Audrey Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 I just got all of Minimus Latin 1 & 2 -- TMs, student books and CDs -- all unused, from a local curriculum swap (I traded for my unused MUS Beta & Gamma). I've been wanting to start Latin, but now that it's dumped in my lap, I'm panicking. I have a so-so Latin background (high school & 1 year in college), but it's been so long! Anyone who has used Minimus, please.... walk me through a good routine to start this out. FYI, ds is 8yo, grade 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2GirlsTX Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 Hi Audrey, there is a yahoo group for Minimus, they can walk you thru every step of the way! I used Minimus book one with my girls, but we just listened to the cd and followed along in book. We are currently using LFC. I'm sure the Minimus yahoo group can guide you, you should check it out!....(I just went to yahoo groups to look for the minimus group, I see two of them, but not the "big" one I subscribed to a couple of years ago...hopefully someone can help you locate an active group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Lynx Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 The big one shut down over a year ago, unfortunately. I own one of the current Minimus groups, but there has been absolutely NO activity on it for about a year. I am about to shut it down. I have stopped approving people for membership. I'm tired of approving people into a dead list. Hopefully, the other one is thriving! Also, we are done with Minimus, so running the list no longer interest me enough to try to get it moving. But here is what I did. We would sit down and just read through the Minimus chapter. We did not have the CD, but if we had I imagine that we'd listen to the CD, and follow along in the text. We'd write the vocabulary on index cards, so that we could use them for memory drills. Then we'd do the worksheets. I divided the above activities up into different days, mostly depending on what we felt like doing that day. At the end of the week, I'd 'quiz' them on the vocabulary and on what they'd learned, but I always kept it fun and informal. Minimus is really very gentle, and for exposure. I would *not* stress over it. Also, there is a website (I think it's linked on the Minimus webpage) where you can explore Vindolanda. We spent a lot of time looking through that website. http://www.minimus-etc.co.uk/ has some great resources and ideas for teaching! Have fun with it! This is a fun program, and can lead you off on some wonderful rabbit trails about British history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollyDay Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 Minimus is fun!! Since you got such a great deal - I would go ahead and buy the audio cds. We really enjoyed them. I had no latin background so the cds were invaluable to me for pronunciation. It was also really cute to hear my southern dc speak latin with a british accent! There is a really cute website with lots of games and activites. I would really encourage you to just relax and take it as it comes. Dont rush, dont worry, just enjoy the books, page by page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindyg Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 We listen to the audio while reading the text every day. In addition to that, we do the following things. Some days we just do one thing, which might only take 5 minutes. Other days, we do several things. Just depends on how much time we want to spend. Oh, and each chapter has 2 stories. We treat them like two separate chapters. So, it is possible for each chapter to take 16 days (8 items below times 2 stories per chapter). 1. Read the story in English (the translation is in the TM) while looking at the pictures and the text in Latin. 2. Mommy reads the Words to Help outloud. DS repeats. Same with Words to Help (in the TM). 3. Grasp the Grammar. Sometimes GTG asks questions that turn into an entire activity. For instance "Find six uses of impersonal verbs." Sometimes, we don't think we have the background info needed to do the activities, so we just read GTG and move on. (One thing that bugs me about Minimus is that even in the TM, you don't get a thorough explanation of the grammar.) 4. Latin roots. For this section, I hand my son the TM. I read the questions out of the student book, and he reads the answers out of the TM. It's fine exposure. (I'm not using this course to *research* Latin roots!) 5. Roman Report. We just read it. 6. Background info. We just read it. 7. Activity sheets (in the back of the TM). We do the ones that look like they will aid our understanding of Latin. A lot of them are busy work. We don't do any of the Suggested Activities. I'm sure somebody else finds them useful. 8. Flashcards. Sometimes I take the time to make flashcards. Sometimes not. We have liked Minimus a lot--enough to also get Secundus, which we're nearly done with. I do think the whole program is still only an overview. But you have an 8YO. Overview is fine. Keep it simple and enjoy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted January 22, 2008 Author Share Posted January 22, 2008 Holly, it all came WITH the audio Cd's. I know I got a great deal. (Although the person I traded with also thinks she got a great deal. We're both VERY happy!) I wonder if my son will develop such a posh accent as yours did. That must sound so cute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Closeacademy Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 I made some lesson plans that I am looking at putting up on Lulu like I did my singapore science plans. I will type these up today and post the link.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Closeacademy Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 I have 2 sets of lesson plans that I wrote. One is for 29 weeks/4 days a week. The other set is 1 chapter a month for 12 months. The 29 week set is up on Lulu.com right now for free. http://www.lulu.com/content/1918291 Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 My 9-year-old son is going through Minimus Secundus this year, alternating with Learning Latin Through Mythology in order to stretch it out over the full academic year. Now, keep in mind that I made a conscious decision not to aim for mastery at this point. We've decided to just keep plugging away at Latin "for fun" until at least next year and possibly high school. Here's what he's doing: Each Minimus Secundus chapter is spread over two weeks. In the third week, he does a chapter of LLTM, then goes back to Secundus. In each Secundus week, he works on Latin for 10-20 minutes three or four days. One day, he reads through the picture story and makes sure he can translate it. Then, he reads it aloud and translates it for me. If there is any interesting information in the notes from the Teacher's Book, I share those with him. Another day, he types any new vocabulary words and their definitions into a glossary he is assembling throughout the year. A third day, we do any exercises (Grasp the Grammar or Latin Roots) aloud together. If there is an activity sheet from the Teacher's Book that I think he'll enjoy or would be valuable, he does that. And he reads the cultural notes whenever he gets to it. That's pretty much it. We don't have (and have never felt the need for) the audio. --Jenny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Alfred Academy Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 I have 2 sets of lesson plans that I wrote. One is for 29 weeks/4 days a week. The other set is 1 chapter a month for 12 months. The 29 week set is up on Lulu.com right now for free. http://www.lulu.com/content/1918291 Hope this helps. Christy, These look awesome! I am starting Minimus with my ds6.99 soon and was at a loss at how to schedule it. This is a tremendous help! Thank you so much for sharing the hard work you did.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Closeacademy Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 You're Welcome. I like to write lesson plans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted January 23, 2008 Author Share Posted January 23, 2008 I have 2 sets of lesson plans that I wrote. One is for 29 weeks/4 days a week. The other set is 1 chapter a month for 12 months. The 29 week set is up on Lulu.com right now for free. http://www.lulu.com/content/1918291 Hope this helps. Christy! You're a real gem! Thanks so much for the plans. They look great and are a big help for me. Thanks again! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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