When to start Latin?

[SewingMom2many]

I'd love to get my kids started with some Latin, learning the word roots and such. How early can I start and what is a good curriculum for learning Latin early?

[KristenR]

From the research I have done there really isn't any huge benefit for the kids to starting Latin early. That being said, I felt compelled to start my kids young because I was hoping to "get our feet wet" by starting out VERY gently. I don't see how early exposure to any language can be a bad thing. I am currently using Song School Latin and recently made a blog post about the fun things we have been doing with it.

This curriculum doesn't go into grammar work or the mechanics of Latin. Its just basically vocabulary building. My children are 4 (almost 5), 2, and 1. My oldest two LOVE the songs. We've incorporated all kinds of neat dances to go with each track.

Even though I don't feel it's necessary for kids to start this young, I like how I myself am slowly easing myself into something that will be completely foreign to me when we tackle it later.

[SewingMom2many]

Thank you so much! That's exactly what I want to do, just kind of get started in it and introduce it this year. Off to go read your blog... :)

[SilverMoon]

I also use/used Song School Latin with my littles. It's a great, gentle introduction to the language. My first one to go through SSL had a great familiarity with the language and pronunciation when he finished.

 

I would wait until the child is reading very well in English before starting it.

[FairProspects]

I would wait until the child is reading very well in English before starting it.

 

What would you classify as reading very well? Ds reads Frog & Toad type books, but still needs work on fluency. I have Song School Latin and was hoping to start it next fall. Having done it before, do you think this is reading well enough or should we wait?

[SilverMoon]

What would you classify as reading very well? Ds reads Frog & Toad type books, but still needs work on fluency. I have Song School Latin and was hoping to start it next fall. Having done it before, do you think this is reading well enough or should we wait?

 

Assuming you'll be working on that fluency between now and then, that would be fine. :001_smile: Mine were reading that level (VP's first grade lit) easily when they started SSL.

[mamachanse]

Do you need the bundle to make it work, or are there components you could do without? (of SSL)

[KristenR]

Do you need the bundle to make it work, or are there components you could do without? (of SSL)

 

I got the full package as a birthday gift from a close friend who knew I was homeschooling my children. If I had to purchase it myself I think I would just stick with the main student book. The teacher's book is not really necessary at all. However since I do have it I do take advantage of the additional pages they have in the back to give myself more ideas to expand on each lesson. But really, if my kids were older I think they worksheets in the student book are enough.

 

My daughters are so young yet that I really haven't gotten around to using the flashcards at all. I don't know if I ever will or not. In all honesty I find their website so much more engaging; I've just never been big into flashcards. They have free games, videos, and coloring pages. Someone on this forum posted some neat advice about how to shrink the coloring pages so they print a bunch on one page and you can cut them and make your own flashcards.

 

As for choosing to wait to begin the program or not- my 4 year old is a pretty good reader for her age. She'll handle books like Amelia Bedilia and other Step 2 readers without too many problems and could handle most of the words in the workbook. The trouble for her with the workbook is that her writing is still very big and she likes to have the lines to guide her. For that reason I put off actually using the workbook at this point.

 

I was eager to start it though so that's why I figured we could just start out this year learning the songs. As I mentioned we incorporate dances and make use of the coloring sheets. I use the student workbook to come up with ideas to write out on our dry erase board. ( For example drawing pictures of a mother, father, sister, and brother and having my dd label them there. )

We watch the primary level videos on the website and although all the words might not be covered in SSL, it is easy enough to follow the story.

 

I figure by the time we are finishing up the SSL cd my daughter's writing may be at a comfortable enough level to tackle the worksheets- which will be basically a review. Then we can go to Song School Latin 2 if it is out or attempt something like Minimus Mouse and fill in some more time before we attempt something like Latin for Children.

[Ester Maria]

Any Latin before upper elementary / middle school is essentially exposure Latin only (SSL etc.). If you want that, fine, many of them are funny and fluffy and colorful and kids like them, but do not set your hopes high regarding the actual content and learning.

 

Most children are not ready to handle some cognitive nuances which a structured Latin study requires until upper elementary or middle school (it is all fine when it is about memorizing endings, but further...). Because of that, an early start is not needed, and especially no if the child is frustrated about it (not worth it before 4th-6th grade if it is only frustrating the child).

 

If you know Latin, but only if you know Latin (and not in other cases as you might, in lack of a better expression, "mess the kids up" so later they will have to unlearn and relearn things), the method of literary texts with automatic literal translation of broken down units to your language works wonders for passive fluency. Be careful with poetry, though, if your knowledge of metrics is not rock solid. I did that with kids a lot when we were all in a good mood, but in our case it made sense because our native language is Italian, so connections were stronger. I also found myself hopeless regarding any "meaty" stuff with them until about 3rd-4th grade, in spite of them being academically advanced. They still learned most of their formal grammar (esp. syntax) analytically in middle school period. An early start was totally unnecessary. In the end, upon graduation they would not know Latin considerably better than me upon my graduation, and I started at 10 years old in my fifth year of formal education and spent a bit over three years on grammar even back then, before texts in high school (the one that will know better is the one which has a particular interest in Latin, due to that interest, rather than what I did with them). You just cannot do "meaty" stuff with kids, even if they develop a good passive fluency - but that works, I repeat, only if you know Latin and do not bite more than you can chew when it comes to the choice of texts you read to them (Vulgata is fine for most people, but beware of Virgil unless you really, really know your metrics and syntax).

 

Basically, to sum it up, in the vast majority of cases, just wait for the logic stage - or if you already do it in grammar, do it without expectations and stress, taking an approach that it is exposure Latin only.

[AvasMom]

I also use/used Song School Latin with my littles. It's a great, gentle introduction to the language. My first one to go through SSL had a great familiarity with the language and pronunciation when he finished.

 

I would wait until the child is reading very well in English before starting it.

 

:iagree:We pulled my kids back out of PS last year and my ds was way behind on reading. Like barely literate kind of behind. He's in third grade. I started my daughter in second grade but decided to wait another year for him. At this point, he has his phonics down and is reading pretty fluently so were going to go ahead and start Latin. I just think its too much and too confusing to start Latin while they are still getting the basics of reading down. I think if your kid is on grade level and doing well then second grade is a good time to start.