Lively Latin Question

[sted]

Those of you who use this program, would you consider it more a "unit study" encompassing history, geography etc. or mostly a latin program. It seems to add so much, I'm just not sure we could manage doing it all. I know that's the draw of the program though. So do you replace other subjects with it, and if so, which ones? Seems to me, studying ancient history at the same time would be prudent?

 

Thanks,

Shannon

[St. Theophan Academy]

I would not consider it a unit study. We do not do a formal grammar program outside of Lively Latin - but I do not feel we need to be studying ancient history as we do this. In fact, I think it would be better to approach this program after you have studied the ancients (since you really don't want to start Latin until there is a good foundation in phonics) It does indeed offer a lot of "extras", but it it not overwhelming at all. You can take it at whatever pace works, and really, the history and art elements just add a nice break every now and then to the more difficult Latin grammar exercises. We are currently studying the middle ages in history, and I still do picture study with the artist we are currently working on, so I do not eliminate those elements from our curriculum. In the spirit of the LCC approach, every year we should be studying some element of the ancient Roman or Greek period, so this can serve as fulfilling a Classical Studies element to a curriculum.

The exercises involving history are mostly readings, with the assignment to create a drawing every so often of a particular event. The art is given to illustrate the historical events you are reading, so we study them, but do not spend a lot of time worrying about who the artist is etc. They merely add to the beauty of the historical study.

Hope this makes sense, mostly I would just say, it is the easiest (to implement) Latin program I have looked at, and we are enjoying it very much! Anne Marie

[Alana in Canada]

No, it is not a unit study.

We just finished up lesson one, taking two weeks to do it, working about 15 minutes a day. St. Theophan described it very well. The "extras" like the picture study and the little history lessons are a wonderful treat beside the latin itself and the derivatives.

 

There are also little on-line games for vocabulary reenforcement my seven year old loves--especially "hangman." :)