Best online Latin courses/teachers?

[CA Mom]

My 13-year-old DD finished Memoria Press Fourth Form/Henle 1 last year & is ready to start Henle 2 (or the equivalent in another program). I'm thinking she probably needs an online course at this point, since MP no longer provides videos past Fourth Form. Has anyone had experience w/ any of the Memoria Press Online Academy courses or teachers for Latin? Anyone you'd recommend as a teacher or any courses/teachers to avoid? I've also heard Lukeion and CLRC offer good courses, would welcome any tips/feedback on teachers/courses there, too. 

One concern I had: Since she's new to online courses and Zoom generally (we're intentionally pretty low-tech in our home), I'm wondering about the distraction factor with group chats that run throughout the classtime. The few sample courses I saw online from MPOA had students chatting the entire time the teacher was talking and it felt very chaotic to me. Are kids who aren't accustomed to being on screens a lot (she doesn't yet have a smartphone) able to focus in that casual/chat-heavy online classroom environment? Or would I be better off trying to muddle through Henle 2 without an online course? 

[kiwik]

ClRC are really good.

[Innisfree]

Lukeion was fantastic for my dd. She still, years later, speaks of Dr. Fisher as possibly the best teacher she ever had. She found the classes supportive and enjoyable, with the right mix of serious learning and fun. That said, she’s always been a hardworking, motivated student. Lukeion asks a lot of students. Dd was in upper level college courses before another language class asked for as much translation each week. Students need to be fairly organized and independent. 

Once dd got to Lukeion’s AP Latin class, she found the emphasis shifted from learning the language and translating, which she enjoyed, to test practice and preparation. That became a joyless slog for her, and she dropped the class.

In general, Lukeion classes have heavy workloads for high school students. Dd found two of their classes per semester was her personal limit. Their educational value is superb, though. For the right student, they provide unparalleled learning opportunities.

[ScoutTN]

We had a very good experience with Anne Van Fossen at CLRC.

[pgr]

Our kids LOVE Mr. Kotynski at Schole Academy.

[Alice]

On 8/22/2023 at 6:52 AM, Innisfree said:

Lukeion was fantastic for my dd. She still, years later, speaks of Dr. Fisher as possibly the best teacher she ever had. She found the classes supportive and enjoyable, with the right mix of serious learning and fun. That said, she’s always been a hardworking, motivated student. Lukeion asks a lot of students. Dd was in upper level college courses before another language class asked for as much translation each week. Students need to be fairly organized and independent. 

Once dd got to Lukeion’s AP Latin class, she found the emphasis shifted from learning the language and translating, which she enjoyed, to test practice and preparation. That became a joyless slog for her, and she dropped the class.

In general, Lukeion classes have heavy workloads for high school students. Dd found two of their classes per semester was her personal limit. Their educational value is superb, though. For the right student, they provide unparalleled learning opportunities.

My oldest did Latin at Lukeion and it was fantastic for him. He did the AP Latin class and also really enjoyed it, he didn't seem to find that it was too test prep heavy. He had Amy Barr as a teacher, I know some people don't like her but he loved her and it was a great fit. He also took a few of their writing classes and the Shakespeare classes,, I think from Sue Fisher. He is a STEM person and hates writing and Luekion was a great fit for him, I think between the Latin essays and the writing classes it got him to the level of writing he needed for college. He also had to do one semester of Latin in college and found it very easy after Lukeion. He said most of what they had done he had already done or it was easy comparably. He had done Latin last his junior year of high school and then did a gap year, he did well on the AP exam but his college required a placement test for all languages instead of just giving credit based on the score (they require two semesters of language typically). Even though it had been over two years since he'd done Latin, he remembered enough to place out of one semester and then the one semester he did take was easy. I felt that was a testament to how well prepared he was from Lukeion. 

As far as the chat box...I don't think it was an issue at all with their classes. The teachers used the chat a lot for questions. And I would hear him having to read out loud or translate out loud. I think she gave them a set amount of time at the beginning of class when they first signed in to randomly chat...and sometimes she would ask a fun question to encourage that and then the expectation was that it was only being used for class. 

[CA Mom]

Thank you so much, everyone! I'm going to file these names for future reference—good to know there are excellent options out there, especially as she progresses through high school. Slight change since I originally posted: Looking like an online course might be too tough for this school year w/ family schedule, etc., and dd really prefers to save online courses for later years. It seems a Latin tutor who could answer her individual translation questions might be a better fit for this Henle 2 year. Has anyone used a Latin tutor or know of any good ones out there? 

[Bonnie]

There is a new Henle II student guide from Memoria Press. It goes through all the exercises in Henle II and a great portion of the Caesar readings. It guides the student in exactly what to do each day. The notes anticipate the most common questions that students have in the exercises and readings. There are also new quizzes and tests so that the parent can oversee the student's progress. If you have any questions on anything in Henle II or the new study guide, you can post them in the MP Forum and get an expert answer. I think this would fit your needs better than finding a tutor who may or may not be thoroughly familiar with all the concepts in Henle II. Bonam fortunam.

 

 

[CA Mom]

That's very helpful, Bonnie! And thank you for alerting me to your post. I've ordered these materials and hopefully they'll fit the bill for this year. Thank you for your advice. 

[Froste]

I've had a fantastic experience learning online, and I must say, the best way to learn something is to do that through games. If you're looking for a fun and effective way to study, I highly recommend checking out Blooket Join. It's an engaging platform that turns learning into a game, making the process enjoyable and educational. Personally, I've seen significant improvement in my skills since I started using Blooket.

Edited October 1, 2023 by Froste