Jump to content

Menu

Latin?


4Kiddos
 Share

Recommended Posts

My son is 7 and is in 2nd grade. But, he is working above grade level in numerous subjects. I feel like I can't keep up with him! Anyway, he mentioned learning Latin and I was curious if you started Latin early and what curriculum you used. I don't know anything about Latin. I did purchase Wheelock's so I could start studying to be ahead of him. I was thinking of starting it after the holidays. But, I feel really overwhelmed. I have heard it is better to wait until later as younger Latin curriculum doesn't make much progress. So, would it be best to start my son in something like Wheelock's? I really have no clue and thought I would ask here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

DD started Latin at age 5 because she wanted to understand taxonomy and DH mentioned a lot of it was Latin

 

5-6 we did SSL, Minimus, Minimus Secundus

6-7 we did LfC A (NO retention) and Learning Latin through Mythology

7-8 we did Cambridge Latin stage 1 and took the ELE. She also did SSL2 over the summer for the fun of it

8-9 we did CLC 2 and Mango Latin and she took the ELE and the NCEE

9-10 we did CLC 3 and she took the NCEE

This year she is doing CLC stage 4 and Latin Prep 1 and maybe 2because she realized just how weak she was on labeling words-she can translate and read extremely well, but not the more part-whole stuff. She thinks Latin Prep is too much busywork, but the grammar/labels are sticking. She'll take the NCEE before we leave on our Thanksgiving trip.

 

The good part about starting early is that you have a lot of time. In DD's case, that let us move to whole-part methods because that worked better, and then back to part-whole when SHE saw a need to do so.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My DD will be 7 in January, and we've been doing Lively Latin since May.  She absolutely LOVES it.  

 

I went through a few chapters of Wheelock's myself ahead of time (I think I got through chapter 8).  I really enjoyed it, and I look forward to working through it with DD when she's older, but right now, she would find it both overwhelming and dry.  Lively Latin goes at a pace that's great for her, and while it is slow progress compared to what I could do, it is definitely appropriate progress for her.  I think that once she finishes both LL books, she'll be in a good position to start something like Wheelock's where she could review the early material quickly and then dive into new stuff.  (Whether we actually go to Wheelock's at that point will depend on whether I think it'll engage her then.  We may well choose something different.)

 

Could we have waited?  Sure.  But I'm glad we didn't, because Latin is truly DD's favorite subject.  However, if your son tries it and doesn't love it, there's no reason to push it at this age.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We started Latin as an oral language when DD was 4. She is very language-oriented and passionate about foreign languages even as a young child. We started with Getting Started With Latin, then Henle, some of LNM (perfect for the accelerated younger child who needs color and stories and history in one book) and finally she is now in Wheelock. I enrolled her with Lukeion last year as a 4th grader.

 

I wouldn't start Wheelock until a child has a better appreciation of the language as the book is rather dry to me, so it takes some serious studying and love of the language to go through the entire book.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We started Latin as an oral language when DD was 4. She is very language-oriented and passionate about foreign languages even as a young child. We started with Getting Started With Latin, then Henle, some of LNM (perfect for the accelerated younger child who needs color and stories and history in one book) and finally she is now in Wheelock. I enrolled her with Lukeion last year as a 4th grader.

 

I wouldn't start Wheelock until a child has a better appreciation of the language as the book is rather dry to me, so it takes some serious studying and love of the language to go through the entire book.

 

I am so impressed that your DD is doing Lukeion in 5th!

 

We did Song School Latin 1 in K, and are doing SSL2 this year in 1st.

For 2nd, I am planning Getting Started With Latin and Minimus 1 (and perhaps 2).

For 3rd-4th, we plan to do Lively Latin 1 and 2 in an online class. The author is a teacher at our charter school, and agreed to let Sacha do it (and the charter school pays). Woot!

I am not sure if he will be ready for Lukeion in 5th. We will see how it goes, but I am scared of Lukeion. :)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

DS9 was precocious in LA and so I started him in Latin using GSWL at 5.5 (he was at a Boxcar Children reading level, and had been through FLL1 at that point). For the next year we covered GSWL and FLL2 and FLL3 and some MCT Island and Town level, and then at 6.5 we started Lingua Latina. GSWL was the perfect intro to Lingua Latina, and we have learned a TON from Lingua Latina over the last 3 yrs. Along the way we have also done some explicit grammar using the Lingua Latina College Companion as well as some Latin Alive (the program to be used after LFC, which we skipped altogether). Lingua Latina has been a lot of work for me (since I knew no Latin at all when we started) but it is such an effective way to internalize far more vocab and grammar than virtually any other Latin program I have seen.

 

I was pretty unmotivated with Latin to begin with and just started it on a whim as a fun challenge for DS who simply could not get enough LA and grammar :-)  But we have both grown to love it and I have seen such rippling benefits that I am now a true believer and consider it foundational to our homeschool.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am so impressed that your DD is doing Lukeion in 5th!

 

We did Song School Latin 1 in K, and are doing SSL2 this year in 1st.

For 2nd, I am planning Getting Started With Latin and Minimus 1 (and perhaps 2).

For 3rd-4th, we plan to do Lively Latin 1 and 2 in an online class. The author is a teacher at our charter school, and agreed to let Sacha do it (and the charter school pays). Woot!

I am not sure if he will be ready for Lukeion in 5th. We will see how it goes, but I am scared of Lukeion. :)

 

You can always try a workshop at Lukeion like 'meet the romans' or 'meet the greeks'.

If it doesn't work for you, you didn't waste a lot of money :)

 

We learned that way, that we prefer self paced learning by video's above live classes.

Also dd's type speed was too slow at that moment. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We waited on Latin. My oldest was excited about French, and it made sense to start with a spoken language first.

 

She added Latin as a second foreign language in 5th. She started with Getting Started with Latin, and then she moved into the Latin Alive series in 6th grade. I'm glad we waited. At a slightly older age, she had the foundation in grammar and the maturity to progress very quickly and independently with Latin. She is still on track to take AP Latin in either 9th or 10th, depending on which online classes we decide to move her into.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am sorry I am responding three days later but things have been so crazy here. And I am wiped out! :) Anyway, I just wanted to thank you all for your advice and help. I looked through some of the materials you suggested and thought I would try Song School Latin and Minimus 1. You all are such a wealth of knowledge and I appreciate it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is what we did. We started French in first and Latin in sixth. It's worked out well.

 

We waited on Latin. My oldest was excited about French, and it made sense to start with a spoken language first.

 

She added Latin as a second foreign language in 5th. She started with Getting Started with Latin, and then she moved into the Latin Alive series in 6th grade. I'm glad we waited. At a slightly older age, she had the foundation in grammar and the maturity to progress very quickly and independently with Latin. She is still on track to take AP Latin in either 9th or 10th, depending on which online classes we decide to move her into.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...