Starting Latin in 7th grade?

[three4me]

It’s been ages since I’ve posted here, but I have a question and the search function isn’t working for me right now. 
 

My daughter is finishing up 6th grade and is asking for Latin, which we haven’t done at all. I don’t know any Latin, but she’s showing interest because her friends are learning. What can you recommend for her to try? She’s a pretty independent worker when it comes to school work. I’d love some ideas, and I knew you all would be able to help!

Thanks!

[LauraBeth475]

🍿 

[The Governess]

I really like Memoria Press - First Form Latin for a first middle school Latin curriculum.

[Hadley]

I second Memoria Press Form series.  We just finished Fourth Form Latin at my house this year, and it has been wonderful.  It is written with a slow and stready pace, very different from the Latin texts which our local school district uses, which are meant to create Latin ‘speakers’.  

MP Forms are meant to truly teach mastery of Latin grammar and vocabulary, which will lead to an ability to easily read Latin.  In our house, this has proven to be true, but it did take us five years to get through the four books.

Please note that First Form Latin will feel very slow. You may want to rush the lessons, or do two a day.  I don’t recommend that.  The Third Form Latin book is a huge jump in difficulty, and you really must have mastered all of the grammar, vocabulary, and memory work before you get there, or it will be a miserable ride ( ask my son!)!

Whatever you choose, I hope your daughter loves learning as much as I did! 

[PeterPan]

10 hours ago, three4me said:

the search function isn’t working for me right now.

You can also google site search using your google browser. Just type in your terms plus site:welltrainedmind.com  

[MamaHill]

1 hour ago, Hadley said:

I second Memoria Press Form series.  We just finished Fourth Form Latin at my house this year, and it has been wonderful.  It is written with a slow and stready pace, very different from the Latin texts which our local school district uses, which are meant to create Latin ‘speakers’.  

MP Forms are meant to truly teach mastery of Latin grammar and vocabulary, which will lead to an ability to easily read Latin.  In our house, this has proven to be true, but it did take us five years to get through the four books.

Please note that First Form Latin will feel very slow. You may want to rush the lessons, or do two a day.  I don’t recommend that.  The Third Form Latin book is a huge jump in difficulty, and you really must have mastered all of the grammar, vocabulary, and memory work before you get there, or it will be a miserable ride ( ask my son!)!

Whatever you choose, I hope your daughter loves learning as much as I did! 

 

I couldn't agree more with this!  

The MP Forms are such a beautiful, logical, steady way to learn Latin.  It's very doable for this homeschool mom that has zero Latin background to understand and teach this language.  The way the grammar is presented is perfect whether you're starting out in 5th grade or working through it at 40 years old (like me!).

We have used the online academy for Latin, and also taught directly at home with the DVDs, and I've taught it without DVDs.  Any combo works and is effective.

My oldest son and I worked through Henle I this year, and it was a BEAST compared to the Forms series.  I'll take the Forms any day!

[pitterpatter]

I agree! DD, who just finished seventh grade yesterday, and I completed MP First Form Latin together this year. It was wonderful for both of us! We used the streaming service for the video lessons. I bought an extra workbook for me. (The teacher's manual has a reduced-sized copy of the textbook in it.) Since I purchased our materials directly from MP, I received a complementary digital copy of the quizzes and tests along with the paper version. Therefore, I was able to take the quizzes and tests at no additional cost. The pace was perfect. Learning Latin this year felt nearly effortless for us. We both scored A+s. (Most quizzes have bonus points.)

For what it's worth, I feel as DD has a better understanding of Latin after one year with MP than I do/did of Spanish after three years in public school and two in college. 

On 5/16/2020 at 6:56 AM, Hadley said:

I second Memoria Press Form series.  We just finished Fourth Form Latin at my house this year, and it has been wonderful.  It is written with a slow and stready pace, very different from the Latin texts which our local school district uses, which are meant to create Latin ‘speakers’.  

MP Forms are meant to truly teach mastery of Latin grammar and vocabulary, which will lead to an ability to easily read Latin.  In our house, this has proven to be true, but it did take us five years to get through the four books.

Please note that First Form Latin will feel very slow. You may want to rush the lessons, or do two a day.  I don’t recommend that.  The Third Form Latin book is a huge jump in difficulty, and you really must have mastered all of the grammar, vocabulary, and memory work before you get there, or it will be a miserable ride ( ask my son!)!

Whatever you choose, I hope your daughter loves learning as much as I did! 

 

[Vintage81]

For those of you who have used MP for Latin, did you also use separate (English) grammar and/or vocabulary programs while working through the Form series?

[Hadley]

2 hours ago, Vintage81 said:

For those of you who have used MP for Latin, did you also use separate (English) grammar and/or vocabulary programs while working through the Form series?

We did grammar every year through 9th grade here, and then switched to SAT prep books in place of grammar.  We used everything from Rod and Staff to Grammar for the Well Trained Mind.  I, personally, felt the need for more grammar than MP recommends.  That said, I think opinions vary greatly on this topic.

I also added vocabulary programs because I didn’t feel that the vocabulary in the Forms series was sufficient for what I wanted in my homeschool.  The books do a good job of showing how many of our English words are derived from Latin roots, but there was not much in the way of new, to us, vocabulary introduced.

Edited May 19, 2020 by Hadley

[MamaHill]

On 5/19/2020 at 2:48 PM, Vintage81 said:

For those of you who have used MP for Latin, did you also use separate (English) grammar and/or vocabulary programs while working through the Form series?

We use Rod and Staff English.  I know that MP recommends their English Grammar course since it coincides so nicely with the Forms, but we had already used R&S for years, and I didn't want to buy something new.

Plus, I've seen the fruit of R&S Grammar, and it's just lovely.  It teaches in such a thorough, consistent, bite-size way and it teaches to mastery.  That works so well for my kiddos.

I do slow down grammar a bit once we get to 7th grade R&S since it's pretty intense.  My kiddos will do 2-4 lessons per week instead of 4-5 lessons per week as in the younger grades.

[pitterpatter]

Absolutely! There is no where near enough grammar to use it for English grammar as well. My DD has been using CLE English for a number of years. I think having a good understanding of English grammar is one reason First Form Latin was so easy for her to follow.

On 5/19/2020 at 1:48 PM, Vintage81 said:

For those of you who have used MP for Latin, did you also use separate (English) grammar and/or vocabulary programs while working through the Form series?

 

[2_girls_mommy]

On 5/19/2020 at 1:48 PM, Vintage81 said:

For those of you who have used MP for Latin, did you also use separate (English) grammar and/or vocabulary programs while working through the Form series?

Yes. I always did until high school.