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Prima Latina or Song School Latin?


Samiam
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Wanting to start Latin next year so would be 2nd and 4th grades. Neither are amazing readers at this point...but should be better by August as we practice, practice, practice.

 

With that in mind, would you do Prima Latina or Song School Latin? I'm familiar with Prima Latina, having done it with my oldest a few years ago. I like the formula lay-out, the basic vocabulary, the fact that it is pretty open and go.

 

Song School Latin just looks like fun though! It's visually appealing. Do you think it would be okay to do with two children may not be the best readers yet?

 

I would get the DVD's for either, to have that "visual cue" to go along with it.

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We do Prima Latina for the serious study but use SSL for the songs during Circle Time.

 

So far, they cover very different words; SSL is more what you think of as a kid's program with body parts, actions, greetings, animals, etc. It has been a good blend for us. The children don't do the workbook, just the songs.

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SSL is very kindergarten/1st grade-ish. Lots of cute pictures, songs, and stuff like that. I will say my DD enjoys it-to the point that we've now done SSL, SSS, and SSG. and if they came out with Song School Mandarin or Song School Hindustani tomorrow, DD would be asking me to bring it home as soon as she saw it.

 

I will also say this-if your DC are likely to want to do the Exploratory Latin Exam, hang on to Song School Latin. I have Wheelocks, two levels of LfC, two levels of Cambridge, and guess what program a majority of the ELE vocabulary is in? SSL!

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We do Prima Latina for the serious study but use SSL for the songs during Circle Time.

 

So far, they cover very different words; SSL is more what you think of as a kid's program with body parts, actions, greetings, animals, etc. It has been a good blend for us. The children don't do the workbook, just the songs.

 

 

that is a great idea! We do, and love Prima Latina, but think I may get Sing Song for the kids to listen to in the car just for fun

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that is a great idea! We do, and love Prima Latina, but think I may get Sing Song for the kids to listen to in the car just for fun

 

 

 

We, too, use Prima Latina and love it. We just started in January and my son asks to do Latin each day. So, I would say, it's a hit. I think the idea of SSL songs is a great idea, I will look into that as well.

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I ordered Song school to use with my 3 and 5 year old. We have been using Prima Latina and Latina Christiana. I had someone tell me that LC 2 had some errors ?? No clue if that is correct. But it made me not buy it. I bought Second Form and my dc hated it. The man does talk fast!

 

So, I got addicted to the DVD part! I like Leigh Lowe.

 

I ordered a Latin Alive Student Book, but then read a thread on here that there are errors in it too. :(

 

I have Wheelock but am not sure if my oldest are ready for it.

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My second grader has loved SSL. She independently does it all and is an advanced reader. I don't think you need to be a strong reader youse the workbook but you may need adult help. We use the DVD as well which I think really adds to the program. We'll be buying SSL2 for third grade when it comes out.

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You can do PL orally for the struggling readers. I found that foisting "spell the Latin the proper way" was too much stress on dd#2 who is already a poor speller. She did PL orally the first time through. She'll be repeating it with Dd#3 in the fall. (We won't be using the DVDs this time, however.)

 

I bought Second Form and my dc hated it. The man does talk fast!

 

 

I just got First Form a couple of weeks ago for dd#1. The dude DOES talk fast, but it makes for a short(er) lesson than in PL & LC. He's also pretty funny & has a consistent pronunciation, the latter which you cannot say about Leigh Lowe. For me, FF moves very quickly.

 

So, I got addicted to the DVD part! I like Leigh Lowe.

 

 

My kids, who love any chance to watch TV, have an intense dislike for LL, despite the fact that she is the spitting image of their aunt (my sister). They much preferred if I would teach the lesson & they didn't have to watch the video(s) for PL/LC.

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  • 2 months later...

We're going with GSWL right now with our 5y.o. Our 2 y.o. loves to sing, though, and has a really good memory. She's been following along with GSWL, but maybe SSL would be nice for her. We're still planning on PL and LC for our formal study.

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Wanting to start Latin next year so would be 2nd and 4th grades. Neither are amazing readers at this point...but should be better by August as we practice, practice, practice.

 

With that in mind, would you do Prima Latina or Song School Latin? I'm familiar with Prima Latina, having done it with my oldest a few years ago. I like the formula lay-out, the basic vocabulary, the fact that it is pretty open and go.

 

Song School Latin just looks like fun though! It's visually appealing. Do you think it would be okay to do with two children may not be the best readers yet?

 

I would get the DVD's for either, to have that "visual cue" to go along with it.

 

I'd recommend SSL 2 for your combined 2nd and 4th graders. Then the following year they could begin Latin for Children Primer A together. A DVD wouldn't be necessary for SSL, but I definitely recommend it for LfC.

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I will have a K and 2nd grade student next year. I was thinking of introducing SSL this year, and moving to PL the next year. Would it be better to just start with the latter later? I'm not in a rush to rush the older. I'm looking for subjects that the girls can do together, and SSL seemed like a fit.

 

I'd vote for starting your girls together in SSL 1 next year, SSL 2 the following year, and then the Latin for Children series after SSL.

 

Can you tell that we love Latin with Classical Academic Press!

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I will be a dissenting voice here. My daughter enjoyed SSL, but aside from some vocabulary and a few phrases, it really does not teach anything. Since you are dealing with two children who are not strong readers yet, I would highly recommend I Speak Latin by Andrew Campbell. We started it in 2nd grade and finished it this year. It gave us a great foundation for Lingua Latina: Familia Romana.

 

You don't need to do any reading or writing with I Speak Latin. There is script for the teacher. A good selection of useful vocabulary is introduced (family terms, food terms, house rooms and furniture, and clothing). The students learn to speak simple sentences for first, second, and third person singular and plural in present tense, and how to give commands. They also learn nominative, vocative, accusative, and ablative cases. They learn how to match noun and adjective endings to each other. There is no translating, but lots of fun activity. For example, playing restaurant with a Latin menu. Vocabulary is drilled by drawing a picture (or in our case, taking a photograph of the item or action) and writing the Latin word on the reverse side.

 

We had lots of fun with this course. And it would have been better if I had had more than one student. To make it more fun, my daughter always dressed in a tunic for the class, and she dressed about a dozen stuffed animals in old tee-shirts so that we had a full class to interact with.

 

Like SSL, you will have fun, but unlike SSL, your children will actually learn Latin grammar and vocabulary that will prepare them for their next Latin book. I am learning Latin with my daughter, so my lack of Latin was no handicap. Indeed, my daughter likes to correct me when I make a mistake. Also there are online audio lessons you can download. (We did not use these because we are using ecclesiastical pronunciation rather than classical).

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I have a question for someone familiar with SSL. Can I just use the CD or do I need the book to have it make sense?

We are doing Prima Latina next year and I thought it would be fun just to add in the music part of SSL even though the programs won't match up.

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  • 2 years later...

I have a question for someone familiar with SSL. Can I just use the CD or do I need the book to have it make sense?

We are doing Prima Latina next year and I thought it would be fun just to add in the music part of SSL even though the programs won't match up.

  

 

Bumping to see if anyone has an answer to this question... Trying to decide between SSL and PL for my rising 2nd and 4th grade boys.

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Bumping to see if anyone has an answer to this question... Trying to decide between SSL and PL for my rising 2nd and 4th grade boys.

 

Disregarding my previous posts... I'd recommend skipping SSL and start with Latin for Children A (with DVDs) for your combined 2nd and 4th grade boys.  :thumbup:

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