bluechicken Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 I have decided to start Latin either this spring or next fall. I need some good recommendations. I will have a 1st grader this spring/fall. I have looked at Song School Latin and it looks great. Does anyone know if they ever put it on sale or on the homeschool buyers co-op? Of course, I am open to other suggestions as well. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeganW Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 Song School or Prima Latina are the 2 that are recommended the most for the younger crowd. Haven't tried either personally - just repeating what I have seen others say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 You can get Song School latin on Amazon It's $17.21 for the TM and $15.61 for the student book. Unfortunately amazon doesn't sell the flashcard game, but that's not needed, just a nice bonus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 Song School Latin is the best! You don't need the TM. They should be coming out with SSL 2 in the spring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acurtis75 Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 We've done both ssl and prima Latina and definately prefer ssl. We did pl because she was young when we finished ssl & I thought lfc was a little too much but it was really dry & both of us were relieved to finish it & move on to lfc. Had there been ssl2 we would have done that. I also don't think tm is necessary. It's just a reprint of student book with answers in it that you can figure out for yourself. You can live without flashcards too. We made our own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeterbug Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 They should be coming out with SSL 2 in the spring. :hurray: I had no idea there was going to be another one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama2Many4 Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 We're using Prima Latina and we're loving it so far. It can be a little dry if you don't do anything but workbook pages, but we liven it up with games and things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChandlerMom Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 :iagree: SSL is awesome. You only need to Student workbook, which is cheaper at Amazon. Make sure to download the (free) coloring pages (over 100 pages, one for each word/phrase) from the SSL website. Some days the kids just color in their latin coloring book (I printed and comb bound them, but you could put them in a 3-ring binder, too) while they sing along with the songs from the CD. I imported them to iTunes, so I can play classical versions (they also have the eccl ones on the CD). We then moved to GSWL -- short easy lessons and tons of free mp3s on his website (pronunciations as well as lesson info). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 FWIW I like to start with a modern foreign language while small children are very receptive to learning living languages. I come to Latin later, at around age 9. Both boys are doing well with Latin at school having started at that age (Calvin is one of the best in his class). They also continue their Chinese and French - they are both fluent in the former and not bad in the latter.. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristenR Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 We started SSL when my oldest was 4. Since she was unable to write in the workbooks by herself we literally just took a year singing the songs and utilizing the free resources on the HeadventureLand website. Now that my dd's writing skills have grown, and she is comfortable writing in workbooks, we started using the workbook. Since she is already comfortable with the songs and has most of them memorized its been pretty easy to breeze through the lessons. I'm amazed at how much she is memorizing (and myself too!) I did a blog post about incorporating SSL for younger children awhile back. I have been meaning to write an update since we are now actually following the program as it was intended. I am glad we had some time just playing around with it and learning the songs and inventing some games to go with it. I also agree that you don't need the Teacher's Manual or the flashcards. We much prefer the free coloring pages from the headventureland website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaMa2005 Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 Song School Latin is the best! You don't need the TM. They should be coming out with SSL 2 in the spring. Oh, that is nice to know. We just started SSL 1 and LOVE it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Jessica* Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 Make sure to download the (free) coloring pages (over 100 pages, one for each word/phrase) from the SSL website. I printed the coloring pages 6 to a page and made them into flashcards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sncstraub Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 We are using SSL as well. I'm using it with my K-er and 3rd grader. We actually started it last year and have been going thru it slowly - we were much more inconsistent last year. Anyway, as ds8 is in 3rd now, he's able to do more written work. Previously, I thought it was a total waste to buy the TM, as others have said. But this year I discovered that in addition to the answer key, there are also pages in the back with an extra activity for each chapter. Since we didn't do them thru the first half of SSL last year, I've been using some of them as review exercises. Just wanted to chime in and let you know that the TM is not completely useless as I previously thought. Maybe not worth the $$ for students who aren't writing as well, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Five More Minutes Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 I printed the coloring pages 6 to a page and made them into flashcards. Now that is an absolutely great idea. Off to do some printing ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristenR Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 Just wanted to chime in and let you know that the TM is not completely useless as I previously thought. Maybe not worth the $$ for students who aren't writing as well, though. Now that my dd is going through the workbook I can see how it might be advantageous to have some extra work if you think your child needs it. However- I am EXTREMELY frugal (read broke!:glare:) in our homeschooling budget right now and in hindsight I would still have preferred to save my money. The subject matter in the workbooks is elementary enough so that even I (with no background in Latin:tongue_smilie:) can easily use their headventureland website and create additional exercises spun off of the workbook. I found it fairly easy to create fun games and dances to go along with the songs and they helped ingrain the vocabulary even more. However, sometimes homeschooling is about balancing your time and energy and for some people it might be easier to have it ready made in the teacher manual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 However, sometimes homeschooling is about balancing your time and energy and for some people it might be easier to have it ready made in the teacher manual. For that matter, for extremely frugal situations, or balancing one's time and energy, I'd skip SSL altogether and not do Latin until the dc are older. IMO, SSL is about fun/enthusiasm for the language rather than substance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 We started SSL when my oldest was 4. Since she was unable to write in the workbooks by herself we literally just took a year singing the songs and utilizing the free resources on the HeadventureLand website. Now that my dd's writing skills have grown, and she is comfortable writing in workbooks, we started using the workbook. Since she is already comfortable with the songs and has most of them memorized its been pretty easy to breeze through the lessons. I'm amazed at how much she is memorizing (and myself too!) I did a blog post about incorporating SSL for younger children awhile back. I have been meaning to write an update since we are now actually following the program as it was intended. I am glad we had some time just playing around with it and learning the songs and inventing some games to go with it. I also agree that you don't need the Teacher's Manual or the flashcards. We much prefer the free coloring pages from the headventureland website. Yes, I should add that I used SSL when Rebecca was 5/6 and Sylvia was a preschooler at the time and SHE learned a ton from it! We did liven things up too, I made a chart for moods (pessime, optime, etc) and put Latin name labels on stuffed animals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmschooling Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 I printed the coloring pages 6 to a page and made them into flashcards. GREAT idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluechicken Posted October 15, 2011 Author Share Posted October 15, 2011 Thank you all so much! I am especially glad that I only have to spend the $16 on the student text and not the $70 on the whole package. I am sure I can come up with some games and fun ways to incorporate it as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in the UP of MI Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 We used Song School Latin last year when dd was in first grade. She loved it. We did get the flash cards and used them often to play games to help memorize vocabulary. We just started Prima Latina and dd often says that she already knows this or that because she learned it last year. So not only was SSL fun but it is making Latin easier for her this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivka Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 We love SSL. We make up games to go along with the lessons. For example, our most recent two lessons were about parts of the body, and so yesterday I had the kids running around following silly instructions: "Put your auris on a sella and your pes on a fenestra." ("Put your ear on a chair and your foot on a window.") We play "Simon Says" a lot, too. I've also made simple treasure hunts. Also, for this age, don't miss the about conjugating amo amas amat. Even my 2yo can chant the conjugation, and my 6yo was excited to figure out that she could now conjugate the verbs they present in SSL. (For example, SSL teaches that do is "I give," but if you know your amo amas amat, you can figure out the whole string of do das dat damus datis dant.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.