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Topic: Latin at your house?

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Angela F
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Posted: May 11 2006 at 2:31pm \| IP Logged

Hi all!

I've been enjoying reading the posts on Latin-Centered Education and just wondered if you all would just give a little picture of how Latin lessons work at your house. What program? How much Mom time (prep and or lesson time) needed? What ages?

I'm wanting to revamp how we do Latin in our house; it has just fallen to the wayside too often and so I'm wondering if I need to change my expectations, aim a little higher...I just thought maybe having a glimpse at other homeschools would help!

Thanks and God bless!
Angela

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Lissa
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Posted: May 11 2006 at 3:12pm \| IP Logged

We're pretty mellow here...my 10yo is using Latin for Children and my 7yo is using Prima Latina. (10yo did Prima two years ago, then we took a year off.)

We start by listening to the LFC chant CD, about one chapter per week. All of us together (5yo included) practice the chant several times, and then we review all of them we've learned so far.

Then we listen to the 7yo's current Prima lesson, practicing with the CD. We have found it helpful to turn her vocab into chants, too, as in (to use lesson 1 as an example): "AMBULO I walk, under the VIA, road, with DEUS, God, in a TOGA, toga, under the LUNA, moon" said sing-songy. Silly but effective.

We practice 7yo's current Latin prayer together. Then each girl does part of the lesson in her book. I break each lesson into three sections and we spread it out over the week.

So far, that's all, and no advance prep for me; I'm learning with the kids. I imagine it'll get more complex as we proceed. Right now we're spending 30 min a day, 3 days a week, and the other 2 days we practice chants only but don't do bookwork.

Oh, one last bit--each girl has a spiral notebook for writing all her new vocab in. Again, we spread that out over the course of the week--that's part of the 30 minutes.

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Posted: May 11 2006 at 5:51pm \| IP Logged

We are using Latina Christiana 1... first thing we come in, say the prayer, sing the songs, and work on our lesson. We're doing one lesson a week... work pages, reading the Famous Men of Rome story and just taking it casually. Some days we do flashcards, other days I am reading from the teacher's manual.
DS told me yesterday he

Languages, that it's one of his favourite parts of the day. DD always sings and recites with us.

that's it really... hth

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BrendaPeter
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Posted: May 11 2006 at 6:38pm \| IP Logged

Hi Angela,

I just want to recommend that the best way for us to learn the Latin prayers has been to pray the rosary (pretty much) in Latin. I'm hoping we can learn the table blessing by saying it, in Latin, before meals. Like any language, it works well when you use it.

We always do much better with whatever we do 1st thing. As the day goes on & mommy becomes more tired, things do fall by the wayside. Any memorization - poetry, catechism, latin has to be done 1st thing - or it just doesn't get done.

HTH!

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Willa
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Posted: May 11 2006 at 6:46pm \| IP Logged

What helped us was what Brenda mentioned... making Latin come right alongside math as first priority. The rest of the "subjects" are more likely to just happen during the course of the day.

Latina Christiana was not an effective program for us. I guess we're in a minority, sigh.... my kids did not like the CDs and the worksheets. There was little retention. We've done much better using Henle but there is a lot to absorb there for younger children. We tried it a different way last year by just drilling LC vocabulary using the Quia quizzes.
LC1-2 Quia That worked well and the boys actually enjoy mastering it that way.

That way, when they get to Henle they can just focus on the grammar since the vocabulary is already there. ANyway, that's what we're doing right now.

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Natalia
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Posted: May 11 2006 at 7:48pm \| IP Logged

Willa,
LC didn't work very well for us either. My dd breezed through but there was little retention. Probably it was my fault- I didn't make her chant and memorize declensions and endings.

I am looking for something new for next year. I will look at Henle. I also thought about using Cambridge Latin. It is secular Latin but it so much more attractive that LC.

For the younger ones, have anyone heard of Minimus ? I heard about it at TWTM boards a while ago. I wonder if it is available in the States...

Natalia

Angela F
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Posted: May 11 2006 at 8:15pm \| IP Logged

Willa, Natalia and all,

I'm relieved to hear that Latina Christiana hasn't worked for others as well.

I was wanting to get some ideas of what to try next - especially with the mix of ages I have (12,10, 8). I will make Latin more of a priority than it has been.

I'm leaning a bit toward Schola Latina. It was reviewed at Love2Learn. That is all I really know about it, though. I'm trying to keep costs down, and interest high.

Minimus looks fun. Anyone know any more about that? And I'll have to dig into the Quia quizzes a bit more. Don't know much about that!

And others can keep posting how Latin looks....I'm all eyes and ears!

God bless,
Angela

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Helen
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Posted: May 11 2006 at 8:59pm \| IP Logged

Another member on this message board (or was it the list?) mentioned that she follows the Mother of Divine Grace suggestion for studying Latin. We do as well.

