Differences Between Lively Latin and Prima Latina...

[Cornerstone Classical]

After reading just about all the threads about these two latin curr. I'm still having trouble deciding between the two.

 

I have never even seen a latin program in the flesh. So I don't even know really what to look for. What are the components to a good program?

 

By reading the threads, I am assuming that Lively Latin has more history readings in it. And I ask myself why would there be history in a latin program. See? I just don't know...

 

I read where several people did PL and then went to LL then back to PL again because they didn't like LL. That scares me, I don't want to do that.

 

I want a solid program. I am planning to do Latin through highschool and I want to start Greek too in the future. (if that makes any difference). I am a scripted pickup and go type of person. (I LOVE Saxon,FLL,WWE). I don't like to do anything on my own. If that helps. My ds is a good student. He pretty much likes anything if its not terribly boring.

 

What is the biggest difference between these 2 programs? What should I be looking for?

[Alana in Canada]

Lively Latin does not have a script. Of any kind. I don't even know what to teach--there are no teacher's notes. I CAN read the kid's lesson that day and figure it out though. The worksheets are brilliantly designed to be self-teaching. There's no denying that.

 

I like the variety the history provides, the small break it gives. I also think the derivative work is fantastic.

 

But it doesn't tell you how to teach Latin, so it may not be a good fit.

[jenadina]

:lurk5:

[Cornerstone Classical]

Lively Latin does not have a script. Of any kind. I don't even know what to teach--there are no teacher's notes. I CAN read the kid's lesson that day and figure it out though. The worksheets are brilliantly designed to be self-teaching. There's no denying that.

 

I like the variety the history provides, the small break it gives. I also think the derivative work is fantastic.

 

But it doesn't tell you how to teach Latin, so it may not be a good fit.

 

 

But your saying that if I do the worksheets with ds, that it is so clear cut, that we won't need a teachers manual---we will just be learning latin?

[mamato3 all-boy boys]

from PL to LL. We started PL when ds was in 2nd grade....then we moved and PL got lost in the moving dust for a while....then when we restarted it I was bored.to.tears. with it and couldn't drag myself to put the DVD into the player to watch and help my son through it. (Leigh Lowe was fantastic, however).So, I sold it all and start LL with ds (3rd gr. at the time) this past Jan. and am really liking it.

 

PL is wonderfully predictable, the DVDs are fantastic and it involves the right amount of work IMHO for a 1st/2nd grade student.

 

LL is much better for 3rd grade or higher IMHO. The chapters/ lessons are less predictable in terms of what type of work you'll be doing from week to week (9-12 parts per lessson, for example, in lesson 2-7). About every other week has vocabulary to learn. There are 2-3 history segments per lesson/ chapter. These provide a nice break for your student to solidfy grammar/vocabulary concepts. There is an occasional art study, too, for interest.

 

I am not nearly as involved in learning Latin with my ds as I was with PL, which I think could be a plus for some families. It isn't a plus for me, but at the same time, I am not going to switch Latin programs because for the first time, my ds does not complain about doing Latin.

 

I don't know if that provided you with any helpful information.

[yvonne]

I bought Lively Latin last year to use this year. It looks great and I know my boys are going to love it. I do plan to use it. However,....

 

I just bought Prima Latina w/ DVD's used and popped the DVD in today to check it out. I am so excited.... I think we will actually do Latin this year!

 

French is my priority this year (my dh is French), and I want to focus on that. I don't have the cycles to put into figuring out how to teach Latin. I think the Prima dvd's will give us a start in Latin with little effort on my part, which means I won't procrastinate it off the schedule. :) It's just what I need..... Easy to start, everything already laid out, almost like auto-pilot until I get in a groove and can go off on my own with LL. If it weren't for those Prima dvd's, I would not even try to start Latin this year.

 

Also, for me, it's always better to start easier, just to get started, and then pick up the pace once we're in a routine.

