X-posted: Ecce Romani

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

I'm considering Ecce Romani for my oldest in 2-3 years. She's currently using Prima Latina and Minimus, and next year we'll be using Latina Christiana 1 and Minimus Secundus. Mostly, I'm just looking for more information about the series, what ages it was used for, how you liked it, if you combined it with something else (which we most likely would). Thanks!

[G5052]

The publisher says for 7-9th grade. We use other resources, but I use the books as extra readers for summer or when we're preparing for the National Latin Exam.

[amtmcm]

It's a middle & high school series.

 

Book I is available in two books as IA and IB for middle school.

 

Here's a review on Cathy Duffy's website: http://cathyduffyreviews.com/foreign-language/ecce-romani.htm

 

I just switched my DD15 from the middle of Henle I (which is considered a 2 year text) to Ecce Romani II. It has been a very smooth transition. We like Henle, especially the Grammar Book, but the translations were becoming too boring. I also noticed that Ecce Romani's style of questions matched up better with the SAT II format.

 

I also use Ecce Romani I translation stories as a supplement for DD12. She would have no problem using this text, especially if it was the IA version which would split the text over two years. But ERII is definitely at a high school level - DD15 is a gifted, diligent student and it's not a breeze - she does have to work at it.

 

We are all enjoying the stories, beautiful full-color pictures and the Roman history in ER I & II.

 

Prentice Hall has a website with extra activities: http://www.phschool.com/atschool/ecce_romani/program_page.html

DD15 has been using these exercises as her weekly chapter test.

 

And the Language Activity Book is great for extra practice.

 

Here's a thread on finding the TE: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100138

Edited January 26, 2012 by amtmcm

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I'm considering Ecce Romani for my oldest in 2-3 years. She's currently using Prima Latina and Minimus, and next year we'll be using Latina Christiana 1 and Minimus Secundus. Mostly, I'm just looking for more information about the series, what ages it was used for, how you liked it, if you combined it with something else (which we most likely would). Thanks!

 

We started ER recently. I really like it.

 

I was able to get a lot of the material in older editions inexpensively. Paperback Swap had several, including a teacher book.

 

I like that the Teacher Manual has instructions for each lesson, not only of the major grammatical points and what to emphasize, but of what is included just for clarity, but that does not need to be memorized at that point. For example, a word for "her" is used in one activity and glossed under the exercise. It will be taught in a later lesson.

 

Because the lessons go straight to reading sentences and paragraphs, I feel like my kids have much more of a sense of using Latin than we did with Latina Christiana I.

 

Because there are specific oral exercises as well as activities in the activity guide, there ends up being much more written work than in LC 1.

 

Some of the exercises require the student to apply a concept rather than just repeat a phrase from the story. So the story might say that Flavia walks and the girls sing. An exercise might be to say The girls walk. or Flavia sings. where the student has to apply the new skill of congugating a verb in the 3rd person singular and plural.

 

I have a solid grounding in English grammar and have studied other languages, but Latin is new to me. I have been learning alongside the kids. I haven't found my lack of Latin to be a problem.

 

I also have Henle. I would say that Henle has still more practice with exercises and more explicit grammar instruction. But I don't think it has the same sense of quickly being at the point where the student is reading a paragraph in Latin.

 

The ER TM does discuss the fact that the readings in the first book or two are "artificial" Latin in the sense that they were written for the book and do not come from antique sources. They move into original writings around the third book if I recall correctly.

 

The one thing I don't have, that would be helpful, is an audio version of the readings. I fear I'm not consistent enough in applying the macrons correctly.

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

Thanks, everyone!