Plaid Dad, does your LCC greek recommendation change if...

[5Youngs]

Say your 12yo has been through Prima Latina and is now 1/3 of the way through Latina Christiana I.

Do you still recommend waiting until the child has three solid years of latin instruction before beginning greek?

He's interested, but I just don't know if he can handle latin, prealgebra, CW for older beginners AND greek all at the same time.

WAIT.

Maybe it's ME that is wondering if I can handle all of these at the same time~:confused:

We have time in our schedule, so that's not a problem.

And he's a very strong reader.

I just hate the thought of him being behind on the 'ideal' schedule, I guess.

What would you recommend?

Thank you in advance~~~~

[Mama Lynx]

I'm not Drew :)

 

I think it's best to wait awhile longer, get some more Latin under his belt. That said ... what are you planning to use? Elementary Greek has short lessons and moves slowly, and if your son is motivated, he might be fine.

 

How is he doing in Latina Christiana?

[5Youngs]

He's doing great on Latina Christiana.

It's amazing how fast kids absorb this stuff!

[sandra in va]

Not Drew either, but I think with a 13 year old, a better fit might be to use Henle or the new First Form Latin instead of LC1. You could cover more ground and then get to Greek sooner. I also agree it would be good to get a little more Latin under your belt before starting a new language. One alternative is to use the "Hey Andrew" Greek series. They are very gentle and easy to use and would get him learning the alphabet and basics in a way that wouldn't compete with Latin.

 

I look forward to hearing what Drew and others say.

[5Youngs]

He just turned 12 in January, actually.

You think LC 1 is too slow?

[sandra in va]

Sorry I mis-read your OP, I thought your son was 13 for some reason! I don't think LC1 is too slow. I was just reading on the MP forums that the First Form program was written for older beginners (12-13 yos). Henle 1 with the MP guide is also good but might be better following LC1 b/c of the style of the textbook. I was mentioning it as an idea to get you through Latin at a brisker pace to start Greek.

[5Youngs]

I have a 10yo and 12yo doing latin together, so that's why I chose LC1.

Plus, we've done Prima Latina and I liked the dvd option.

Maybe I just started this path too late~

[sandra in va]

No, don't say that - it's never too late! I didn't realize that you had a younger sibling doing it with your older one. I did a similar thing, my 12 and 10 yos do Latin at the same level, I didn't start them until my second one was old enough to join in.

 

They are also going to be making DVD's for their First Form Latin, but I'm not sure when they'll be out. You could call MP to see if they'd be available for next year. That would still be a great option for next year. As an alternative, I think after finishing LC1, you might want to consider just switching to Henle 1 with the MP guide. It is really easy to use. Both your kids would do fine with it. I have a friend who has a 6th grader in Henle 1 (and he just did LC1 before it). He's doing well.

 

Just some thoughts. Hopefully you'll hear from the experts. :)

[cajun.classical]

He just turned 12 in January, actually.

You think LC 1 is too slow?

 

You could still combine your two dc in First Form starting this Fall. We are beta testing it now, and it is fantastic. DVDs will also be available when First Form is officially released in the Summer.

 

If you chose that path, LC1 to First Form (which is MP's new recommendation), then you won't be behind in Latin at all. Just another thought.

 

ETA: First Form is for any older beginner or 4th grader who has completed LC1.

Edited March 17, 2009 by cajun.classical

[5Youngs]

Okay.

I'm feeling much better now.

Thank you, posters!

[plimsoll]

My son is 9yo. This is his second year of Latin. This year we started Greek as well, albeit with slow-moving programs. We did Hey Andrew I, Greek Huppogrammon, and now we're almost halfway through Hey Andrew II. We do Greek almost very day for no more than 15 minutes. The books we've used so far move incredibly slowly, but my son has learned the Greek alphabet and a few (very few) words. Sad to say, his Greek handwriting is much better than his English handwriting....

 

Anyway, I think it is worth trying. You can always regulate the pace by only doing 15 minutes or so a day.

[Plaid Dad]

LC1 is really meant for kids around in grades 3-4, although it can be used with older kids or those (including parents!) who would benefit from a gentle start in Latin. But it is the equivalent of, at most, one semester of high school Latin. Three years of Latin before Greek assumes (a) elementary school students and (b) that the three years of elementary programs equal about 1 year of high school Latin total.

 

That said, I do have some middle school students who are doing Greek at a very slow pace while also doing beginning Latin. They currently have about one semester's worth of high school Latin and are doing Hey Andrew Level 3. A few with strong language skills could go faster, but for most, Latin is enough of a challenge for now.

 

HTH!

[5Youngs]

We are moving through LC1 pretty quickly.

The boys only seem to need 3 days to cover a lesson and do well on the quizzes and flashcard review.

That said, it's kind of depressing to discover that you are behind of where you wanted to be.......

That's life, I suppose.

[In The Great White North]

We finished LCI, did a bit of Henle and started First Form. LCI didn't give her enough grammar use to help at all when it comes to learning a second language. It has plenty of memorizing but not much putting sentences together to really know how to use it.

 

OTO, the main reason (as I see it) to do Latin first is that many older, traditional Greek programs assumed that the student had had Latin for years, and therefore skimped on the grammar explanations. Starting with Hey Andrew could eliminate that problem entirely. Or you could provide all the grammar explanations/practice that the text assumes.

[latinteach]

We finished LCI, did a bit of Henle and started First Form. LCI didn't give her enough grammar use to help at all when it comes to learning a second language. It has plenty of memorizing but not much putting sentences together to really know how to use it.

 

OTO, the main reason (as I see it) to do Latin first is that many older, traditional Greek programs assumed that the student had had Latin for years, and therefore skimped on the grammar explanations. Starting with Hey Andrew could eliminate that problem entirely. Or you could provide all the grammar explanations/practice that the text assumes.

 

There are really at least two things involved in learning Latin grammar -- 1) words and forms (learning vocabulary and forms/chants) and 2) syntax (as you say, "putting sentences together to really know how to use it.") PL/LC1/LC2 are focused on the first, but not on the second. (This is done on purpose. Some Latin programs separate forms awareness from syntactical awareness. Others teach both at the same time.)

 

Greek programs like Athenaze, Reading Greek, Introduction to Greek (Shelmerdine), and other more recently developed textbooks, do teach forms and syntax without assuming students have studied Latin, but older programs likely did assume prior Latin study.

[frogpond1]

with him and let him get to some meatier Latin.