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How old was your child(ren) when you started Latin ?


TracyR
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Just thought I'd ask because I see such a wide variety of ages at different levels . Was there a certain time when you felt your child was ready to learn ?

 

My oldest is 10 and second daughter is 8 and I started them both with Prima Latina and they are doing great with it .

My 5year old wants to learn and has picked up some here and there but I see that everyone suggests to wait until they are reading and she isn't reading quite yet . Should I still let her learn it anyways ? :confused:

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I started my first grader when my 3rd grader started. Prima Latina as well. I would think you could let the 5 yo follow along orally with her siblings.

 

Maybe you could even do some latin vocab for handwriting practice if she's that far along yet in handwriting. I guess any words she'd learn thru flash cards and such would be sight memorization, but that wouldn't be so bad - right?

 

Alot of moms on the boards started with K - but you are right about most of them being able to read some already.

 

ETA - I bet she could memorize the prayers just as well as her siblings!

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My oldest started Minimus at 5. She was reading very well, understood basic English Grammar, and interested so we just did it.

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8 years old here. We started with Prima Latina.

 

I would neither encourage nor discourage a 5YO from listening in with the older siblings. I would see little point in doing Latin with a 5YO who was the oldest. But I would have no problem with a 5YO youngest following along.

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Oldest ds was in 3rd gr/8yo when we started w/ Latin Primer. He is now 10.5yo. Since I knew I wanted my other 2 to start Latin this yr I took advantage of an excuse to switch my curriculum (we're doing the latest ed. of Latin for Children) and have oldest ds tutor his younger siblings. My 6yo has been eager to learn since 4yo and there's no holding him back, LOL!

 

:iagree: with the other poster who said to neither encourage nor discourage your youngest from joining in. It's amazing how much those little ones pick up just being exposed to their older sibling's lessons.

 

Best wishes!

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My older ds started with Prima Latina at 5, but he was already a strong reader. My younger ds really WANTS to learn Latin--it must be cool if his big brother is doing it--but he's 4 and not reading yet. We'll wait until at least he is reading fluently before starting. At this rate, I'm guessing he'll be 6 or 7.

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yes . I think I'm not encouraging but not discouraging . If she sits in and listens great . If not I don't push it . Even my two year old has picked up the word ' via' . LOL . My 5yr old is a bit different . She had apraxia so she didn't start speaking until she was 4.5 yrs old . But that mind sure is working . She just didn't have the verbal ability . She is now catching up so we are now able to start reading with her because now she talks a mile a minute :>) She isn't fluently reading but can sound out words which is a start .

 

I had ordered Song School Latin , just for fun to supplement . I think though its more for her older sisters then for her :>)

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Just thought I'd ask because I see such a wide variety of ages at different levels . Was there a certain time when you felt your child was ready to learn ?

 

My oldest is 10 and second daughter is 8 and I started them both with Prima Latina and they are doing great with it .

My 5year old wants to learn and has picked up some here and there but I see that everyone suggests to wait until they are reading and she isn't reading quite yet . Should I still let her learn it anyways ? :confused:

 

My oldest was seven and the middle was 4 when we did Prima. The middle just followed along orally. This year, ds8 did LC 1 and ds5 continued to follow along when he wanted to. I have never required him to do it. He'll go back and do LC 1 himself when he is probably 7. I'll have him skip Prima.

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We began PL at 8yo. DD was fluently reading and understanding English Grammar. I wouldn't do any of the writing until the child is fluently reading his first language. The reason is that there are different sounds to the digraphs/multi-letter phonograms. No need to possibly confuse them.

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We began PL at 8yo. DD was fluently reading and understanding English Grammar. I wouldn't do any of the writing until the child is fluently reading his first language. The reason is that there are different sounds to the digraphs/multi-letter phonograms. No need to possibly confuse them.

 

We have only done Korean as a second language, and are just now considering starting Latin this fall. My dc are 8 and 6.5. I am glad that my dc have already been learning Korean, since they are Korean-born. They started learning Korean before they could read, but it was first in a more immersion setting, and then in Korean Language School when they were in K. I think the difference could be that Korean was spoken around them all the time, whereas Latin instruction would be handled differently... except where learning the Latin chants through songs comes in. It seems that a young child that couldn't read wouldn't have a problem with the chants and songs in Latin. It would only be when you are teaching that ae and oe says 'ay', for example? I don't really know the answer to this question... I guess I am just asking. Even as I write this, I am thinking that my dc did receive instruction in learning their Korean 'letters' and sounds before they could read English fluently. The only problem I have seen with this is that our pediatrician told me, when my ds was 4 or 5, that he spoke English with a Korean accent! :lol: I would actually have trouble hearing whether he was asking me to "play" or "pray" at night before he went to bed. This is a classic problem for Koreans learning to speak English... to distinguish between their r's and l's.... the words 'rotary' and 'lottery' sound the same, or 'fried rice' sounding like 'flied lice'.

 

I know I digress here... it's just that I have an MA in linguistics and love to analyze the topic of language learning! :D And I am trying to decide if it would be too confusing to add Latin when they are already working on Korean as well as perfecting their English! Maybe I'll start another thread with this question for the experts!

 

Brenda

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They were both reading when I started them. Ds did PL orally, dd used the workbook that I bought for ds and never used.

 

dd6. I will just have her memorize vocab and recite with her siblings at this point. depending how she does this year I might still do PL with her in second grade but at the pace of about 2 lessons per week.

hth

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We came late to WTM suggestions and I started my oldest son in fifth grade, when he was 10. He completed through high school Latin II level by the end of ninth grade. He is not pursuing Latin further and has returned to a private high school setting. He is pursuing a modern language, instead.

 

I started playing around with Latin for my younger son using Minimus when he was in first grade, age 6. We've played with Minimus and Minimus Secundus the past few years but I will be starting a programming that includes more writing with him this fall, for fifth grade.

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