WHEN do you start Latin?

[carrie_irene]

I have seen many different programs. Some say to wait till they have good command of English, some say start early. My Ds will be in 1st-ish grade, maybe a little more 2nd, and my Dd will be late K/1st in the fall.

 

Would love to hear from those of you actually doing Latin!:bigear:

 

Thanks!

[Satori]

We started at age 5.5-ish with Song School Latin. We're also simultaneously learning Spanish. It's going better than I ever expected! She gobbles it all up and picks up whenever she hears Latin on tv or shows.

 

I'd say you could start your little ones altogether. :)

[Tiberia]

I started teaching Latin words for dog, cat, brother, sister, etc., in K, just to test the waters. She liked it. I probably could have done Song School Latin last year.

 

THis year (1st grade) we're doing SSLatin and she's loving it. I haven't decided what to do for next year. I want to do Latin For Children, but they are geared for 3rd grade. Or I might go with Minimus next year, then LfC the next. Latin sounds intimidating for some adults, but the kids seem to enjoy it.

[Dolphin]

We were going to start early with Prima Latina, but we waited and started with Latina Christiana 1 this year. It is going well, and we like it (ds is 8) My dd(four next month) will sometimes watch the DVD with him, but she is not interested yet. I am planning on starting her in 1st or 2nd grade if she asks, 3rd if she doesn't.

 

What we did with the younger ages was Muzzy Spanish. We just watched the DVD's and kept it really casual.

[Amy Jo]

Started oldest at 8/3rd using GSWL & Minimus concurrently. My almost 7 year old is chomping at the bit, so I'll let him start with Minimus (probably this spring) and then follow with GSWL when he is 8 or so. My younger reads better than my oldest.

 

I do think the Latin (esp. GSWL) has helped my older son with English - specifically re-ordering the Latin into English, adding articles (a,an,the) and using proper verb tenses (I run vs. he runs). He also notices the similarities between Latin and Spanish vocabulary. So I don't think delayed reading alone is a reason to put off Latin, but it may require a different approach.

 

Amy

[Dmmetler]

DD, at age 5, decided she wanted to learn Latin after DH explained that those words in italics at the museum were the scientific names and mostly came from Latin, so we started then. We did SSL, and then moved to LfC done orally and online, with a focus on vocabulary and learning the chants. My plan is to have DD work through the LfC books again when she's 3rd-5th grade age.

[Guest RecumbentHeart]

As soon as we are done with Phonics. There is already exposure, just no formal instruction.

[carrie_irene]

Thank you all so much! This really helps me make some decisions. Or least it helps me THINK about making decisions!

[Georgiana Daniels]

My kids are 5 and 6 and loving SSL. Right now we use coloring pages that mirror what's in the book. We don't actually use a lot of the book, but they enjoy the songs and the coloring, and even sometimes trying to strike up a basic conversation with one another in Latin.

[K&Rs Mom]

We start Prima Latina once they're reading solidly in English (around 5-6 for both of mine). My younger was just learning English vowels when my older was starting PL, and got confused overhearing the first few lessons because they're about Latin pronunciation but the letters look the same.

[carrie_irene]

We start Prima Latina once they're reading solidly in English (around 5-6 for both of mine). My younger was just learning English vowels when my older was starting PL, and got confused overhearing the first few lessons because they're about Latin pronunciation but the letters look the same.

 

 

This is what I was concerned about. Does the SSL not go into this kind of info that those of you using it with younger kiddos are not getting confused.

[SnMomof7]

We're 'later Latin' people. I'm waiting until DD gets her phonics done (almost there!) and gets a better handle on spelling. Then we'll start :).

[FairProspects]

We're 'later Latin' people. I'm waiting until DD gets her phonics done (almost there!) and gets a better handle on spelling. Then we'll start :).

 

:iagree:I love that ds has a lot of free time to do creative things, and for the time being I don't want to crowd in on that with too many subjects. We'll do latin when we're done with phonics (probably 2nd grade) and after having established spelling.

[Georgiana Daniels]

This is what I was concerned about. Does the SSL not go into this kind of info that those of you using it with younger kiddos are not getting confused.

