Meandering Through Latin

As someone who enjoys studying Latin, can you recommend a good (and relatively cheap) Latin program to begin with my children? So far I have researched Latin for Children, Matin Latin, Latin Minimus and one other, Latin Christiana I think? We would be studying together, ages 4,7,9,11,13,15 and 40! Would love to hear your thoughts.

I really have enjoyed learning Latin (more than my children I believe), although I am certainly no scholar.  The links below to some of my other posts on Latin give a bit of picture of what we have done to date.

For the Love of Latin

Salve Amici Latinae

Latina Christiana 1

 

The Memoria Press materials have been good - very simple and straightforward to use, and enabled me to learn along with my children.  However, I did find as time went on that I desired more explanation on some of the grammar and vocabulary concepts I was memorising.  I was left with a feeling that I was missing things.  Memoria Press rely on rote memorisation, wanting younger children to memorise now what they will learn to understand later on.  A great technique for young children, but as a mother I felt like I needed to try and understand it as well.

This past year I have been experimenting with Latin for Children A from Classical Academic Press and also with Minimus.  Latin for Children A seemed a bit beyond my 10 year old - she was having difficulty working through the activities and grasping the work, whereas my 12 year old was working steadily and learning well. 

Latin for Children follows a similar format to Memoria Press with the use of DVD lessons and workbooks.  However the materials seem a bit more welcoming to children, and more explanation is added for the parents information which I have been finding very helpful.  I have been having a lot of 'aha!' moments this past year with pieces of the Latin puzzle falling into place finally.   And we will continue using this with my 12 year old.

Minimus is a lovely story based program set in Roman Britain, based upon a real family living at that time.  I believe it is aimed at 7-9 year olds.  I like this curriculum just for the story setting itself.  Our time spent with Minimus has shown us that Latin is a real language with historical roots, and being a British based curriculum seems to me to help us Australians link ourselves to our Roman and Latin heritage, as we are 'descended' from England ourselves.  This past year I have simply been reading aloud the story to my children, and then we work through the questions orally together.  This year I have purchased the cd and the teacher book to go with it and I will take my now 11 year old through it again, this time in a group lesson situation (we have 2 other families joining us) with the extra activities provided in the teacher book.  I am not sure how I would have found Minimus if I did not have a small smattering of previous Latin knowledge to help with my pronunciation etc.

We have used some simple Latin Vocabulary sticker books and colouring books.  If I still had younger children along with my older ones, I would probably let them be in the room with us during the story time/dvd lesson and then let them 'play' at Latin with the stickers and pictures.  I have been on the hunt myself for some latin picture cards to play games like snap and memory with etc - but so far I have had no luck.

So, these are my thoughts and experiences.  I do not hesitate to recommend either Minimus or Latin for Children.  Memoria Press still sits on my bookshelf, and I refer to them from time to time, but we have been happy to move on.