Alicia64 Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 This has been my first experience not liking a curriculum recommended in the Well Trained Mind. I like every other rec. SWB has made. But Lively Latin for 8 year olds?? No. Plus I know 9-, 10, 11- and a 12-year old who aren't digging it either. Now, in fairness, those kids aren't getting much parent help, but still. My "gifted" 8-year-old is doing Lively Latin, but even he is complaining about it. My other 8 year old is literally in tears when we sit down to do a work sheet. We did Song School Latin last year -- now obviously that's a very gentle intro. I don't want anything that gentle. I want some meat, but meat that's appropriate to 8-year-olds. Can you recommend the Latin you're using for that age? I really appreciate any help!!! Alley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 My 6 year old loves Lively Latin, but my older wouldn't have. He liked Getting Started With Latin when he was 8, maybe you could check that out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alicia64 Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 My 6 year old loves Lively Latin, but my older wouldn't have. He liked Getting Started With Latin when he was 8, maybe you could check that out? Halcyon: I was just reading your comments on another Latin thread. It's so interesting to me that your 6-year-old is cool with Lively Latin. I'm not doubting you. Really. Just surprised. Your six year old has really memorized the case names? The singular and plural? Is he now conjugating verbs? Maybe it's just some personalities like one Latin and other personalities like another. Bummer -- I spent money on LL as you know. Alley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Have you looked at LfC? It's got much the same content as LL, but the video presentation can make a big difference for some kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alicia64 Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 I have to be honest: all of the letters are very confusing for me! :lol: LFC. . .I'm not sure what that is. I'll check out Getting Started with Latin. Does anyone have any thoughts on Minimus Latin -- Latin with a mouse?? Thank you so much for the help!! Alley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warneral Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 LFC is Latin for Children. I am watching the thread b/c I need to decide what to try next year when mine are 8 and 10. We're doing Song School right now and we have Minimus to try when we get done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 I haven't started yet, but I have read through 3 different curricula this month in preparation for starting Latin in Jan. Minimus looks awesome and fun, but it is whole to parts Latin instruction rather than parts to whole, so that might make a difference in your choice. We are going to use it as a supplement. Won't SSL 2 be out in Jan.? It might be worth waiting for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 My 9 yo 4th grader is doing a Visual Latin/Getting Started With Latin combo. Next year he'll do Latin for Children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OK Family Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 My 8 yr old is doing prima Latina with DVDs. one he likes the fact there is a DVD, not just mom. We watch DVD on Monday, do workbook page tues and wed, Friday listen to pronunciation cd for vocabulary practice, we plan on continuing with Latina christinia 1 next year. This program is not flashy, but gets the job done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acurtis75 Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 I will add another vote for Latin for Children. I'm using it for my child that's working on a third grade+ level. We used SOng School Latin and then Prima Latina because we weren't quite ready for LFC when we finished SSL. I haven't looked at Lively Latin but dd enjoys the dvd's with the kids doing the chants for memorization and the little animated stories. Dd also occasionally plays the games on the website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Is it the Latin instruction or the writing that is the problem? If it's the Latin instruction, then perhaps Getting Started with Latin would work better. However, if it is the writing, you can do most of it orally and/or you can scribe. Or is it something else altogether that is the problem but can be fixed? We spread the first book of Lively Latin over two years (grades 2 and 3). I used the parts that worked (for example, we didn't like the history at all, so we just didn't do it) and I modified the parts that needed modifying (by doing much of the work orally). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcnlvr Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 +1 for GSWL. Perfect intro for us this year (we are doing 3 languages this year and also use the GSWS book for Spanish). Next year we will start Latin Prep (ds10 will be 5th then). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Halcyon: I was just reading your comments on another Latin thread. It's so interesting to me that your 6-year-old is cool with Lively Latin. I'm not doubting you. Really. Just surprised. Your six year old has really memorized the case names? The singular and plural? We're moving slowly with Lively Latin, after starting in October. We plan to take Grades 1-2 to finish it. So far, he has learned: 1) case names 2) endings for first declension and 2nd dec 3) genders and definitions for words up through Vocab C. 4) 1st or 2nd declensions for given words and how to find the base/stem. 5) placing macrons correctly 6) four conjugations 7) personal endings of verbs Is he now conjugating verbs? Yes, he is-we covered that in 4.3. He likes the easy going pace and the stories as well. My older prefers Henle-straightforward and no "extras" ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 What specifically is the issue? Is it the method? Does it move too fast? Too slow? To much vocabulary? Not enough? Too much writing? Not enough writing? Are the pages too busy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
golfcartmama Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 We started Getting Started with Latin a few weeks ago and love it. It is gentle, but we do 1-2 lessons a day and the bonus is that it was CHEAP! Just buy the one book and then download the mp3s for pronunciation (free). I tried it out by borrowing from the library first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy2BaMom Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Wow, the best I can say after reading all these replies is "it must depend on the child". My 3rd grade son really likes Lively Latin. He hated Song School Latin & Minimus to me was not worth spending the $$$ on it, given how little he learned and how much it cost. Neither of us liked Latin for Children. Now, we are taking LL very slow - the first level will be spread out over this year and next. Some of the worksheets we do orally -he just tells me the answers. We also do the games online (we bought the book version, but that still gives you access to the online games). Not sure if that helps. Perhaps take a break and then slow it down / do more oral? Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PIE! Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 I'm watching this thread because we'll be starting Latin next year (3rd grade) and I haven't got a clue which program to choose. It looks like it really depends on the individual kids. Since I know my kids and you don't, I'll need to do the picking. If I had all the programs in front of me I could probably pick out what would work best. But I've never actually seen any of these. It seems like there are many people with this problem. Would someone mind briefly comparing and contrasting the main Latin programs out there so those of us who don't know anything about them can figure out what will work for our individual kids? It would be a huge help and I'd be forever grateful. Or if that's been done - a link to the thread would be quite appreciated. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happy-hs Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 My 8 and 9 year olds are using Visual Latin. This is our first semester with it, but it's going very well. The kids really enjoy it. It's funny, straight-forward, and open-and-go (lessons are on DVD with a cooresponding worksheet). We're adding Lingua Latina next semester for extra translations. Melissa :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Could you, perhaps, explain what you/he are having trouble with? If you had a better grasp of the material, do you think it might be less overwhelming for your son? I really *don't* think that Lively Latin should be all that overwhelming for an 8yo... But maybe if I had a better grasp of what your average lesson looked like and what was causing most trouble, maybe I could offer some ways to make it more approachable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Laurie Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 One of my kids loves Latin for Children. The other one not so much. I have considered trying something else with her. But you know what? I really think it's just that she doesn't enjoy memory work and Latin is a lot of memorizing. Memory work is hard for her. Math comes easily to her, she loves math puzzles, and easily blazes through things like Singapore Challenging Word problems. But when it comes to math facts, it's like pulling teeth to get her to memorize them; we've tried so many things and they seem to fall right back out of her head. She's extremely creative and loves a challenge but finds memorizing hard. On the other hand, her brother is a much more concrete, sequential thinker and he has a photographic memory, he memorizes everything without effort. And he loves Latin. So sometimes I wonder if Latin is just more enjoyable and understandable to a certain type of thinker, and that for other types, it might be harder, no matter what curriculum is used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stellalarella Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 I had no previous Latin before using LL with my dc. I remember hitting a wall by the 4th chapter or so. I had to sit down and make my own study guide and think about how the magistra was presenting the lessons. After I spent some time with it, our lessons went smoothly. We are finishing the book this week in fact, after a year and a half, having started with a 9yo and an 11yo. I wouldn't classify LL as self-teaching unless a kid was super motivated. Is your child experiencing frustration and needs some additional verbal instruction beyond reading the text? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Rebecca is using Latin For Children too. It is work, but not too much for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 Halcyon: I was just reading your comments on another Latin thread. It's so interesting to me that your 6-year-old is cool with Lively Latin. I'm not doubting you. Really. Just surprised. Your six year old has really memorized the case names? The singular and plural? Is he now conjugating verbs? Maybe it's just some personalities like one Latin and other personalities like another. Bummer -- I spent money on LL as you know. Alley I used LL with my 7yo. He had done GWG 3 the year before and did MCT Island level at the same time. The background in English grammar really helped and I remember that the MCT materials really seemed to reinforce what we were learning in LL. We used LL over two years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 Does anyone have any thoughts on Minimus Latin -- Latin with a mouse?? I can't stand Minimus. It is very whole to parts and scattered in its instruction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 I am also not a fan of Minimus. I agree that the whole to parts method of instruction do not appeal to me. And it is written for Latin teachers. If you don't know much (or any) Latin it might be hard to create a lesson out of it. I always think there should be 'more' to Minimus. I can't imagine it lasting a whole school year by itself. But, I have never really tried to implement it so maybe I am not seeing something. I do own it. But, I just couldn't find the instruction or support I needed. That said, I know some folks like it very much. There is nothing 'wrong' with it. It just isn't the program for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyP Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 Would someone mind briefly comparing and contrasting the main Latin programs out there so those of us who don't know anything about them can figure out what will work for our individual kids? It would be a huge help and I'd be forever grateful. Or if that's been done - a link to the thread would be quite appreciated. Thanks! Lively Latin isn't listed, but this should help you get started. Comparison of Latin Programs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tam101 Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 We did Getting Started with Latin last year in 3rd my son enjoyed it. He is doing well with Lively Latin this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloggermom Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 Are you using the video lessons for Lively Latin? My 3rd grade daughter was doing Latin for Children, but it was too overwhelming so we actually switched from LfC to LL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarreymere Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 We tried Lively Latin, but it really didn't click with us. I got Latin for Children A, and that is working out pretty well but with some tweaking. It seems like it goes too fast and doesn't have as much explanation as I would like (I am learning as I go with Latin). We don't have the dvds, just the books. So, I go through the chapter ahead of time and make up my own worksheets and what not, based on what I think I would need to do to learn the material. The publisher's website also has a lot of worksheets and things made up by parents, and some really neat videos. Overall, this one is working the best for us, but it is NOT open and go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zenjenn Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 Hmm, now I am nervous that no one has mentioned Visual Latin. I was thinking of starting this with my 3rd grader in January. I liked the idea of a video instructor. I know nothing about Latin so I figured we could watch/learn together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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