 

This is why we mostly do the coloring sheets. They see the words on them, but I don't overemphasize the reading. Mostly they listen to the songs and practice saying the words, rather than focusing on writing and reading them.

[Pata]

We're 'later Latin' people. I'm waiting until DD gets her phonics done (almost there!) and gets a better handle on spelling. Then we'll start :).

 

:iagree:We started with Prima Latina this year and I'm glad that we waited.

[LND1218]

We start memorizing endings and some vocab starting early following behind the big kids. Formally, we do this from 4 on - we do declensions for a year, conjugations for a year and vocab for a year. (We do these every year from then on - reviewing what we already know.) Then either SSL or something like it. And in 3rd grade we start a formal Latin curriculum.

[KatieH]

We started in 1st with PL, but we didn't actually do the workbook pages. We just read over the lessons and worked on the differences in some of the letter sounds between English and Latin. Then we did PL again in 2nd, and actually did the workbook pages.

[WiseOwlKnits]

We started SSL in 1st grade. This fall we'll start a more rigorous program - GSWL and LfC are 2 that I'm looking at...or maybe we'll play with Minimus for a year and then start with LfC in 3rd grade. (This is the one subject I'm still working on for next year....)

[Laura Corin]

I start much later. I like to make use of the 'sponge' years to begin a modern foreign language, then come to Latin at about age nine or ten, either using Minimus then Latin Prep, or just starting with Latin Prep (if the child is older).

 

Laura

[rootsnwings]

DS just turned 10 this week and we started Cambridge Latin at the beginning of this semester (Jan). This is our first exposure and I'm not really sure that he would be absorbing as much as he is now if he were younger. And I also can't decide if I wish I would have started with him earlier--it seems we're knocking out some spelling errors just by learning/discussing latin vocabulary, derivatives, etc... he's learning so many new words that I'm just completely dropping our vocab program from here on out. I think we're going to get GSWL next fall and use GSWL & Cambridge simultaneously. Cambridge DOES teach Latin Grammar, but it's not very formal, and almost like they just have to "pick it up as they go"... like they absorb it?? IDK but the Cambridge is super heavy on vocab and translation (and culture, OMG!) which my ds is LOVING. So we're going to stick with Cambridge but also add in a gentle grammar intro to go along with it.

 

My littles are learning already!! DS had the baby reciting latin vocab words at the breakfast table this morning! :D LOL!! She was loving it and is a little parrot right now anyway, so this was great fun for the both of them! I want to get Song School Latin just to HAVE with the little ones. I think they would both really enjoy it! :)

[Haiku]

I planned to start Latin earlier, in second grade or so. Then I realized we were spending so much time on the basics, and on history, which my kids adore, that I didn't want to crowd our schedule. I figured that by dd's 3rd-grade year, we'd have more room in our schedule, but as language arts has become more intensive, I have found that isn't true. As we have gotten more into grammar, I have realized that I want dd to have a fairly solid grasp of basic grammar before we start Latin. I'm now considering going with GSWL in 4th grade and going into LfC in 5th grade, but I haven't really made a decision. I will say that I bought LfC A last year, and looking at it was what made me decide to wait on Latin until my dd had more instruction in English grammar. I read the article by Martin Conthran in the latest edition of Classical Teacher from Memoria Press about how studying English grammar AND Latin is like watering a lawn during a rainstorm, and I have to say that I really disagree with him. Probably in the later years of education, substituting Latin for English grammar would be fine (I know that I learned a lot of English grammar when I studied German in high school), but I honestly believe that trying to teach a young one English grammar through a foreign language wouldn't be very effective. Or would at least be more difficult than necessary. At my kids' ages, I would much rather that they have direct instruction in the grammar of the language they speak.

 

Tara

[Melora in NC]

Dd started Prima Latina in 2nd grade and is now doing fine with Latina Christiana I in 3rd. I think in 4th we'll go through First Form pretty slowly. Ds did Prima in 3rd grade, LCI in 4th, started LCII in 5th and switched over to First Form, and now is doing fine with Second Form in 6th grade.

[EKS]

I started with my older son when he was in 6th grade using Getting Started with Latin. He has dyslexia and I didn't want to introduce a foreign language until English reading and grammar were solid.

