Eileen Aroon Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 My very different children just eat and breathe Michael Clay Thompson books. The entire first level was magical. My DD9 is pretty right-brained, creative, and visual so the diagrams, pictures and personification appeal to her. My DS7 is logical and seems to see things through the eyes of an engineer. And yet, he also begs for MCT. It is incremental, interesting, and logical. MCT gives him the tools to help him pull sentences apart and look at them. So here is the question: we all want to find a Latin program that has the same stuff we like about MCT. Does it exist? We have tried Prima Latina twice and it lives in our memories as one of the most infamous homeschool books we have ever used. Also, we have Caesar's English, and it is okay, definitely our least favorite MCT book so far, but not unusable. What I want is for my kids to have the experience of learning an organized language and working with foreign grammar so they can understand English better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahW Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 It's not quite the same...but the closest I can think of is Essential Latin. As far as I know, it is the republication of the UK-version, Latin: Better Read Than Dead. So either version could work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MASHomeschooler Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 RFWP (MCT's publisher) is working on putting out a Latin program, with the first level due out this spring. From their web site, here is a summary: Dr Frances Spielhagen’s Latin curriculum is unique in its use of an extensive and unprecedented library of images of the ancient world to create a learning experience unlike any other Latin curriculum. The approach is natural and inductive rather than translation. The children are challenged to understand the Latin from the illustrations and to develop vocabulary and grammar gradually in the natural thread of language learning. I was able to see a preview, and I would say it looks like I will find it similar to how I find MCT's writing program; that is: fun, engaging, motivating, and beautiful - but lacking the explicit, how-to instruction we need here. So based on what I saw, I would guess that I will get it, but use it alongside a more traditional, structured Latin program, just as I use MCT alongside a more structured writing program. (I do find the other portions of MCT very complete, and we are just in "Island", and again, I only saw a preview of the Latin, so take my view for what it's worth.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 We will be using the Cambridge Latin Course (CLC). This is whole to parts like MCT. If you want details, dmmetler has used it for years with her daughter and knows more about it than I do. Ruth in NZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn E Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Not that they are similar in format, but we found Visual Latin provided the same breath of fresh air to our Latin studies that MCT brought to Language Arts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in the UP of MI Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 We have enjoyed Minimus along with Getting Started with Latin. Our next level up will be Visual Latin along with Cambridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forty-two Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 I suppose it depends on what particularly you like about MCT. I like MCT for his enthusiastic, contagious love for the subject, and how he creates interest in the allegedly dry details, showing how they contribute to the whole experience instead of glossing over them, and to me Orberg's Lingua Latina has a similar feel. He's a man who loves Latin and really *gets* it at both an intuitive level and at a technical level, and it shines through in his books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WishboneDawn Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 We used Getting Started With Latin alongside MCT. I did the first half orally (my daughter took over after that and did the rest on her own) and it would lead to lots of discussion. At the age your oldest is I think it would work fine. You might want to go a little slower, or not. It builds an excellent foundation for understanding how Latin works and took my daughter into Lingua Latina. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eileen Aroon Posted February 23, 2014 Author Share Posted February 23, 2014 Yay! Thank you for pointing me in the right direction(s). I had never heard of some of these and I am excited to research them now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndOfOrdinary Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Jenney's Latin is what we use. It is highly grammatical and directly assumes knowledge of the English grammar in order to use the text. The translations are of ancient works, only reworked so that they use simpler sentence structure and vocabulary you have already learned. They are by Pearson, and my son LOVES them. It is a high school course, so we take it slowly, but they have cemented his knowledge of the English grammar so completely that I cannot imagine what we would have done without them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 They are not exactly alike, but I like both MCT and Latin Alive, and did not like Prima Latina. I also didn't like LfC that much, but better than Prima Latina. I have the DVDs, I taught myself first, then started my daughter slowly on Latin Alive in 4th grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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