When can you start Wheelock Latin?

[Kendall]

I've used Henle with my older ones starting as early as 5th grade, but I am thinking of trying Wheelock's for my 4th child. She is using Henle 1 and struggles(with school in general) and the English to Latin exercises are so hard for her. She is in 7th. I'd like to complete Latin grammar by the end of 10th grade (so either Wheelock's or Henle 1 and 2). Have any of you used Wheelock's for a 7th or 8th grader? Did you find that you need to use extra exercises or is what is in the book enough?

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I've used Henle with my older ones starting as early as 5th grade, but I am thinking of trying Wheelock's for my 4th child. She is using Henle 1 and struggles(with school in general) and the English to Latin exercises are so hard for her. She is in 7th. I'd like to complete Latin grammar by the end of 10th grade (so either Wheelock's or Henle 1 and 2). Have any of you used Wheelock's for a 7th or 8th grader? Did you find that you need to use extra exercises or is what is in the book enough?

 

 

We're using Wheelocks for Latin through Lukeion Project with both my 8th and 9th grader. There is a lot of practice. Each chapter has sentences to translate both Latin to English and English to Latin. There are also paragraphs with selections from Cicero or other writers. I think for the purposes of high school that the exercises there would be plenty. Maybe supplement with 38 Latin Stories, which are keyed to Wheelock's chapters.

 

However, you may have an issue with the lack of an answer key with Wheelock's.

 

And I think it is generally considered a harder book than Henle. The explanation I've gotten from several places is that Henle was written for high school use and Wheelock's was written for college students (specifically for returning WWII GIs who were older and experienced in life, but needed a crash course in Latin).

A bright 7th or 8th grader could certainly start Wheelock, but you'd want to make sure that she's got a good handle on English grammar first. If she doesn't, time is probably better spent brushing up on that rather than diving into Latin.

 

Also, the answer key for Wheelock is floating around the net if you care to look -- it's really good, it doesn't just have answers, but some explanations and common mistakes explicated.

[yvonne]

My 7th grade boys are doing Wheelock's through VP online this year. They had completed Latin for Children A-C in 4th-6th grade, and they had a strong grammar basis from Rod & Staff 3-6 going into Wheelock's. I'm sure all that helped some, but Wheelock's still takes some serious work. They'll finish half this year and half next.

 

As a pp mentioned, there's an answer key available on the web. There's also a separate workbook that goes along with Wheelock's, if you found you really wanted more exercises. (It syncs with the 6th ed, but would also work w/ the 7th ed.) We haven't used it at all so far.

 

If she's having trouble with Henle, though, I don't know if switching to Wheelock's would be the solution. Maybe a short term tutor to help her through the specific issues she's having at the moment would help? I know there are points for my boys where it just takes more time and practice to get the new information down.

the English to Latin exercises are so hard for her.

 

 

I hear this a lot, but I'd just like to point out that English -> Latin is ten times harder than translating Latin to English. It just is.

[Kendall]

Thank you all for the input. Thank you the comment about English to Latin being harder. That is one thing that I think is valuable about Henle, a program which seems to get a bad rap among Latin teachers. I just wondered if maybe this child can't handle it. Maybe my conclusion should be that everything(including Latin regardless of the program) is just going to be hard for this child and we just need to keep at it slowly and steadily.

 

She is in Rod and Staff Grammar 7. Her problem in math, grammar, Latin(some parts of it) is that each day seems to be a new day. She doesn't remember things from the previous day/week/month. Some things will seem familiar, but still need to be retaught. I'm trying to see the "seems familiar" in an encouraging light as some things she will be absolutely certain she has never seen before (and I know differently). I try to patiently teach them with the attitude that this is the first time; I don't always succeed.

 

Thanks for the information about Wheelock Latin. I've wondered if I should look in to switching. I"m glad to know there is an answer key out there.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

A bright 7th or 8th grader could certainly start Wheelock, but you'd want to make sure that she's got a good handle on English grammar first. If she doesn't, time is probably better spent brushing up on that rather than diving into Latin.

 

Also, the answer key for Wheelock is floating around the net if you care to look -- it's really good, it doesn't just have answers, but some explanations and common mistakes explicated.

 

Is the answer key for the sixth ed or seventh

 

Henle may be discounted in part for Christian content

 

Is the answer key for the sixth ed or seventh?

 

The answer key that I've found is for the sixth, which works for me, as I found the 6ed of Wheelock for $5 at my local used book store...

 

I'm told there's a version for the seventh which you may get from the publisher by asking nicely, but I don't have any first hand experience with that.

[G5052]

I've taught through Henle 1 and most of 2 (will finish this year) in paid classes. I put my oldest in classes with Wheelock's because he's a language geek and needed a real Latin teacher (i.e. not me). He's also tutoring Henle 1 for pay these days while he takes Latin 3 through Lukeion. My next one has spent two years on Henle 1 in middle school, and will go to Wheelock's in a paid class next year.

 

Henle is great for the Latin teacher who needs everything in the program "right there." I rarely have to look up anything outside the books, and there is plenty of exercises. I don't like having to jump back and forth between the grammar and text, and I dislike the layout. It is also light on Roman culture, and doesn't track with the National Latin Exam. That said, it is doable for me. I've read through Wheelock's, and Henle clicks better for me. If someone asked me to teach a class with Wheelock's, I'd probably turn them down. I can handle Henle.

 

Wheelock's can be done by individuals, but it is oriented more towards the professional Latin teacher if you use just the text. The language and approach is college-level. The workbooks and other helps are critical if you aren't a Latin teacher. When my oldest was using Helne in a class, he frequently looked up the grammar in Henle because the explanations were too sketchy in his opinion.

 

If a student has trouble in grammar, any Latin program is going to be tough though. Most of my local Latin students struggle with grammar. I probably spend 2/3 of the class period teaching English grammar so that they can do the Latin. With that sort of class, Henle is better IMHO.

[lauracolumbus]

My dd did Lukeion's Wheelock's 1b in 6th grade. She had started the first part of Latin w/a tutor. She's now in Latin 2 w/a tutor. She did AG in 6th grade and that probably helped a lot. I think if I had to teach it, I would go w/Wheelock's b/c the layout makes so much more sense to me. Lucky for dd, though, that I don't have to teach it.

 

Laura