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Question for parents who don't know Latin


kristinannie
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I do have a feel for Latin (2yrs in high school), but I'm trying to at least get through the basic grammar before starting with my dc. Same for Greek and Hebrew, which my dh knows, but I don't - I want to stay a good few years ahead of them, so I'm starting now. I've been working on and off on my own for a year or so, but I just joined a Greek study group, so I'm hoping to kick my studying into gear ;). It's geared for pastors trying to relearn their Greek, though, so the pace is a bit fast, but I figure it will at least give me the big picture (and they're hoping to move into Hebrew before the tutor has to go back to school :tongue_smilie:, so maybe I'll get at least a feel for them both before the summer's out :)).

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I went online and to Memoria Press website to give myself an overview of Latin before we started. Now I try to keep up with my dd, who is using Latin Prep, but she is moving faster than I am. (I'm hoping to catch up with her during the summer) I know enough about how Latin works though to be able to help her work through any problems she has right now. She needs a bit of help with the grammar sometimes, which I can figure out easily. Later, if she has problems and I can't help her figure them out I will just find resources on the internet or ask here on the forum.

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What do you use to learn Latin? I am going to use Kolbe. I could take the high school courses on my own. Or should I just use the program they will use before they use it? I feel like I could teach better if I had a clue about the language. This is the only subject that I am nervous about teaching!

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What do you use to learn Latin? I am going to use Kolbe. I could take the high school courses on my own. Or should I just use the program they will use before they use it? I feel like I could teach better if I had a clue about the language. This is the only subject that I am nervous about teaching!

 

I would start out with Getting Started With Latin.

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Oh, goodness, I have *way* too many Latin programs ;). But Lingua Latina is my primary one. After two years of high school Latin, I *still* couldn't actually read a Latin sentence :001_huh:. Just reading through the first LL lesson helped cure me of that :). I also use Latin for Reading when I want more explicit/different grammar explanations. And I have Cambridge for fun reading practice. Plus 3 or 4 other printed programs and countless programs on Google books. Yes, it's excessive :tongue_smilie:, but I just like having lots of resources. I got most of them used, so I don't think I've spent more than $150 on the whole lot of them. There's something to be said for just picking one and consistently using it, though ;).

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I learned along with my kids. (We started with Latina Christiana, and now we're using Henle.) I'm still ahead of the 6th grader, but the 9th grader passed me by long ago - he's a year and a half ahead of me now. I'll never catch up, but he's doing very well so far.

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Do you just learn the Latin along with your kids or do you try to get a basic feel for it before you start teaching your kids? I had planned to just learn it along with my kids, but a part of me is terrified of that! I know it isn't conversational so that isn't an issue!

 

That is how I did it. I do enjoy the second go through more than the first go through though. I am still in the learning phase with my oldest. It's nice to not be there with the youngers. But I'm not really motivated to learn ahead of them. I'm doing all I can to keep up with their reading assignments.

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Oh, for getting a nice overview, I really like The Intelligent Person's Guide to the Latin Language (though the site is down atm :(). It's free online (also there's a book, but I've sadly never found it), and does a great job of explaining how the various bits of grammar all work together. The author's intention was that once people had the basic idea how things fit together they could move to the Latin text of their choice and master the grammar and syntax and vocab through using it. But even if that's more ambitious than you are planning ;), I find it helpful to have the big picture no matter where you want to go next.

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What do you use to learn Latin? I am going to use Kolbe. I could take the high school courses on my own. Or should I just use the program they will use before they use it? I feel like I could teach better if I had a clue about the language. This is the only subject that I am nervous about teaching!

 

I have started Henle latin. Twice. :blushing: I really like it and have been thinking of picking it up again. From what I've read, it seems like it would be in everyone's best interest if I were familiar with the language before teaching it.

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I have started Henle latin. Twice. :blushing: I really like it and have been thinking of picking it up again. From what I've read, it seems like it would be in everyone's best interest if I were familiar with the language before teaching it.

 

 

Henle was exactly what I was thinking of using. I am not planning on starting Latin until at least 3rd grade and my oldest will be in K next year so I have some time. I might just pick up that first Henle book and give it a go. It couldn't hurt!

