Kris10s- A question about Latin

[Mothering by Heart]

My dd had been learning Latin this year using Prima Latina. We like it, but I have a few minor quibbles with it.
1. Leah Lowe's accent which I think contributes to #2
2. Her mispronunciation. I find myself reminding dd that s should never sound like z, even though the instructor "forgets"

I can't remember what you said your dh found success with, but can you tell me more about it. Can it be used in a homeschool setting?

Thanks

[kris10s]

This turned out really long, so bear with me!

Mike really doesn't have a preference about the pronounciation (classical or ecclesiastical) as long as its consistent. In the long run, if you are going to do things like reciting Latin poetry in competitions (they have those!), classical is necessary. I guess ecclesiastical could be helpful in the long run if you want to work for the Vatican :-) It does get confusing when it's inconsistent.

The 3rd-6th graders at his school use Ecce Romani, a Prentice Hall text. Ecce is divided into three volumes in hardback (I, II and II) and each of them are sold as half-volumes in paperback. (IA, IB, IIA...) The third volume is review and modified "real' Latin, but Mike hasn't used it in tutoring at all and has no plans of teaching it at the school. 3-6 will do IA through IIB, then 7th and 8th will read student editions of Latin texts and then in high school they will be purely reading and maybe a class in prose composition along the way.

A parent who knows no Latin could easily teach the first two years (IA and IB books) with the teacher's edition. After that, you'd need some advanced training (there are Latin in a Week programs that are really popular across the country for homeschooling moms) or a tutor. DH has tutored several homeschoolers once a week for an hour doing Ecce and it works well that way. You'd probably need to continue with a tutor for a year or two of reading, and then they would be prepared to read independently or take an upper level Latin class at a university.

Before, the school used Prima Latina-->Latina Christiana with 3-5, and the Latin Road to English Grammar (all three volumes) and then... after six years of Latin... they started all over again with Wheelock's Latin (the standard Latin I text for high school and college students.) They had learned some roots and declensions, but not even enough start past page 1 of Wheelocks.

If you wanted to wait there's another good text, Hans Ortberg's Lingua Latina, that is appropriate to begin at about 6th grade. It's ENTIRELY in Latin and used all over the world to teach Latin inductively. (Roma in Italia est. Italia est in Europa...) The publisher has just come out with an instructor's guide intended for homeschool parents. There is also a very supportive email list with many homeschool parents (as well as traditional school teachers, the publisher...) About three years of Lingua Latina and they could start a student edition of a real Latin text and since they have been teaching themselves for the last three years (along with you!) you might never need a tutor, just someone on call to answer questions when they get stuck. The 7th-9th graders did LL last year and they really enjoyed it.

[greenemama]

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[Mothering by Heart]

Thank you so much for taking the time to do that! I really appreciate it :hug

[kris10s]

No problem!

We were watching a st00pid silly movie borrowed from friends (Johnny English) and I got carried away typing...

If you want more info on either book (where to get it, etc.) let me know. I was too lazy to link in my saga above ;)

We own every Latin curricula known to humankind so if you run across one you are interested in, feel free to PM me and I'll let you know how DH rates it. He's a big fan of reading-based curricula (because the kids feel productive and you can't learn to read Latin without reading Latin) and there are others he thinks are decent, just not his top picks for whatever reason.