If you've succeeded with Latin, how did you do it?

[forty-two]

I'm defining Latin success as the ability to read unaltered Latin.  So you don't have to have hit AP Latin levels or anything - just that you or your student can now pick up a Latin text and read it with understanding.  How have actual people managed to achieve the ability to read Latin?

[2_girls_mommy]

I got my odd there by doing it alongside and learning it with her and then teaching it in lower levels which strenghthened my grammar understandings. She is a solid level 3/4 this year for her Latin IV year. We decided against AP and have stuck with the NLEs each year. 

We used Memoria Press materials along the way, into Henles, but I always supplemented. I have read every book at the library I could get my hands on, histories, used online syllabi from other schools and exams that I could find, etc. I taught two hours at co-ops for years- one grammar class for whatever level of the MP my kids were in with groups of other students, plus an hour of what I called Latin Club where we touched on grammar, vocab, test practice, culture and history, and songs and prayers in fun ways. Then my kids did their MP workbooks at home throughout the week. We always added another hour of the week dedicated to study for the NLEs for a couple of months a year. So in all they generally got three hours of instruction time a week, plus 3-5 hours of homework a week. So basically, we just put in a lot of time. 🙂 We started with PL in 3rd grade and worked our way up. We have gone a little on different tracks with what we used each year depending on where my kids or their classmates were, but in general, moved along the MP schedules. 

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I can't answer your actual question, because we are ntot there yet.  

I will say that we have established a habit of starting EVERY SINGLE MORNING with 20 minutes of Latin.  My two oldest and I are just working through our Latin books at our own pace.  Since I work fastest, sometimes a kid will ask me a question.  Generally, it's just a quiet 20 minutes together at the table.

I have been shocked at how successful this small habit is, and how well we have progressed in 20m/day.  

We are FAR from the goal you defined, but I feel pretty confident that we can get there.  We will probably boost to 30 minutes a day next school year.  

I can't wait to hear other answers.  

As an aside, a nice website about Latin had an article, where the writer described himself as having a huge Latin education, but what really moved him from a Latin scholar to a Latin READER was getting copies of the Harry Potter books and Winnie the Pooh and whatnot in Latin.  There are several modern-day books that have been translated, and just being able to get the pages turned is what really pushed him into fluent reading, after X number of years of high-level study.  I can see how this could be the case.  If you spend years learning a language, only to discover that you're stuck reading boring histories... that would be rough!  

[Mom0012]

My dd started Latin in 6th grade at a local homeschool program and used Lingua Latina.  This school prides itself on its Latin instruction, but, in reality, very few of their students make it to the AP level.  I think that part of the reason my dd has done so well with it is that I really worked with her to make sure she actually memorized all the conjugations and I stayed actively involved with checking her work and making sure she understood everything through middle school.  Many of the parents at that school get excited about the program, but then are very hands-off with their elementary and middle school children’s homework and I think they just get lost somewhere along the way.  I think languages are very similar to math from the perspective that if you don’t have a strong foundation in the basics, you will only get weaker as you move on.

The main reason she did well, though, was her aptitude and interest in studying foreign language.  I began introducing Spanish and Latin in middle school because she was a bright kid who needed further academic enrichment and those subjects really sparked her interest.  After completing LL, and trying a couple of other online Latin providers, she joined Lukeion the second semester of Latin 3 and really thrived in Sue Fisher’s class and then Amy Barr’s.  She loves Latin and has continued with Lukeion’s self-study class and is currently reading Ovid in Latin.  When I asked her what classes she wants to take next year, the first one she mentioned was Lukeion’s self-study Cicero.

She has had similar success with Spanish.  We really took our time at the lower levels and now she is reading books in Spanish.

On the other hand, my other child had no interest in foreign language, so we focused our attention elsewhere.

 

[2_girls_mommy]

1 hour ago, Mom0012 said:

My dd started Latin in 6th grade at a local homeschool program and used Lingua Latina.  This school prides itself on its Latin instruction, but, in reality, very few of their students make it to the AP level.  I think that part of the reason my dd has done so well with it is that I really worked with her to make sure she actually memorized all the conjugations and I stayed actively involved with checking her work and making sure she understood everything through middle school.  Many of the parents at that school get excited about the program, but then are very hands-off with their elementary and middle school children’s homework and I think they just get lost somewhere along the way.  I think languages are very similar to math from the perspective that if you don’t have a strong foundation in the basics, you will only get weaker as you move on.

The main reason she did well, though, was her aptitude and interest in studying foreign language.  I began introducing Spanish and Latin in middle school because she was a bright kid who needed further academic enrichment and those subjects really sparked her interest.  After completing LL, and trying a couple of other online Latin providers, she joined Lukeion the second semester of Latin 3 and really thrived in Sue Fisher’s class and then Amy Barr’s.  She loves Latin and has continued with Lukeion’s self-study class and is currently reading Ovid in Latin.  When I asked her what classes she wants to take next year, the first one she mentioned was Lukeion’s self-study Cicero.

She has had similar success with Spanish.  We really took our time at the lower levels and now she is reading books in Spanish.

On the other hand, my other child had no interest in foreign language, so we focused our attention elsewhere.

 

I so agree with this! I have taught lots of kids Latin in homeschool co-ops. Very few are really going to stick with it. Most parents are happy with the instruction and exposure they get, but aren't really putting in the work with them at home. I don't mind. The few that are serious about it study with us more often than the once a week classes, so my kids have always had someone to study with exams and such for. And a class helped keep us on a schedule when they were young.