I was thrilled to get a chance to review Latina Christiana I Complete Set from Memoria Press.
What is Latina Christiana I Complete Set?
The lessons are presented on the DVD, but there is also instruction in the Teacher Manual that also includes tests and quizzes. The student watches the lesson and interacts, saying words out loud along with the instructor. When the lesson is finished, the student fills in the workbook. There is also memory work to learn prayers and songs along with approximately 200 vocabulary words.
The suggested schedule includes 5 days of teaching each week:
Day 1 - Cover one DVD lesson complete with the student drill using the CD
Day 2 - Student drill with CD. Read and answer history questions in workbook
Day 3 - Student drill with CD. Read and answer history questions in workbook
Day 4 - Complete written exercises
Day 5 - Review day complete with games and quiz
- Pronounce, translate and learn to spell 200 Latin words
- Memorize 25 Latin sayings, 2 prayers and 3 songs in Latin
- Basic grammar skills that cover the gamut of nouns, verbs, adjectives, tenses, gender, conjugation and everything you need to put together Latin sentences.
- Derivatives - English words with Latin origins
- History and Geography of Rome
How Did We Use It?
After My 7th Grade daughter was introduced to a bit of Greek this year, she has been begging me to learn Latin too. So, I was very excited to be able to use this with her. She is my one child who will always ask me what grade a specific curriculum is intended for, so I was happy to discover that it is for students who are at least Third Grade, not younger, and that the curriculum is, in fact, intended to be adapted for students all the way up through adults. When we began using it, I didn't ever get the feel from the program that it was too easy or made to look like a young child's curriculum, and she is beyond thrilled to get a chance to learn Latin.
I handed her the book. I grabbed the Teacher's Guide, and I put in the DVD for her to watch. We also used the CD which is wonderful to have all of the audio for the memory work right there in one place.
What Did We Think?
First of all, I don't think there is a Memoria Press product made that I haven't absolutely fallen in love with after using. This one is no exception. The teaching style covers the bases, with video, audio, and workbook style text. The teacher book is presented in an easy-to-follow format, though I thoroughly love using the DVD for teaching the meat of each lesson. Everything you need to teach is right there at your fingertips. Latin is what I consider a higher-level subject, even though it says it's intended for Grades 3 and up - It's not a subject I could teach off the top of my head by winging it.
I have learned that teaching children Greek and Latin roots really help boost their vocabulary skills. My daughter has touched upon learning some Greek and is so thrilled to now also add Latin to her learning which gives her a really well-rounded spectrum of the basis of many English words. I'm hoping this will be reflective when she takes the ACT in a couple years.
We are not Catholic, so we will never need to learn Latin for the purposes of attending a mass. But, we are Christian and I try to integrate that basic belief into every subject we learn. So, I appreciate that part of the learning includes learning prayers. I also liked that there is a bit of Roman history included.
Find Memoria Press on Facebook and Twitter.
I have learned that teaching children Greek and Latin roots really help boost their vocabulary skills. My daughter has touched upon learning some Greek and is so thrilled to now also add Latin to her learning which gives her a really well-rounded spectrum of the basis of many English words. I'm hoping this will be reflective when she takes the ACT in a couple years.
We are not Catholic, so we will never need to learn Latin for the purposes of attending a mass. But, we are Christian and I try to integrate that basic belief into every subject we learn. So, I appreciate that part of the learning includes learning prayers. I also liked that there is a bit of Roman history included.
Find Memoria Press on Facebook and Twitter.
Read what other members of the TOS Review Crew thought of Latina Christiana I and a couple other teachings related to Rome by clicking on the picture below:
No comments:
Post a Comment