Can you suggest a Latin book for the whole family?

[Little Green Leaves]

Hi everyone!

I've been thinking that I'd really like to do a little bit of introductory Latin with my kids (6 and 8 years old), just to see how it goes. I'd like It to be informal and fun. I'd be learning at the same time as them, so it would have to allow for that. Ideally, I'd like this to be something we can all do together, at least at first.

I want it to be straightforward and fun but -- and this is just my personal taste -- I'd rather it's not too too cute.

Any suggestions? 

 

Edited March 5, 2020 by Little Green Leaves

[mellifera33]

I Speak Latin by Andrew Campbell might be a good fit for you. It's fun but not cute, and the author has audio files on his website if you get stuck with pronunciation. 

[happypamama]

Getting Started With Latin is the best for any age.

[leahtalbot96]

1 hour ago, happypamama said:

Getting Started With Latin is the best for any age.

Is it cheap? 

[Little Green Leaves]

Thanks to both of you!! I'll check out these suggestions -- very much looking forward to it.

[ScoutTN]

2 hours ago, leahtalbot96 said:

Is it cheap? 

I bought the Kindle book for $10 and we did it orally, on the couch with an ipad.

[happypamama]

2 hours ago, leahtalbot96 said:

Is it cheap? 

$10 for the Kindle version, and about $18 for the actual book, so very reasonable.

[Little Green Leaves]

11 hours ago, ScoutTN said:

I bought the Kindle book for $10 and we did it orally, on the couch with an ipad.

Orally on the couch is exactly how I imagine doing this!

[ScoutTN]

We also enjoyed Song School Latin, but that might be too cute for you. I will say that we still know all the chants and most of the songs! I am not a fan of Latin Alive, but CAP's products for kids are creative and make Latin forms easy to remember. 

[Little Green Leaves]

1 hour ago, ScoutTN said:

We also enjoyed Song School Latin, but that might be too cute for you. I will say that we still know all the chants and most of the songs! I am not a fan of Latin Alive, but CAP's products for kids are creative and make Latin forms easy to remember. 

I do like chants and songs. It's so hard for me to explain what I mean by "too cute" -- I'll take a look at Song School Latin.

[ScoutTN]

1 hour ago, Little Green Leaves said:

I do like chants and songs. It's so hard for me to explain what I mean by "too cute" -- I'll take a look at Song School Latin.

My dd did both years of it and found it enjoyable. It is more parts-to-whole than GSWL and has little reading or translating. GSWL is nicely in the middle of the spectrum of approaches, imo. We did the book and the the CD's. My kids are teens, there were no DVDs when we used it and I wouldn't use them now if I were doing it all over. 

Edited March 6, 2020 by ScoutTN

[Emily ZL]

I want to second SSL. I wouldn't get the DVDs again, but the CDs are excellent, with the book 2 songs being slightly better. I used it with my PreK4 and Ker last year and book 2 this year, though it will probably take 2 years for us because it's harder, so that will end when my older daughter is in 2nd grade and then she can start LfC in 3rd. The older retained more than her sister who is 2 years younger. We didn't do the written work. We listened to the CDs, and I would introduce the new words each week. Sometimes they did the activities like matching leo to the lion picture. 

This program is conversational, whereas most are going to focus on grammar, which is why it's intended for young kids. IMO its primary purpose is to make kids think of Latin as fun. The goal is to set a positive foundation for Latin so it's not all drill and kill from the beginning. And I do think it helps older kids too, since it intros words like weather, days, animals, months, numbers, household words, etc when most programs don't do that. So my son doing LfC primer A was conjugating verbs etc but still got a lot out of SSL.

[Janeway]

1 hour ago, Little Green Leaves said:

I do like chants and songs. It's so hard for me to explain what I mean by "too cute" -- I'll take a look at Song School Latin.

My children have enjoyed Song School Latin together..they are 4, 8, and 10 yrs old. It is easy to learn from. My older child is doing Getting Started with Latin alone. I am sure we could do that together too.  I like both so I cannot recommend one over the other. GSWL is cheap and just one paperback book. You could buy it and then if you still want, get SSL and use both.

Edited March 6, 2020 by Janeway

[Little Green Leaves]

4 hours ago, Janeway said:

My children have enjoyed Song School Latin together..they are 4, 8, and 10 yrs old. It is easy to learn from. My older child is doing Getting Started with Latin alone. I am sure we could do that together too.  I like both so I cannot recommend one over the other. GSWL is cheap and just one paperback book. You could buy it and then if you still want, get SSL and use both.

I think that's what I'll end up doing. Thanks!

[MeaganS]

Gswl has free audio recordings and commentary of all the exercises. They have them posted by lessons on YouTube. We've found them very helpful.