If your child did well on the National Latin Exam, what program did you use?

[Mom0012]

I started a thread last night about a coop in our area that has an excellent reputation for teaching Latin very well. Unfortunately, while the class is $200, I just found out the administrative/registration/holding fees bring the price up to $500 per child and I cannot afford that at this point.

 

So, what Latin program have you successfully used at home?

 

Lisa

Edited August 2, 2011 by LisaTheresa

[Violet Crown]

Dd15 did well on the NLE (it's been a couple of years, and I can't recall her scores off the top of my head). She used only Artes Latinae.

[G5052]

However, Henle does not have enough history and culture IMHO, and the sequence of topics makes it a little tougher to do well if you are just in the first book. We do Latin year-round and add in history, mythology, and culture, so both of mine did well. This next year I have one doing Wheelock with a "real" Latin teacher (i.e. not just a mom trying really hard) via an online class and the other continuing with Henle, so we'll see it how it comes out.

 

I administered the exam last year to a group of kids who were using Henle and/or Latin's Not So Tough, and the majority of them really struggled.

[purplemama]

My son scored 39/40 two times (careless error both times) taking the Intro. Exam and I used Latina Christiana I and II and volume 1 of Latin in the Christian Trivium as well as supplementing on my own with mythology reading, Famous Men of Rome, and research on cultural/history topics (Circus Maximus and other architecture, family and home, etc.).

[Mom0012]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I would really like my son to be able to take the class at the coop, but not only is it expensive, it is about 40 minutes from my house. I just corrected my initial post and the class is $500, not $300 with all the fees. Even if I could afford the time and money, I don't know what I'd do with my daughter because I'm required to take the class with him.

 

I will take a look at Artes and Latina Christiana. Purplemama, I see you are using 2nd Form Latin now. Is that something you are doing as a follow-up to Latina Christiana or did you switch over to First Form. According to the Memoria Press website, my son is old enough to begin in First Form, but I also see that each level is equivalent to one high school credit and he's only entering 6th grade.

 

Lisa

Edited August 3, 2011 by LisaTheresa

[Honey Bee]

:lurk5:

[Alphabetika]

My dd got a silver her first year, a gold her second, and she used Wheelock's. She did take an online class, though.

[crazyforlatin]

 

I administered the exam last year to a group of kids who were using Henle and/or Latin's Not So Tough, and the majority of them really struggled.

 

Could you tell us which level did you administer? I was thinking of having DD take the Introductory test but we've only finished Henle's declensions and adjectives and will be learning the conjugations soon. I can see from the previous year's exams that there are vocabulary and phrases that we haven't seen in Henle, but some of them are in Latin Prep.

[Robyn]

There is a post on the Memoria Press forum right now about the NLE. They are preparing a NLE prep guide. You can call them to order. It isn't finished, but Tanya said the Intro section is in good shape.

Edited August 3, 2011 by Robyn

[crazyforlatin]

There is a post on the Memoria Press forum right now about the NLE. They are preparing a NLE prep guide. You can call them to order. It isn't finished, but Tanya said the Intro section is in good shape.

 

Thank you Robyn!

[G5052]

Could you tell us which level did you administer? I was thinking of having DD take the Introductory test but we've only finished Henle's declensions and adjectives and will be learning the conjugations soon. I can see from the previous year's exams that there are vocabulary and phrases that we haven't seen in Henle, but some of them are in Latin Prep.

 

My oldest was the only medal-winner out of 20, and he had worked through all of Henle I and done a lot of outside reading.

 

I really like Henle (I'm teaching Henle II to a class locally), but a kid won't do well on the NLE with just the declensions, adjectives, and a few verbs. You need get into the conjugations and the history, culture, etc. as well.

[Three Crows]

I just posted on another forum... How did you sign up for the NLE? I looked on the site, and there doesn't seem to be registration info for homeschoolers. Thanks!

[2_girls_mommy]

bump. I would like to know how you do this as well. I would love to have my dd participate in another year or two.

 

Thanks to anyone who can shed some light on how to get enrolled in this for homeschoolers..

[G5052]

The deadline will be in January with the actual test in March.

[2_girls_mommy]

So homeschools just enroll the same as schools, and assign a proctor to give the exam?

 

I saw their test results comparing hsers to traditional students. Hsers outscored on every level. That was very encouraging.

[crazyforlatin]

My oldest was the only medal-winner out of 20, and he had worked through all of Henle I and done a lot of outside reading.

 

I really like Henle (I'm teaching Henle II to a class locally), but a kid won't do well on the NLE with just the declensions, adjectives, and a few verbs. You need get into the conjugations and the history, culture, etc. as well.

 

Thank you for sharing your experience with us. Is it too much to ask whether there is one book that covers everything for the Introductory test? I thought I read somewhere here that one book seems to cover most of everything that appears in the NLE.

 

I have been reading aloud FMOR and I do have LNM, but I don't want to stop using Henle just because it may not be enough for the NLE.

[2cents]

My son did well and he had 2 years of FLVS Latin. :)

[purplemama]

My daughter just did First Form Latin and she was a 4th grader. It is geared to about 4th-6th graders beginning Latin. My daughter had the second highest score out of 13 kids in our co-op class and she was the youngest. Most of my kids were in 7-9th grade. I much prefer Memoria Press' curriculum to Latin in the Christian Trivium. My son only took LiTC because it was being offered at our co-op by an excellent Latin teacher, but she will not be teaching at our co-op anymore and I need to streamline my teaching at home so my older two do a majority of their work together. I taught First Form at our co-op, and will be continuing with the Memoria Press curriculum until high school for my son, when we will embark on Henle, and add a modern language.

 

I decided to just start my daughter out with First Form as I think it covered the material in a clearer way than LC 1 and 2. I think LC1 and 2 moved too slowly for the material to make sense and I am of the opinion that the early kids are introduced to the grammar and able to memorize the forms, the better.

Edited August 4, 2011 by purplemama

[Julie in GA]

and we used Latin in the Christian Trivium. This program is weak, however, on Roman history & mythology, so if you use it, you'll need to make sure you have other sources for that portion. (Previous to LiCT, he went through Latina Christiana I & II, and did a few chapters of Wheelocks.)

 

HTH

[MGK]

and we used Latin in the Christian Trivium. This program is weak, however, on Roman history & mythology, so if you use it, you'll need to make sure you have other sources for that portion. (Previous to LiCT, he went through Latina Christiana I & II, and did a few chapters of Wheelocks.)

 

HTH

 

Julie,

Had your son finished the LitCT Vol. 3 book when he took the Latin III exam? We will probably be 2/3 of the way through the book in March, and are covering Roman mythology and history in a separate class.

[G5052]

The National Latin Exam is a one-hour, multiple-choice exam. While it is a worthy goal, I wouldn't pick curriculum solely on the basis of wanting to do well on a one-hour exam though. In our case, we really enjoy Latin as a family and decided to get a group together just before the January deadline, so there truly wasn't a lot of thought about preparation. That said, I was pleased at how my own children did, but we study Latin year-round and enjoy that period of history and culture.

 

From the books I own, I would say that Ecce Romani and Wheelock's provide the best preparation. I would struggle teaching those books though, and am more comfortable with Henle. My younger one is continuing in Henle with Ecce Romani as an add-on, and my older one is hoping to place into an online class that uses the second half of Wheelock's. Not that I think that Henle is bad, it is just narrower than some in focus, and that doesn't translate as well into success on the National Latin Exam.

 

I am not familiar with First Form, but believe it to be solid from what I've read about it.