

[butterfly113]

:lurk5:

[~Jo]

I belong to the First Form Latin Yahoo group. There was a question similar to yours not too long ago....here is Tanya's answer. I hope it's ok to post it here...but I thought it would be best to have the entire post...if you want you can join the Yahoo group for more information.

 

At our school, we do Prima Latina in 2nd grade, Latina Christiana I in 3rd grade, and First Form in 4th. But if we have new, incoming students in the 4th grade, they begin with First Form with their classmates and don't do an introduction course first. They do fine, though it is obviously harder for them than for those who have already been exposed to Latin. But each of these courses starts at the beginning, so your students won't have missed anything from not doing the intro. courses.

 

I think the most difficult thing for students as young as 4th grade is the amount of writing - 4-5 pages of exercises per lesson. So, I agree with Glen - you may need to slow it down for these students. Your older ones should be able to sail right through it.

 

Cheers,

 

Tanya Charlton

[Samiam]

We did PL in 5th grade, and it was easy for my DS...but that's okay. I didn't want him to think Latin was "hard". It was mostly vocab memorization...very little grammar, and the grammar it did had, was basic stuff, like nouns, verbs etc.

 

I choose to skip over LC. I did have it in my house, borrowed, and it looked very similiar to PL...and not alot of work, and did seem a bit more for elementary level.

 

Then I found out about FF....it has a bunch more work, as in worksheets, but that was fine for 6th grade. It has been great for DS. It's is not about grammar at all, very little talk about english grammar, more about conjugations, etc. It's a more difficult level, I think, but fine for 6th grade. Much of the vocab is a review for DS, and that is fine too, because again, I don't want him to get it in his head that Latin is hard.

 

I do think that FF will be difficult for someone with NO Latin intro, but not impossible.

 

If it were me, and ha, it WAS me, I would do PL in 5th, and then move to FF...skipping LC.. By getting him started in FF in 6th, he will still have MANY years to progress in Latin before graduating high school.

[FishMama]

I'm in the same boat with a 5th grader and an 8th grader. (Yes, despite all my lofty goals, life happened and got in the way of Latin any earlier.)

 

This is exactly what I needed. Thanks!

[Tiramisu]

I started dd10 with FF in the beginning of June. She had no previous knowledge of grammar except prayers. She's doing great with FF and amazing dh, who is a high school Latin teacher. I've also been helping in a coop class that uses FF. The class is for students in 4th-6th grades and all of the students WHO DO THEIR HOMEWORK are doing well. It's very low-key to do one workbook page a day along with a little time reviewing the conjugations, etc., and vocabulary.

[Debbie in OR]

I'm in the First Form camp...

 

We did PL and Minimus in 2nd, Lively Latin 1 and part of 2 in 3rd/4th and FF in 5th. Knowing what (little :tongue_smilie:) I know now, I would feel fine starting a 5th grader who catches on quickly with FF. It is by far my favorite latin program. I love, love, love it.

[Heather in OK]

Prima

LC I

First Form

 

 

This is how we're doing it.

[catholicmommy]

In my opinion, Prima Latina is so easy, and if you are going to spend the effort doing latin, you might as well start with at least LC1. ALL of Prima Latina is in LC1, plus you will be gently introduced to latin grammar. LC1 isn't hard. It's just a bunch of memorization and a grade 5 student could easily do it,without having done prima latina first.

 

We have done PL, LC1 and now are starting First Form in the fall. We did PL when the kids were K and 2 (the K doing it orally). Last year we did LC1 with my grade four and she found it easier than -I- did :) Kids are so good at memorizing things. As long as you do it in small pieces EVERY day, any of those programs would be fine. Even First Form would be fine for a grade 5, IF you are committed to doing it every day in small bites, but if you want an easier intro, I would go with LC1.