In third grade MODG suggests memorizing the 100 cards from Latin and Greek from the roots up. (three new cards a week, with up to 13? cards reviewed total)

Then two years with Latina Christian I (4th grade and 5th grade)
Two years with Latina Christiana II. (6th and 7th)

Because I saw the Latin slipping at the end of Book I and with the increased difficulty of Book II, we signed up with Mother of Divine Grace school for their Teacher Assisted Program. Once a month my daughter had contact with a teacher and we sent the completed chapter work to the teacher. The most helpful aspect of this program for me was knowing that someone else was supervising.

We also used the DVD that goes along with Latina Christian II. Very, very helpful because I didn't study Latin. (No bells and whistles in this DVD)

The MODG lesson plans may be helpful enough.

I'm hoping to start this process over again with the younger crew in September.

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rivendellmom
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Posted: May 12 2006 at 8:34am \| IP Logged

We started Latin after Christmas this year, we tried to Latin before and it always fell off the schedule. We've been doing one lesson each week in Latina Christiana. The DVD's have really helped, and I do make sure we get through Latin and Math before going outside every day. Its fishing season the Spring salmon/steelhead run has started and the kids ask daily if I can just quiz them while they fish! And you should see these old retired guys fishing the river with my 4 chanting declensions and times tables to me.

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~Rachel~
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Posted: May 12 2006 at 8:47am \| IP Logged

Minimus is supposed to be a really good Latin program... and I know of several people in the LCE who do use it... mainly as a supplement for one of the other programs.
You can purchase it over here in the states from AMAZON.COM.
If you want to know more, try this link for Minimus which has a few games and stuff. I really liked it myself

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BrendaPeter
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Posted: May 12 2006 at 12:15pm \| IP Logged

Like Helen, we followed MODG's plan for Latin & did LCI for 2 years in a row - 4th & 5th grade. That was very helpful. However, we have not been very happy with LC II. I find that we needed to make the connections to grammar in a much more solid way before being asked to translate. Also, my boys (it's always boys, isn't it?!) are not big fans of the dvds.

We're planning to use The New Missal Latin Book I in the upcoming year. It is an old hardcover book, similar in style to Voyages in English. The student starts translating sentences right from Lesson 1. Kolbe's lesson plan (which you can buy seperately from Kolbe without enrolling in their program) is extremely thorough, although it can be done without the lesson plan. The book is used for over 4 years - 5-8th grades.

I've also heard excellent things about Henle & would be inclined to use that in the late middle school years if Latin Missal weren't available.

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Elizabeth
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Posted: May 12 2006 at 12:24pm \| IP Logged

I have Minimus. Haven't touched it, but I have it.

. It was ridiculously expensive when I bought it, so maybe it's time to dust it off and give it another try...
My first did LC 1 & 2 with a capable tutor. I tried a couple of times to do LC with the younger siblings on my own, but really couldn't swing it. Now, we're doing PL, all together, with the DVDs. The DVDs make a huge difference!
Minimus might just liven things up a bit though...

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Helen
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Posted: May 12 2006 at 2:53pm \| IP Logged

BrendaPeter wrote:

I find that we needed to make the connections to grammar in a much more solid way before being asked to translate.

I almost mentioned in my original post how I found grammar study dovetailing with the Latin study. We were also going through Easy Grammar (according to MODG)and it seemed that the lessons were complementing each other.
I asked my daughter what she thought of this past year's study and she said
"Well, I wouldn't call it 'fun' but it felt like brain exercise."

(I don't really know what I am doing...just hobbling through life hoping to make a couple of good turns.)

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Erin
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Posted: May 13 2006 at 2:25am \| IP Logged

We've tried Prima Latina but without real discipline. We (dh and I )are wanting the children to look at Latin again. Dh has suggested that we try posting labels around the house first rather than hit the books. I'm refering to labelling the furniture to start with. Do any Latin scholars know whether this idea has merit. We're hoping to inspire interest. We could try the prayers and hymns again too .

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Kelly
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Posted: May 13 2006 at 6:40am \| IP Logged

I really like James Leek's "Our Roman Roots" for the younger set. It is eminently doable, takes little preparation, has a tape for pronounciation and is very Catholic. It incorporates lots of prayers, and other things you run into a lot, like sayings "homo est animal rationale--man is a thinking animal), or common vocab or even State Mottos...and silly things, too, like "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" (Mica, mica, parva stella...see, even Mom can retain a bit!) It is not a substitute for an advanced study of Latin or real Latin Grammar---in fact, there are even a few errors in the Latin, which drives some people crazy, but he's trying to make it easily accessible to newbies, and I think he accomplishes this, within a Catholic framework. He also, gently, introduces the declensions, so none of my dc ran off screaming hysterically when they sat down to their first serious Latin grammar book

(we use Henle, too).