 

I started my younger son with Lively Latin in 2nd grade. At the time we started he was reading on a middle school level and had finished GWG 3.

[siloam]

5th grade here. Most of my core subjects are one on one programs. I have to spend time working with the student, and I just don't have time for Latin. In 5th grade I print out Lively Latin and hand them one page per day. So far my kids love it! I love that there is very little work for me! :D

 

Heather

[Mrs.W]

My youngest did SSL in K and 1st (purposely spread it out over 2 years). This year (she's in 2nd) we've started LFC A, although I do not plan to go further than Unit 3. My oldest went through the LFC series, and I thought 4th grade was the perfect time to start. But my younger two were begging for more Latin after SSL so I decided to start LFC A and just take it really slow. Perfect for me because I no longer have to feel guilty about being "behind." ;) Plus, spending multiple weeks on a lesson lets it really sink in. She struggles a little bit with the writing, but overall is doing fine.

[Marie in Oh]

is that most programs, Latin For Children A included, quickly gets beyond most 2nd graders' ability to understand the grammar. I would not start a formal Latin Program, which I don't consider SSL formal, until a child understands 1st, 2nd and 3rd Person, Singular and Plural, and at the very least, Nominative and Objective Case. They will not understand Conjugations and Declensions if they don't at least understand these basics of English Grammar.

 

My older two kids started Latin in 4th/ 3rd grade after completing R&S Grammar 3. This was a good time to start and they understood it well. They did LfC B the next year, and then Lively Latin the next as review. My oldest dd is now doing Latin Alive. My 3rd child did SSL in 1st grade and loved it, and tagged along in Lively Latin last year. This year #3 is in 4th and #4 is in 2nd and are doing LfCA together. My 2nd grader is definitely accelerated, and she is doing fine, has an affinity for language, but I have to catch her up on the grammar. There is another average 2nd grader in our co-op and she is LOST. She has no idea what I am talking about when we have to translate verbs based on number and person. And just forget case. It is just beyond her, and she is a very normal 2nd grader.

 

So, my advice is don't rush. There is lots of stuff you can be doing with your littles. Latin can wait. It won't hurt to shelve it for a couple of years. Just my two cents.

[suzf242]

We started in 3rd grade (this year) with GSWL and are using it concurrently with R&S English 3. This has been a great start for dd. The pace in GSWL is just right, we can do the exercises orally, and she can remember it! We are going to try The Great Latin Adventure next year and see how that goes.

 

Take care,

Suzanne

[robsiew]

If you have the time/desire I'd say start whenever. I went with the philosophy of spending more time on English reading/writing and basic math to begin with and adding in Latin later. Really, it's a personal choice.

 

We start Latin here in 3rd grade. We'll start a third language (my ds is trying to figure out if it will be Greek or Spanish) in 5th grade. If he chooses Greek then I'll wait until 7th or so for a modern language.

[Classical Katharine]

You can start Latin with children at just about any age if the program is right for the age of your child.

 

Programs that work for first and second graders will generally just cover vocabulary, phrases, maybe some disconnected paradigms just learned by sound. Or they will introduce cartoons, simple dialogue, etc. So you can start Latin at this age, but "starting Latin" won't mean grammar and translation, yet.

 

Because of that, some people just wait till their children are ready to do more. Latin grammar and translation really have to wait until children are solid readers and know a bit of English grammar--for some children, grade 3; for many, grade 4 or 5. (Whether that first happens in grade 3, 4, 5 or even 6 will depend on your child, what you've done for English grammar, and on the pacing of the specific Latin grammar program you're considering--both the pacing in the first book, and also the acceleration from one book to another in the series. Acceleration rate is really important--you don't want to make it through the first book in a series and then discover the series takes off and your child isn't ready for the second book.)

 

There's no one answer to "when should WE start"; it's a matter of what you want to expose your child to when, and then a matter of choosing an age-appropriate program. But all programs for beginners begin at the beginning; children don't irrevocably lose out on anything by not starting Latin from the cradle . . . it's a great language to study at a range of starting ages!

 

I've had wonderful experiences sharing Latin grammar and translation with beginners as young as grade 3 and as old as grade 6. None of them had had any Latin at all before.