Laura Corin Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 Taking advantage of our last few weeks on the same time zone... You were using the Cambridge on-line Latin course, weren't you? What did you not like about it? I am planning on using it when we finish Latin Prep/SY Latin. Thanks Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 Hi Laura, It wasn't me that didn't like it :) My daughter did Cambridge Latin for 3 years in a small class with other homeschoolers. Members dropped out, she stayed, she enjoyed it...but at the end of 3 years she had only moved into the first half of book 2, and I knew she was capable of so much more. The teacher for some reason believed in going incredibly slowly, and set only a small amount of homework. But he covered the culture and history of Ancient times as well, and even threw in bits of Ancient Greek language. He was fascinating (I stayed and enjoyed the classes too). She enjoyed it because she thrives in small classes with teachers who love their subject. She is a very social creature. So I decided I could improve on all that and enrolled her in Book 3 of Cambridge online. All in all it's about the same money as the class, just all at once. And it freed up some time for us. But then I kind of left her to it, just looked over her shoulder every now and then to make sure it was getting done. The thing is the Independent Learning manuals only ask you to send in one assignment each week, but you complete several. So I am pretty sure she skimped on the ones she didn't need to send in. The other thing is, although I don't mind how the grammar is taught in Cambridge- it worked well in the class where the teacher moved slowly and went over and over the grammar as they went- when it came to self motivation to really understand and remember the new grammar- she just wasn't motivated, and I had kind of taken my hands off and left it to her since I was paying through the nose for a tutor. I don't think you would have the same problem coming over from Latin Prep because Calvin would already have the grammar pretty well learned. If I want her to continue with Latin I will have to go over the grammar with her-the recent stuff is not solid. Basically, I should never have expected her to have the motivation to really push herself, as she is not naturally a solo learner. I don't expect my son to learn it himself- I do it with him, me holding the answers, similar to you, whether he is doing Cambridge or Latin Prep- but I somehow expected more maturity and motivation from my daughter, and that was my mistake, not hers, I think. I think there needs to be a genuine self motivation to learn a language- any language- online, or alone. I should have watched more closely- I was relying on her desire for approval from her tutor, but it's hard to care when the tutor is in another country! I personally like the way Cambridge is set up, and I like the Independent Learning Manuals, but like all Latin, you need to learn the grammar. I think your situation will be quite different from ours. It is only my son who has used Latin Prep, not my daughter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted July 13, 2008 Author Share Posted July 13, 2008 Thanks for that. I'm sure I would have expected Calvin to get on with it too, so it's good to know that I need to stay more engaged. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom_of_eight Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 I have had much more luck with the Latin classes taught at Regina Coeli Academy. True I teach there now, but my oldest two kids went through their entire Latin and philosophy program before I was ever asked to teach Math and science. The Henle series gets it done with the young students, and the Wheelock series gets it done with High school students really interested in classics. My kids have had both. The teachers are great, the time deadlines for homework, tests, and exams are motivating. many many hand graded assignments by teachers every quarter as well as self checking quizzes. Homework is gone over in class. they can also post questions in their class forum. Audio as well as text and white board is used. Most kids pass the National Latin exam with this set of courses. We have many who earn medals with that. The descriptions of the classes are here. Wendy is most helpful if you call there with questions. God Bless, Sandy Harrison Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted August 9, 2008 Share Posted August 9, 2008 Thankyou Sandy- I am not sure your post is appropriate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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