First Form Latin- 4th grader no prior Latin- yes or no

[joyfulhomeschooler]

Our co-op is doing First Form Latin this year and I'm just wondering how well a 4th grader with no prior Latin experience would do with this class? The teacher said it really just depends on the student and their understanding of grammar. This child has done FLL and then R&S English 3 last year. She is moving onto R&S 4 this year. She's a good, strong reader. What do you all think?

[mom2att]

I taught First Form at our co-op last year.  Many of the kids in the class had already been through Prima Latina and Latina Christiana with me, but for those who were new to Latin, I required that they be in at least 6th grade.  By the end of FF students have learned 1st and 2nd conjugation verbs in all six tenses, all five noun declensions, plus about 200 vocabulary words.  There is not a ton of translation and it's a great introductory program, but it does throw a whole lot of information at a student brand-new to Latin.  I'm sure it's doable at a younger age, particularly for the very bright child, but for most elementary kids it would be a stretch.  I prefer to lower the bar at those ages and make it fun rather than frustrating.

[Reefgazer]

Oh hell, no.  Too much for a 4th grader.

[wapiti]

Is there time (say 3 months) to squeeze in GSWL before starting?

[marlowefamily]

From my own experience with my 5th grader last year, I'd really recommend Latina Christiana, at least, before pushing First Form Latin, especially in the context of a class.  In general, the first form classes out there (especially online) typically have students that have completed Prima Latina and Latina Christiana already and your child may feel like the slowest person in the class and the teacher might feel compelled to move to harder material at a faster rate than your son is comfortable with.  This is not conducive to learning and introducing a subject that is known to be difficult.  Learning on his own and getting a good comfort level with basic Latin would be so much better.

[Caclcoca]

I wouldn't start First Form that young without having another program first.  We do Latina Christiana in 4th grade.  It took us a little over a year to finish First Form with my oldest in 5th, and I think we will take a little longer with my current 5th grader too.  It ramps up quickly from what I remember.

[KrissiK]

Absolutely not! My boys started First Form in 5th grade after having both PL and LC and are still challenged. Having a good understanding of English grammar is essential, but Latin grammar is much more complex. Or maybe I shouldn't say complex,but it is waaaaay different than English grammar. Much, much, much! I think PL and LC give a solid foundation of vocabulary and memorizing the first three tenses without getting into a lot of complicated translations. All that stuff needs to be committed to memory or it will take forever to translate a simple sentence. Figure out what the verb is... What does it mean? What tense is it? What person is it? ..... Figure out the nouns..... Figure out what they mean, what declension? What case? What person? And this is just First Form. If you can have even some of that memorized first, it'll help a lot!

 

I'm learning Latin along with my kids and I had to wrap my mind around the whole way the language is put together first, and then get into the nitty gritty of the grammar. That's why I'm glad I did PL and LC first and I'm an adult.

[joyfulhomeschooler]

Thank you all for your time in responding. You've confirmed my hesitation in starting First Form with my daughter. We have Latina Christiana since her older brother completed that last year, so we'll use that for her (4th grader) this year. Thanks again! :)