Latin suggestions and list of previous successes/failures.

[staceyobu]

I have an 8th, 6th, and 4th grader.

The 8th grader did Prima Latina, two years off, GSWL, then Henle through Classical Conv.

Prima Latina was boring. GSWL was great. Henle was completely overwhelming (I think the class she was in moved way too fast). She really doesn't want to do any Latin anymore. I need to back track her and allow her to have some success.

The 6th grader did GSWL. Then, we attempted to do Latin for Children last year (with the 4th grader). I could not figure out how to make it work. The videos were long and bored them. They didn't pay attention. There was one review page per video. It wasn't enough for anything to sink in. I kept trying to add in vocab drill, but overall, we just didn't get far.

 

Any suggestions? I'd love to pair two of these kids. Either the 8th and 6th grader or the 6th and 4th grader. I don't have money to pay for an expensive online class for anyone. 

[HomeAgain]

We're using FFL this next year, but if you didn't like Prima Latina maybe not this, either.
I also have Cambridge Latin on the shelf.  They might like that better.  The beginning of each lesson starts with a cartoon to introduce the new vocabulary and then it jumps right into translation paragraphs that use the same vocabulary.  Each lesson has a word bank, so no worries, and then exercises on creating their own sentences, a little bit of grammar or special notes about the language, and English stories about the characters to bring them more to life.

Cambridge is our back up/supplement if FFL doesn't take.  I had considered Lingua Latina but this fell into my lap for free, lol, and I wasn't going to turn it down.

[mamamoose]

I don’t think every subject needs to be “fun.” Latin is one of those subjects that we don’t expect to be entertaining. We sometimes do fun things like jeopardy and we have contests with M&M as rewards but overall it’s a lot of recitation. We do sing song stuff sometimes, too. We use Memoria Press. My oldest is now taking it online. 

[alisha]

I've looked at Minimus Latin and Visual Latin (the video guy is pretty funny at times). Mine have both said Latin is their least favorite subject (3 & 6 gr) and we didn't even do it that often because we kept forgetting about it and pushing it to the back burner. So, this year it's GSWL, and then I'll need to decide between these two.

[Targhee]

We loved GSWL because lessons were short and to the point and then there was direct application.  We had success moving to Big Book of Lively Latin After that. Also Latin Prep.  Both have you apply the grammar lesson right away, are in color and have some pictures - which breaks up the pages and carries things along, and are succinct.  I think BBoLL is better for the 4th-8th rage and Latin Prep for the 6th-9th range.  My only student who stuck with Latin did GSWL, BBoLL 1 (a little Cambridge supplement), part of BBoLL 2, and is starting Lukeion 1 in the fall (Wheelock’s).  Another great thing about BBoLL is that you only have to purchase once and whole family can use, simultaneously or in succession.  I did not teach it either - it was fairly self-teaching and there are videos online if you want more teaching.

I would consider your child’s learning style in making a selection.  Things don’t have to be entertaining or “fun” but your efforts will go farther if it works well with the way the child learns.

[staceyobu]

On 7/4/2018 at 8:14 AM, mamamoose said:

I don’t think every subject needs to be “fun.” Latin is one of those subjects that we don’t expect to be entertaining. We sometimes do fun things like jeopardy and we have contests with M&M as rewards but overall it’s a lot of recitation. We do sing song stuff sometimes, too. We use Memoria Press. My oldest is now taking it online. 

 

Oh, I agree. I also didn't see much retention with Prima Latina. So, it was boring, AND I don't feel like she learned much of anything.

I'd be willing to stick with Latin for Children if I could figure out a better way to implement it. The videos seemed too long to do in a day. Maybe I need to watch them and teach the lesson myself? And the one review page was not enough. So, then I also had to create my own review. I'd love something along the lines of saxon math. Do these flashcards, do this timed test, do this review page. Does that exist? Maybe I just need to accept that I need to figure out how to really "plan" Latin? 

I just feel like with the exception of GSWL, nothing has really worked. And, my older two have finished GSWL. So, I need something else. 

[MinivanMom]

What does the 8th grader want to do? Do you plan to continue with CC? If she doesn't want to continue in Latin, has she started thinking about what language she would like to learn? I would start there. It may be that she really is done with Latin. I would view the years of Latin as a wonderful foundation for her future language learning, and then I'd encourage her to choose a modern language. She can study on her own or you can find her a co-op or online class.

Then I would combine the 4th & 6th graders. We have loved GSWL followed by Latin Alive, but my kids were in middle school when they started Latin. 

[blondchen]

My oldest finished GSWL last year - what a great program! My friend who teaches Latin in a classical school has raved about Latin Prep - she said it's the best thing out there for the middle grades. I can tell that it's a fun, engaging program and very thorough. We're only into Chapter 1, but DD loves it so far (and the author's sense of humor is hilarious). Unfortunately, it's out of print now, but you can get Book 1 used on Amazon marketplace for a reasonable price, and Ray at horriblebooks.com has the answer key for Book 1, plus the sets for Books 2 and 3 at a great discount (I just bought all of them!). All you need is the book and the answer key, and it's non-consumable - all the exercises are done in a notebook, so the one-time purchase would cover all your kids.

HTH!

[Lori D.]

Agreeing with MinivanMom --  Two years of Latin would be a good foundation for making one of the other Romance languages (Spanish, French, Italian) much more accessible, so nothing set in stone that your student MUST keep going with Latin. And 8th/9th grade is a good time to slowly handing over some of the direction of the education to the student. Perhaps sit down with DD and discuss how 2-4 credits of foreign language will be required for high school graduation/college admission, so that DD can start thinking about what language is of most interest to HER. She might even be interested in travel or overseas studies, which would be a big self-motivating factor for choosing/learning a foreign language.

[StartingOver]

We have done a ton of Latin, if I had it to do again I would do GSWL, First Form Latin for drill,  secular edition for us  ( 2nd, 3rd, we don't do Henle ) with Latin Book 1 or Latin Prep, then go to Wheelock's with all supporting materials.

[CAtoVA]

I don't know what GSWL is, but my DS will be starting Latin Alive! Level 1 from Classical Academic Press this year. We have the TE, student workbook and DVD's. Just throwing this out there in case you wanted another Latin program to peruse (or not.... : p)

Annndddd......, just for kicks,  what is GSWL?

 

[Targhee]

18 minutes ago, CAtoVA said:

I don't know what GSWL is, but my DS will be starting Latin Alive! Level 1 from Classical Academic Press this year. We have the TE, student workbook and DVD's. Just throwing this out there in case you wanted another Latin program to peruse (or not.... : p)

Annndddd......, just for kicks,  what is GSWL?

 

Getting Started With Latin

[CAtoVA]

Ohhhhhhh, Thank you! : )