LAmom Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 Has anyone here used Visual Latin? What are/were your likes or dislikes? It seems like a good way to "get it done" since I can have my dd sit and watch a lesson. I haven't fully checked it out yet. Are there worksheets to do, etc? Any input you have on VL would be helpful. I did a search and found a couple mentions but not much. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn E Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 I love it, and so does my daughter. She did lessons 1-30 last school year. Each lesson has three parts and each part has a short video and a worksheet. Sometimes the worksheet is just a grammar lesson and sometime it is exercises. The last part of each lesson is reading. The child listens to and then translates a passage of Latin. The stories are Bible stories. There are schedules available now that link the lessons up with Lingua Latina and Henle for those wishing to add one of those programs in alongside VL. It is not a traditional Latin program. It is more of an immersion style program with reading as the end goal. You do pick up a lot of grammar along the way, but any chanting or memory work is separate from the program and done on your own. When we began the program, my daughter was beginning to glaze over in regards to Latin. She had spent so much time in the bits and pieces that she was beginning to be overwhelmed. Visual Latin gave her a big picture of the language and made it fun again. The teacher is absolutely hilarious, and I laughed out loud while listening in on many occasions. Last semester my daughter took part in the online Visual Latin class. It focuses on Lingua Latina using VL videos to teach grammar concepts as they come up. I found Mr. Thomas to be very professional and each class went as planned. My daughter learned A LOT, but I opted to let her sit out this semester due to her age. She's younger than the minimum age, but we received permission to take the class since she had already completed the first year of VL. However, I decided that even though she could do the work, I needed to let her mature in areas of discipline and communication in order to get the most out of the class. I'm constantly learning in this homeschool journey that just because she can do something it doesn't mean she should. :) We haven't started lessons 31-40 yet and are currently working through Latin Prep. Personally, I like a combination of the traditional form of study and the reading-focused, immersion style. The main reason I haven't added VL back in yet, though, is technical. I finally decided to get with the times and purchase the download instead of the dvd. Unfortunately, our computer was too slow to play them fast enough. We now have a laptop that has the capacity to play them...I just have to figure out how and take the time to transfer the files. :) Feel free to ask any specific questions, and I will try to answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenn in CA Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 This may not be too helpful, but I'll reply anyway. I have used Lingua Latina with no other helps for years. If you (the mom) stay ahead of your student/s, I think it's quite doable. Hard, but doable. My 13yodd wanted some support. I started her partway thru level 2(I think that's what it's called). Granted, it was an advanced grammar concept (present participles), but we both found the dvd explanation confusing and incomplete. The worksheets were also rather skimpy. The teacher has great enthusiasm, but we didn't find his teaching to be very thorough or clear. After a couple lessons, she went back to reading LL with me. I would not rely on VL for complete Latin instruction. I think LL is amazing. I wish more parents would use it the way it's written. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 Well, the teacher has a Young Earth perspective that I hadn't expected to stumble across in this curriculum; an early lecture has a take on the development of human languages that is quite different to mine, and the lecturer had no idea what old-Earth linguistic theory actually is (though he made fun of the old Earth view, as he imagined it to be -- ie grunting cave men). That may or may not irritate. It is prob. a pretty small issue to most folks. :) ETA -- I see now the OP uses young earth materials, so that clearly wouldn't be a problem per se. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
journey00 Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 Thanks for starting this thread. :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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