 

yvonne

[Shasta Mom]

I'm one of those who posted recently about perhaps shelving LL for a while and perhaps going back to LC1. We did most of PL. I think I was just intimidated at first. It took me a while to figure out what to do - I bought the download version for $55. Now, after a few weeks, I'm in love with the program. I have calmed down enough to convince myself to go at our own pace. I really enjoy the history writings that accompany it. We read those enthusiastically. The lessons make sense, too. I'm happy with my decision to stay with LL (but I should footnote with the fact that I wanted a secular latin program).

[Alana in Canada]

But your saying that if I do the worksheets with ds, that it is so clear cut, that we won't need a teachers manual---we will just be learning latin?

 

Basically, yes.

 

We started with Prima Latina--and I nearly died. It was so repetitious! Same thing, day after day after day. The kids ran screaming from the room when we did it too--and we only did one lesson a week--for five weeks until we packed it in. (We didn't have the DVDs though. Not sure they would have made a difference.)

 

However, one thing about LL: always practice the chants, every day. And keep up with the vocabulary. It's used repeatedly and the kids get frustrated shuffling through their sheets all the time. (My bad).

 

Oh--and there is a yahoo group which we haven't joined (yet).

[Deana FL]

After much deliberation, I finally decided to go w/LL and I'm so glad we did. We are enjoying it very much.

 

At first, I didn't think about printing out the teacher's guide...but, when that revelation finally hit...wow, I'm glad I did! Not that the material was difficult, but it just gives me a little heads up of what's supposed to be going on.

 

We also love the history and art excerpts that are included. The author suggests only spending about 20 minutes a day on the subject and that has freed up any pressure of finishing a certain amount of pages per day.

 

**However, I'd say this text is definitely for 3rd grade and above. My son is 3rd grade and while he gets it, the writing involved seems like a lot for him (and maybe it's just him). My 5th grade dd doesn't have any problems and even begs to do more.

[Alana in Canada]

At first, I didn't think about printing out the teacher's guide...

 

There's a teacher's Guide?

 

Do you mean the "answer book?" or something else?

 

Oh and about the third grade thing--yes I find that my third grader--sharp as a whip--does struggle somewhat to finish in the same amount of time as her brother in 5th. Today, I just put her unfinished work aside and called it "homework" and she came back to it just before "quitting time." I was impressed with how quickly it went then! ;)

[Deana FL]

I realized (after reading your previous post) that I must be referring to the "answer key." I, at first, thought how strange to not have some kind of guide, but I figured the answer key was all I really needed...and it seems to be working out fine for us, so far.

[Alana in Canada]

Thanks Deana--just wanted to make sure I hadn't missed something! I easily could have.

[mazakaal]

I switched from PL to LL and am very glad that I did. I didn't think that PL explained things very well and we found it extremely boring. We didn't use the dvd's, though, just the student book and teacher's manual. LL is soooo much more engaging. All the exercises are different so there's lots of variety from day to day. The Roman history is a good addition, but it could be skipped if you wanted. I've read posts here about people who switched back to PL because their dc loved it. I guess it works for some people, but I just couldn't keep on through LC with a second child. I was far to bored with it and didn't feel like it gave my oldest a very good understanding of Latin. I wish LL had been out when he was young.

[sandalwood]

We used Prima Latina and had the dvd's. Although we "mostly" enjoyed it, I would try would try the LL next in a heartbeat. We were not bored like some of the other posts, but it was the most stressful time of our day --- doing the Prima Latina. We are studying Spanish now but I plan to try Latin again and I will go with something else for sure.

[Allearia]

We have been doing Lively Latin for a couple of weeks and have liked it a lot. The history is interesting, and we are just starting studying Rome so it is good timing. The introduction gives the history of the Latin language, how it is related to other languages, and why people study Latin today (it even has a chart comparing SAT scores of kids who studied Latin compared to other languages. ds6 was fascinated by this.)

 

We ordered the download version, and there are some teacher notes that go with the intro and first few lessons. Online there are also audio files that tell how to pronounce latin, and recites the vocabulary and chants (the chants are basically noun and verb endings) for each lesson. I really like that we are really studying vocabulary and endings from the very beginning.

 

I have no Latin background but I feel pretty confident I know what we are doing. We are supplementing with minimus which is more fun, I like it mainly for the practice listening to the cd of the stories and ds likes to read the latin out loud over and over.