 

 

 

I have seen that there is a program you can buy to teach you Latin (I can't remember where I saw that). It was specifically for parents teaching Latin. It was really pricey though (like more than $200). I don't know if that would be worth it.

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Guest RecumbentHeart

I'm learning well ahead of my children starting with Cambridge Latin. I'm working to develop more of a grasp of speaking and reading it before I get into the grammar or else I don't see myself getting too far with it at all.

 

I even taught myself to roll Rs. :D

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I've been learning it along with my kids. Classical Academic Press products make it easy to learn at the same time. I dabbled in some of the vintage books on Google before we ordered CAP products, but barely made a dent in it. As one of the maxims in LFC says, "By teaching, we learn." I've learned so much more doing this with my kids.

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This is a great question and represents me too--we plan to start Latin with dd in 3rd grade as well, and it didn't really occur to me until know that I might need to know something about it first. Aren't we supposed to make it all up as we go along? :D

 

So that gives me a little over a year. What is Henle? I'm not familiar with that program.

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I have two years of Latin, but I'm about to start brushing it off and re-learning it in anticipation of starting Latin with my oldest in a few months.

 

I looked at Henle, but I need a bit more hand-holding, so I'm going with First Form Latin. I'm eagerly waiting for it to arrive! It's a bit slower, and has far more for teacher helps...AND DD can use it when she gets to fifth grade :).

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We're doing it together and starting early (K and 2nd) with SSL and GSWL. I listen to the GSWL mp3 lesson lectures and pronunciations before I have dd do the lesson (2nd grader). If you ever learned a foriegn language (even badly in hs), you will have a serious advantage on the kiddos in that you know how to learn (how YOU learn, specifically).

 

I also don't think it is a BAD thing for the kids to see that mom doesn't know EVERYTHING and that I can learn along with them. Trust me, your kids already KNOW you aren't perfect. :D Why not show them that learning really is a lifelong pursuit? My mom went back to school for a business degree when I was ~10 and I really respected her for that. I saw that she worked hard, studied, and "applied herself" which made me more inclined to do so myself (and gave her admonishing to do so more teeth :D). I learned a lot from how she dealt with difficult assignments. If she could do it, I figured I could, too! :)

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Do you just learn the Latin along with your kids or do you try to get a basic feel for it before you start teaching your kids? I had planned to just learn it along with my kids, but a part of me is terrified of that! I know it isn't conversational so that isn't an issue!

 

#1. Just a basic feel is all, and I worked the first textbook all the way through.

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I'm working on my language skills first. I'm using Lingua Latina and Linney's Latin Class for Latin, and just joined a Homeric Greek group. I took stock of my strengths and interests, and decided I needed to focus on the languages and having a better grasp of the timeline of history (not a soup of unconnected events). I decided to do less on science and math for now.

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We don't study latin, but Spanish. I got a good running start on Spanish (3 semesters worth, made straight A's and can actually speak, understand and read some Spanish outside of academic work.) I'm forced to take a break from Spanish classes until I transfer to Uni and now I'm just teaching LilGal as I go through and patch up any and all holes I can identify in my own Spanish.

 

I'm reworking all the grammar from Spanish 1 and 2, paying special attention to the bits I struggled with, (Those darn Noun+Adjective agreement, Double Object pronouns!) using Pimsleur and trying to watch more media in Spanish and read in Spanish everyday. (ha!)

 

I say get a head start if you can, jump in and swim for the shore if you cant. The worst case scenario is you and your kids learn something...even if its that "Mom really sucks at Latin!" lol. (Its good for students to see the imperfections in their teachers sometimes too!)

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As a couple of others have mentioned, Getting Started with Latin is fabulous for beginners of any age. I'm learning much more than I thought I would have time for; the two boys are doing very well too.

 

The mp3's are nice; it helps me sooo much to hear it, write it, and say it myself.

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I have one more test in Analytical Grammar's Season One, then I'll be starting Wheelocks. Dh is using Lingua Latina, so I have that for backup for when Wheelocks gives me brain overload. We'll see how we go with that...

 

:)

Rosie

 

That's me! I have brain overload with Wheelock's...and I'm only a few chapters in. LOL, but I am loving it. It'll definitely help a few years down the road when the kidlets are beyond SSL.

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