Kelly in FL

lapazfarm
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Posted: May 13 2006 at 10:30am \| IP Logged

Kelly,
Thanks for the review of Our Roman Roots. I was really thinking about that one for us, as we want to learn Latin simply to be able to understand more of the Latin at Mass and in scientific names, etc. We don't want a whole course in Latin grammar or anything like that right now. If ds likes it and wants to persue it later, he can. I was also thinking about adding in Lingua Angelica for the hymns. Anyone have experience with that?

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Kelly
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Posted: May 13 2006 at 1:58pm \| IP Logged

Theresa, we have Lingua Angelica and use it,too, I won't say *consistently*, but frequently. It's a nice cd, and I like the fact that it starts out with simpler Latin tunes, "Dona Nobis Pacem", being one, or "Christus Vincit", then moves on up the spectrum. It's pleasing to the ear, as well. My only complaint is that it doesn't include the traditionally sung Pater Noster. I really wanted to work on that with dc, however it *does* include many important hymns, like Tantum Ergo (which is also taught in Our Roman Roots) and the Stabat Mater.

Last but not least, I like the fact that LA begins with a rousing rendition of "Vivat academia"---not exactly ecclesiastical

but it always brings back memories to me of Fall convocation in college, when all the professors would traipse in clad in their doctoral robes, while the student body sang this. So...we sing it, too, at the beginning and end of our school year, minus the mortarboards!

Kelly in FL

ALmom
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Posted: May 13 2006 at 11:59pm \| IP Logged

Angela:

I am so glad you posted this. We have all kinds of Latin curriculums: Prima Latina, Latina Christiani, Lingua Angelica and Missal Latin. Any that come with workbooks, we have a workbook for every child and we have all the tapes, CDs, etc. We have gotten nowhere for several reasons:

1) It isn't a priority. I found it difficult to take the time to work with dc as whatever we used, I would have to learn along with them.

2) I was overwhelmed by many things and in all of that Latin really couldn't be a priority or at least my plans were too grandiose for the time and energy we realistically had.

I'm not sure it would have mattered what we used. However, one mom suggested something that seemed very doable. At prayers, we began one prayer in Latin - one line at a time repeating until it was in memory and then added the next line. We just took the prayers from the Missal Latin as that text seemed to have the best explanation of grammar of any that we had - and I get frustrated if I cannot explain the why of something because I wasn't given enough background info.

I must admit that many of us were slackers even at this because our schedule got so crazy - but I have one son that very diligently worked on this.

My hope for next year is to utilize a Latin tutor for the highschooler. I hope to do more combined stuff with all the dc so I am not spread so thin and maintain a more sane schedule (dh is supposed to keep me accountable on this otherwise I'm absolutely horrid as a natural night owl). I'm hoping this will free up some time for Latin - but I think we'll go through the Missal Latin book and learn the prayers in the order in which they are taken in the text (the grammar is taught around the Mass prayers) and use the Lingua Mater tape to reinforce this in the context of beautiful music. Then as we are really solid in the prayers, we'll tackle Missal Latin itself and "hire" the high schooler to be our tutor (since by the time we get that far, she'll probably have at least 1 semester of Latin under her belt - using Wheelock but with a teacher that will teach various pronunciations including ecclesiastical Latin.

Of course, these are my current plans. We'll see what really happens once we are in the thick of things in the school year. One question I have: I have a dc who has a horrible time with grammar. He still mixes up verbs, nouns, adjectives and verbs even at 12 and it just doesn't seem to click. He also hates writing, has some difficulty with memory, etc. I am wondering if Latin will help or just be one more stress for him. Sometimes, I think it might be just what will help things click - and might even help spelling. However, there really are things more important to me if this does seem to be a stress. Has anyone found Latin study helping a struggling student?

Janet

Helen
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Posted: May 14 2006 at 2:08pm \| IP Logged

Erin wrote:

I'm refering to labelling the furniture to start with. Do any Latin scholars know whether this idea has merit.

Gee, I hate answering a question as though I considered myself a Latin scholar (see previous post with "hobbling"), but...since Latin is not spoken, one doesn't often need to call upon words from every day life. It seems to me that one studies Latin for the grammar lesson, an insight into vocabulary words, and because the Church's language is Latin.

I think the 100 Latin/Greek cards are more helpful for studying vocabulary becuase they present the most common Latin roots from which many English words derive. The many English words derived from the Latin root are listed on the back of the cards. So, I think you get to your goal of understanding vocabulary much faster with the cards.

I think labelling furniture is very helpful in spoken languages becuase you do speak to people and need to know the vocabulary of everyday items. Plus, if you are speaking in a foreign language and you make a mistake, the other person will correct you. Latin is different.

There are many ways to homeschool, these are just my thoughts.

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Erin
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Posted: May 14 2006 at 5:58pm \| IP Logged

Helen wrote:

Erin wrote:

I'm refering to labelling the furniture to start with. Do any Latin scholars know whether this idea has merit.

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