Yes Latin!

Latin is a great language to study and I am surprised by the backlash as to why study Latin. Latin is the base of all Romance languages and therefore makes learning those languages easier. Studying Latin also makes learning English grammar at a young age much easier because English grammar is much more complex.

In fact this year I think my boys learned as much English grammar in our Latin curriculum as they did in their English grammar studies.

Now does any one actually speak Latin in the world- no, not officially. It is an unspoken language at this point in history but half of all English words come from Latin and knowing Latin words actually expands English vocabulary because of all the derivatives that we use.

 For example- my sons learned the Latin word patria- which means fatherland, or country. From that word you find our word patriarch, and patriot! After the boys memorize what patria in Latin they will be able to recognize more complicated vocabulary as they are reading.

Another wonderful benefit is that our Latin curriculum teaches us prayers in Latin and they are beautiful to hear at the table or anywhere!

For example-

The Sanctus
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus
Dominus Deus Sabaoath
Pleni sunt caeli et terra, gloria tua
Hosanna in excelsis
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini
Hosana in excelsis

Translation:
Holy, holy, holy
Lord, God of hosts
Heaven and earth are full of your glory
Hosanna in the highest
Blessed in he who comes in the name of the Lord
Hosanna in the highest

As you read through the Latin I am sure you will recognize many words and can figure out other derivatives. Sanctus means holy- sanctified, sanctuary. Terra- terracotta pots, terra means earth. Gloria means glory. Benedictus- blessed- blessing, benediction.  Learning Latin is truly beneficial and I am finding that learning it as an adult is even more fun because naturally my vocabulary is much larger than my boys vocabulary so I immediately recognize and can name derivatives.

The Latin curriculum I chose to start with is from Memoria Press. Memoria Press is a classical christian education curriculum company (should I have a comma in there somewhere? punctuation is not my strength,;.-.). Their beginning Latin program is called Prima Latina and it is for grades 1-4 and is designed for students and teachers with NO Latin background! We ordered the student guide (x2), teacher guide, the DVD set, the flash cards (which are also for Latina Christiana the next level), and the pronunciation CD. I don't know if I'm allowed to use this picture- new to blogging- but if I'm not then it will disappear at some point.



The DVDs are great and essential to the success of the program! They are expensive but worth it! I imagine you can resell them for at least half the value when you are done. I will be hanging on to mine for the girls to use when they are ready.  Leigh Lowe who is the creator of the series along with her mother Cheryl Lowe teaches each lesson on the DVDs. She goes beyond the lesson that is printed with more explanation of the material and help with pronunciation. She also reviews material previously learned. The lessons are short- 15/20 minutes max. 

There are 25 lessons total and after 5 lessons there is a review lesson so you can make sure your student has mastered all the material to that point. I will tell you that the flash cards are really for the next level and so there are more than you need and there are some missing that you do need. We did not use the pronunciation CD but I think we will listen to it over the summer as we eat lunch.

After we watch the lesson on DVD we turn the page and do a few of the review questions that are provided. Typically we would watch and do some review on Tuesday and then review for mastery and finish the workbook review on Thursday. I kept the flashcards (I ended up making my own for Prima Latina) on a ring in the kitchen and would quiz the boys at meals. We only did one lesson a week and sometimes would take longer to review so the boys had the lessons down. The first two prayers the boys memorized but then we got to the Our Father in the spring and between the slightly complex nature of it and spring fever, we do not have that down. So we will likely take longer to finish the curriculum than we should but that's okay and we can be flexible with our schedule because we homeschool!

If you do not homeschool but want your child to have the benefit of learning Latin you could easily do this program in the afternoon or evening.

I would be lying if I said that Latin was the boys favorite subject. It's not but we do it because I know it's beneficial for them. I have made it more "palatable" for them by using treats. We had Latin Lollies at one time which were lollipops that were to be consumed only during Latin. We made Latin time snack time and recently finished up Easter candy while watching our Latin video. I think they have manipulated me into providing food and sweets at off times :) but that's okay, whatever works!

Another layer to our Latin is that we are returning to Classical Conversations next year and in that program we memorize Latin each year. So I think they will be glad that we spent the year studying when we get back to CC next year and they breeze through the Latin memorization.

If you are interested in purchasing Prima Latina you can do so at the Memoria Press website. You can also find the curriculum on Amazon and Christianbooks.com among others. If you order from Memoria Press though they send you a nice Christmas card with a discount towards a purchase and you get a free subscription to their magazine The Classical Teacher- it's fabulous! I love the articles and feel smarter after I've read it :)

Overall, I am so glad we added Latin to our curriculum and we will keep up with it for as long as we are led to!