What after Getting Started With Latin?

[happypamama]

DD (9, going on 10, fourth grade) loves GSWL, and its approach is great for her -- just the right blend of new vs. old so that she gets a challenge plus necessary review. I like that it's teaching her how to figure out sentences systematically. We'll finish it sometime in the late spring or summer, I think. I need something else for after we finish, but I don't want something that starts back at square one again; some review is good, but if it assumes we know nothing, DD will become bored and uninterested.

 

What would be a good program for after GSWL, and what level of that program?

[KristenR]

It might be a bit to repetitive but have you checked Minimus Mouse out? I don't have it in front of me (I borrowed it from my library about a year ago just to check it out) so I can't really remember how basic it was. But I liked the style of it.

[JudoMom]

What about Visual Latin (though I'm using it combined with GSWL for my 4th grader--I'm not sure it would have enough translation on it's own)? I also like Latin for Children (my ds9 will start LfC next year).

[Haiku]

You might like Lively Latin. It never appealed to me but a lot of people like it.

 

Tara

[wapiti]

Dd10 is using Henle Latin 1 - very slowly - and it was a very natural transition. Henle is a significant step up of course, but the basic idea is the same as GSWL - grammar lessons in short chunks with limited vocabulary, always followed by lots of translation. I have found it very easy to adjust the pace to suit my student and the moment. (note, Henle is not secular).

 

One activity you might add in to GSWL is occasional translation from English to Latin. Go back several lessons, and pick a couple sentences out of the answer key to have your dc translate back into Latin. This should be written, as it's difficult to do orally. You could scribe for your dc if that would help.

 

eta, Henle preview at google books

Edited November 6, 2011 by wapiti

[dieuog]

Henle preview at google books

Thank you for the link. I hadn't seen it before. I like the declension of the English sample word "negro"...

 

Goodness! Couldn't the publishers update it?:001_huh:

[happypamama]

One activity you might add in to GSWL is occasional translation from English to Latin. Go back several lessons, and pick a couple sentences out of the answer key to have your dc translate back into Latin. This should be written, as it's difficult to do orally. You could scribe for your dc if that would help.

 

eta, Henle preview at google books

 

I like that idea!

 

Henle does look good; I'm not sure if it will appeal to DD or not.

 

Thanks to the poster who suggested Latin For Children. I forgot that I actually have the answer keys for primers A and B here, as they were given to me a while ago. They looked to be more than we wanted at first, but they might be just right for DD, and that's less I'd have to buy.

 

I also like the looks of Latin's Not So Tough!, and we'd probably start with level 2 or 3 of that.

[Halcyon]

Another vote for Henle here (and we're secular, but we like the text). We are beginning the 4th declension next week, and both my son and I are learning so much (okay ,so he's learning more than me, da*n 42 year old brain..... ;))

 

I like the heavy focus on grammar, I like the repetition, and I like the English to Latin translations. We use Cheryl Lowe's guide from Memoria Press, which moves at a nice, slow pace, and we do a lot of supplementing (drill work, flash cards). I also just ordered an interesting looking book from amazon called Looking at Latin. It might be more helpful to me than to my son (I am a very visual learner) but I have been eyeing it for a while and finally decided to splurge. I'll let you know if it's helpful.

[hsmom27]

We're big Latin Prep fans. DS had completed LfC A, but he hated it and his retention was low. DS is 9 now and we're working slowly in Latin Prep 1. The vocab introduction is very slow, but they are translating short paragraphs fairly quickly. DS loves the stories used for translation and the humor in the text. Good Luck!

[Sahamamama]

I've been working my way through Henle (as an adult), but I wouldn't recommend it for a 5th/6th grader. Reasons: (1) the number of books to juggle could be challenging for a younger student [text, grammar, answer key]; (2) the fact that there is no workbook means the student has to write out everything and is either left with lots of one word answers on a page (which make no sense when you need to review) or the student has to write out the complete exercise with the answers/translation (I ended up typing it all into a Word document, but it's a lot of work); (3) for a girl, there are a lot of boring translations about the Romans conquering the Gauls, and I wouldn't think a 5th grade girl would find that too appealing all the time; and (4) the vocabulary is all over the place in the lessons. This last point frustrated me a bit, because just when I'd get some momentum in a lesson, it was time to stop and make cards, learn new vocabulary, etc. I understand that Father Henle was introducing the new words when he explained their usage, but... I got to where I went through a chapter or section and pulled out all the new vocabulary, made up the cards, and then was good to go for a while.

 

I think that for these reasons, Henle with a younger student could be cumbersome. Have you looked at First Form Latin by Memoria Press? From what I've read about this program, it's like Henle, but reformatted to make it more user-friendly (but I haven't seen it yet). HTH.

 

Oh, if you do decide to go with Henle, MP has a study guide that I did find helpful. HTH.