Getting the most out of prima latina.

[LG Gone Wild]

How can get the most out of Prima Latina for ds? He is only on Lesson 8. Should we do pop vocab quizzes? Should he memorize all the derivatives? Other than just doing the exercises.

 

 

How do you guys get the meat out of this program (which we like, btw)

[Colleen in NS]

How can get the most out of Prima Latina for ds? He is only on Lesson 8. Should we do pop vocab quizzes? Should he memorize all the derivatives? Other than just doing the exercises.

 

 

How do you guys get the meat out of this program (which we like, btw)

 

Memorize the vocab, grammar forms, and sayings. Do the exercises. It will all be reviewed in LC1, if that's what you're doing next. We're on lesson 11 of LC2, and from PL til now, it's been all about memorizing, memorizing, memorizing! And applying the memory work to the exercises.

 

I wouldn't bother memorizing derivatives - I think they are there to illustrate how Latin is in English words. But if you memorize the Latin thoroughly, you will pick out the Latin in English words and figure out English meanings anyway.

 

You could do quizzes, but there are quizzes in LC1 and 2, as well. And as I said, PL vocab is in the next two books anyway.

[Strawberry Queen]

I would suggest just doing the work provided and making sure to memorize the vocab. We're on week 4 of LC1 and it's been fairly easy because most of the words are review. This helps because she can focus on the concept being taught (conjugation) and not the vocab. It would be harder to memorize the words *and* do the conjugation.

 

You could study some roman history on the side if you're looking for more to do. But most of us are looking for less to do these days.:D (me focusing more on crafting than teaching this week)

[Rhondabee]

I don't know that we "got the most" out of it - that wasn't my goal when we did it.

 

But, one thing that helped ds was to do the workbook exercises orally every day rather than doing them written only once. Sometimes he did fill them in on the last day, but honestly I was more concerned that when he heard or saw a Latin word, he knew the English. Usually, we used the derivatives as the intermediate step between the Latin and the English, so they got covered, too; just not as drills, etc.

 

hth,

Rhonda

[jennyt]

I was finding Prima Latina incredibly dry and dd7/8 wasn't retaining much, until I made it a group lesson with her younger siblings and we played charades with the vocabulary (I made pictures for them all so ds3/4 could do it too) and learned the prayers etc together. For some reason, as soon as Latin became something we all looked forward to - they love charades - retention went right up and she's doing amazingly well now. We are doing Latina Christiana 1 and she's doing great.

 

Jenny

[Chris in SC]

We listen to the words each day on Monday through Thursday. On Monday we go over the lesson. Tuesday they do one of the two pages of worksheets and on Wednesday they finish the other. Thursday I quiz them orally on all the lessons (vocab and concepts) randomly. Sometimes we make a game of who can answer fastest. It gets very loud and very fun! Friday is a written quiz of the current lesson and a random selection of past vocabulary. They write the words they missed 3 times and then it goes on the "trouble words/concepts" page in their notebook. I make sure to include anything they have trouble with in the upcoming oral and written quizes until they 'get it.'

 

So far it seems to work well for us.

 

Chris

[abbeyej]

Maybe this is just too obvious, but my advice would be "learn the material". Don't just go through the book and do the exercises (those are, in my mind, actually secondary in PL) -- make sure you and your kids really memorize the vocabulary, grammar forms and songs and prayers. Review frequently. I don't think you need to memorize the derivatives, just discuss them. But for vocab, grammar and memory work, really do *memorize* them and keep up a constant review.

[sandalwood]

How can get the most out of Prima Latina for ds? He is only on Lesson 8. Should we do pop vocab quizzes? Should he memorize all the derivatives? Other than just doing the exercises.

 

 

How do you guys get the meat out of this program (which we like, btw)

 

We did a *lot* of copywork everyday when we were using it and that seemed to help. We also bought the dvds.

[Cindyg]

I don't think you should try to get the most out of Prima Latina. Enjoy it. Do it on your schedule. Use it as an opportunity to get the sound of the language in your ear and the routine of doing Latin in your schedule.

 

Then buckle down on a more advanced program.

 

(There's not that much info in Prima Latina to buckle down on. And that's not a criticism. This is an intro program, very appropriate for young children and non-Latin-speaking moms.)

[frogpond1]

and that will go a long way.

[newlifemom]

I don't think you should try to get the most out of Prima Latina. Enjoy it. Do it on your schedule. Use it as an opportunity to get the sound of the language in your ear and the routine of doing Latin in your schedule.

 

Then buckle down on a more advanced program.

 

(There's not that much info in Prima Latina to buckle down on. And that's not a criticism. This is an intro program, very appropriate for young children and non-Latin-speaking moms.)

 

I agree!

[Stacey in MA]

I have 4 kids, so time is always an issue. We are doing LC1 this year, and did PL last year. We only do Latin 2x/wk, but it's working out well. Mondays my DS goes through the video lesson completely, doing each thing the teacher asks (stopping to play the songs on the CD, stopping to look at the vocab in the workbook, etc.). Then on Fridays I sit with him and go through the workbook lesson, following its format (listen to the songs first, prayers, grammar lesson, etc.) I can't remember in PL, but in LC1 the teacher's guide has a few extra grammar comments that are helpful. On Friday, it is simply review from Monday for him. He has been very quick at memorizing the vocab, conjugations, and declentions, and I attribute that mostly to the video practice. If he weren't getting it so quickly, I might make him go through the video lesson an extra day a week.

 

Anyway, hope that helps! Good luck! FWIW, I didn't see too many lightbulbs go off last year, but this year I'm see DS notice some Latin roots in everyday English words, and it's quite exciting!

- Stacey in MA

[abbeyej]

BTW, I do think getting the Lingua Angelic CD is a great way to "get more" out of the program. It's very beautiful, includes the songs you'll learn in PL and a great many more, and gives kids the chance to hear the language in context.

[LG Gone Wild]

BTW, I do think getting the Lingua Angelic CD is a great way to "get more" out of the program. It's very beautiful, includes the songs you'll learn in PL and a great many more, and gives kids the chance to hear the language in context.

 

Is that for PL or LC?

[abbeyej]

Is that for PL or LC?

 

You can definitely start listening to and enjoying Lingua Angelica while using Prima Latina. You wouldn't do the translation work at this point, just listen and enjoy the songs. The song book is a good purchase too, because it can be useful to see the words written as well as hearing them sung. Later on (the end of LC1 or during LC2), you could consider doing the LA student books as a supplement...

 

But for now, just get the CD (and songbook) and enjoy listening and learning to sing the songs, even if you don't know exactly what the words mean.