Beginning Latin for High School

[fischerl]

Help!

 

I teach Spanish 1 and 2 for our homeschool co-op. Our director has asked me to teach Latin next year as well. I have no experience with Latin other than playing Rummy Roots with my kids and being in a word-nerd family. So, two things:

 

1. Do you think this is even doable? Can I familiarize myself with basic Latin over the summer and kind of stay one step ahead of the students?

 

2. Please tell me about your favorite beginning Latin program. I've heard of Wheelocks and Henle (from this board) and will check them out, but I'd love to hear from people who have actually used these or other programs.

 

Thank you!

[Faithr]

For someone who doesn't know Latin, I think Henle is easier than Wheelock's if you use the guides from either Memoria Press or Mother of Divine Grace. However, MODG goes very slowly as I recall. The problem about high school is you have to teach for credit so you need a substantial program that moves more quickly than you probably can do if you've had no former Latin experience. I think teaching Spanish will help in some ways, but in other ways no. I can't imagine teaching Wheelock's with no Latin background. It just goes too fast. Henle was written for high schoolers, Wheelock's is orginally a college text.

 

If they are offering Latin at a high school level, is the co-op planning to offer Latin II? Because usually you want to get at least a couple of years of credits in a foreign language for college transcripts and maybe even more than that. You could try for two years of credit with each year of the co-op equal to half a year of Latin. One way to validate your students Latin learning is to take the National Latin Exam. I was in a Latin class for 4 years run by a homeschooling mom (I was the only adult studying with a bunch of kids!). She taught like her pants were on fire until January. Then we focused on practicing a NLE exam each week for part of our lesson. We used old exams and completed them for homework. This was great for review and whenever we stumbled across something we hadn't learned yet, she'd teach us just for the test. We'd take the NLE sometime in March and then go back to learning from our curriculum until the end of May. It was a good method.

[Candid]

I guess for me it would depend on the co-op and what is said about the course. Some co-op charge pretty hefty fees, I'd not want to pay a high fee for a teacher who knew just a bit more than my child did. Would you want a Spanish teacher like that for your own child?

 

Is there a reason why the co-op director doesn't look for someone with a background in foreign language?

 

On the practical side, Whelock's is two high school year's worth.

[MommyThrice]

I'll agree that Henle is much easier than Wheelocks. I would say Henle covers more grammar, while Wheelocks covers more vocabulary (although I didn't go through Wheelocks, so I could be wrong). Henle was just more navigable. I enjoyed learning Latin with the kids, but we started at a middle-school level using Latina Christiana. I cannot imagine diving in at the high school level, even with a Spanish background. Latin is so much more grammar intensive! And there's the weird word order.

 

It wouldn't take 10-minutes for high schoolers to pick up on the fact that I was struggling to stay ahead. One wrong declension and my secret would be out.

[G5052]

Yes, I've done this. I had done 1/2 of Henle I along with my kids, but my group needed a Henle II teacher. I'm a grammar geek and minored in German Literature (not translations) in college.

 

I took a deep breath, and this is my second year. I made fill-in-the blank handouts for the class so that we would keep on track and within my comfort zone, and I've been OK. I don't present myself as a Latin expert, but it has been doable. I know more than they do for sure.

 

I agree that I probably wouldn't pay full price for someone like me, but it was me or nothing! Thankfully the parents and students have been happy.

[Pamela in VA]

I would also look at the Latin Alive series by Classical Academic Press. They have DVDs to go along and we are enjoying it. I only wish it had a few more practice exercises. I like that there is a Yahoo group and the author is very friendly and willing to answer questions.

 

I took 2 years of Latin in college and find this text to be more friendly than Henle or Wheelock. I learned with Wheelock and have compared it to Henle. Much prefer Wheelock for its method of presentation.

 

HTH,

Pamela F. in VA

I'd also look at the Latin for a New Millenium textbooks. It mixes both the reading and the grammar approaches, it covers some medieval Latin, is lavishly illustrated, and has lots of online support at the publisher's website. Main downside is that the books are kind of spendy, but LNM is really aimed at high school audience.

[fischerl]

Thanks so much for your helpful responses! Lots to look into. Of course we would be up front about my lack of experience, but the director just wants to give parents the option of having someone available to teach Latin. I'll be exploring all of these suggestions in the months to come. Thank you again for your help.