Lively Latin or Latin Prep for 4th grader?

[Halcyon]

I am looking ahead to when we finish GSWL, which my guess is will be at the end of 3rd grade for my older, although we might finish earlier....

 

Right now, my 8 yo and my 5 yo are doing GSWL daily and really enjoying it--it's a fun part of our day, not stressful and just...fun. My older son really loves it, and catches on quickly and it's been surprisingly effective for my younger.

 

What do you recommend using when we finish? I think I've narrowed it down to LP and LL. I've heard LP is challenging, particularly for a 9 yo, and when you throw a 6 yo into the mix....it'll be too much, right? (I'd like to keep them working together, if possible).

 

I have been looking at LL but I am not thrilled with using an online course, and not 100% clear whether by purchasing the hard copy you get all the 'extras'.

 

Can someone compare these two programs for me? :bigear:

[EKS]

LL isn't an online course, as far as I know. We have been using LL1 since last year, and it has been great. If there are extras, I guess I don't know about them. We have a pronunciation CD and it has been helpful.

 

I have also used LP in the past. It is challenging. If you want to keep your kids together, I would definitely go with LL.

[Halcyon]

LL isn't an online course, as far as I know. We have been using LL1 since last year, and it has been great. If there are extras, I guess I don't know about them. We have a pronunciation CD and it has been helpful.

 

I have also used LP in the past. It is challenging. If you want to keep your kids together, I would definitely go with LL.

 

 

Thanks! I guess I meant that LL can be purchased as a pdf (downloadble) and there are online games too. If I went this route, I'd need to purchase the hard copy with the cds, which is pricier...I appreciate your opinion!

[redsquirrel]

FWIW, I have never used the online games at LL. It just never came up. The lessons were sufficient. We are close to finishing LL. It is really big! It has taken two years to get through the whole book.

 

So, if you like LL but don't like the online games you can skip them. It is not a big deal. We just do the exercises and review the flashcards.

 

I like it enough to get the second book when we finish the first. It isn't perfect but it has been a great fit for us.

[Laura Corin]

Don't use LP with a 6yo - it will be way too much. A 9yo, if keen, might be fine. With your combination, I'd look elsewhere.

 

Laura

[JudoMom]

I wouldn't use LP for those ages. It's a great program, but it is challenging.

 

I'm not a fan of LL, though; it felt disjointed to me (I prefer Latin for Children). If you go with the downloadable version of LL, you can also download the pronunciations and burn them to a cd yourself.

[abbeyej]

Of those two, definitely LL with the ages you have. You don't *have* to do *anything* online with LL if you don't care to. It's all there in the workbook. I've used LP1-3 and I'm currently doing LL (with a 7.5, 8.5 and just-turned-10yo)... While I *like* LP better, it would be too much for this age group, even the brightest of the bunch. (I did use LP with my oldest starting just as he turned 8 -- but I would absolutely not call him typical -- and even he couldn't have followed along at 6, I don't think.) I do think LL will be a great introduction to LP, which I plan to start with this younger group after ~2 years of LL.

[Lovin Learnin]

I purchased Latin Prep to use this year and decided to shelf it due to the level of difficulty. I then bought GSWL and DD is loving it and getting the gentle intro to latin that I wanted. My plan is to start LP next year in fifth grade. I love the looks of it but it is definitely a step up from GSWL.

[Halcyon]

I wouldn't use LP for those ages. It's a great program, but it is challenging.

 

I'm not a fan of LL, though; it felt disjointed to me (I prefer Latin for Children). If you go with the downloadable version of LL, you can also download the pronunciations and burn them to a cd yourself.

 

 

After looking at LL, it looks disjointed for me, too. I looked at LFC and it looks right up our alley, but it's expensive. Are the DVDs absolutely neccesary?

[Irishmommy]

I looked at both programs and decided to go with LL. I bought a "used" copy of the materials that also included the lessons in pdf. I have been so happy with this program. I wasn't really sure how my son would take to learning another language (I have a gift for languages, but my dh, ahem, really doesn't). My son has done really well with it. We are going at a leisurely pace, so who knows when we'll finish LL1, but so far, I plan on using LL2.

[siloam]

I love LL, and would recommend that for a 4th grader.

 

You don't get extras for the hard copy, and I haven't had a problem with the PDF version and we never used the games either.

 

I don't find it disjointed either, I did it all before my oldest and she followed along behind and both of us enjoyed it. My 2nd dd is starting it this year.

 

LFC was a program I also checked out but it was too much memorization for us. If I remember right LL had about half the vocab. I would rather work with less words, and implement them more than work with more words. I am not great a memorizing and really need to use them and my kids are the same way. Though I would love to do Latin Alive. :D

 

Heather

[wapiti]

I bought several Latin books (Henle, Gunnison, Lingua Latina, etc.) but since we're afterschooling Latin, I'm daunted about the time to get relatively complex lessons done, and while I liked what I saw of LP, I am afraid it's not practical for our schedule. For my fourth grader, we are following GSWL (which we loved:001_wub:) with Nutting's Latin Primer. It appears to have similar, small bite-sized lessons, one of the things that I loved about GSWL. It also builds vocab slowly, like GSWL. It generally seems to be a similar approach, and was designed for late elementary. Combined with the same author's "Reader" to be used following the Primer, the two books are equivalent to a First Year high school course (i.e. the author expects that on completion of the Reader, the student will be ready to read Caesar). I recommend reading the preface to both books to get a feel for his plan (from the free google books PDFs, below).

 

The only trouble is that there's no answer key. Hopefully, we won't need one (we never used the answer key for GSWL anyway).

 

It's a 1911 book available new in paperback at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Latin-primer-Herbert-1872-1934-Nutting/dp/1171720408/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1288467848&sr=8-1 (hey I think it's a buck or two cheaper than when I ordered it last month :glare:;))

 

or PDF is free from google books

http://books.google.com/books?id=4YoXAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=nutting+latin+primer&source=bl&ots=SVW7S9tv7p&sig=cOMFw5v1isPnszKqT9d_S4wjuPc&hl=en&ei=YKy8TIOpLIelnQfe9KmqDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Here's the Reader (I didn't buy this just yet - guessing we won't need it till next year):

http://www.amazon.com/First-Latin-Reader-Exercises/dp/1146953690/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1288468087&sr=1-1

 

http://books.google.com/books?id=WAtLAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Nutting+reader&source=bl&ots=r8Whp-JSpg&sig=M-ekn1O8B-TYoF_6O0TJzlaXd10&hl=en&ei=qXbMTKuNJ4GglAfq1ODlCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBcQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

We have just started this approach - would love to hear from anyone who's used it :). Curiously, the Primer has been printed three times this year, for the first time since it's original printing in 1911 (as far as I can tell). So, I'm guessing a school somewhere is using it.

Edited October 30, 2010 by wapiti