Anyone's kids study Latin?

[Fillyjonk]

I'm interested in doing some Latin with my kids, 7 and possibly my 5 yo also

What do you use and what would you recommend?

I did several years of latin starting with the Cambridge Latin Course (then translating various very dead texts) but I was older, about 12 when I started.

[mom2ponygirl]

My daughter enjoyed Minimus when she was younger.  She is 12 now and taking a high school Latin class from Lone Pine Classical and loving it!  I've also heard a program called Lively Latin mentioned for the younger set, but I haven't looked at it.  

My daughter also did a homeschool group activity with English From the Roots Up.  It teaches a bunch of Latin and Greek roots.  

[lyterae]

We used Latina Christiana at that age, and then besides taking online classes we also used Henle Latin.

[ocelotmom]

I'm doing Song School Latin with my 7 and 4 year olds. It's a very light, gentle introduction, but it seemed the best option for two young-ish kids with short attention spans who aren't reading well yet. If it had just been the 7 year old, I might have chosen something a little more advanced.

[Lisa1970]

I did a little Latin with my older children, wish I had done more. I plan to do much more with younger children, but later. I am not starting yet.

[kittywitty]

My kids are 2 months-10 years and really like Song School Latin so far. Very catchy. I plan on starting Lively Latin next school year with the older kids.

[staceyshoe]

My 5 y.o. is studying Latin.  We alternate lessons between Song School Latin (my 2 year old has memorized the songs!) which is a nice fun introduction.  SSL is conversational Latin.  We alternate SSL with Getting Started with Latin.  I wasn't sure about GSWL because it's black & white--not "fun."  Color and flash is pretty important to ds.  Well, he actually prefers GSWL.  He LOVES the challenge of translations.  Between lessons (we don't do Latin every day), we use quizlet.com as a fun game and the Charlotte Mason memory method for remembering vocabulary. 

When we finish GSWL and SSL, I plan to start on Latin for Children if ds is wanting to continue.  If not, we'll probably do Science Roots at some point in the future to make higher level science a little easier.

[phathui5]

I'm doing Song School Latin with my 7yo and Latin for Children A with my 10yo.

[Jennifer3141]

We do SSL here. Next year, we're moving on to Minimus. :)

[Ravin]

We did Song School Latin last year (DD was 6), and it was a fun, gentle introduction. Next year we'll be starting Lively Latin in 3rd.

[PJsmomma]

We are doing Latina Christiana the very 1st book. We started with Getting Started with Latin and did very well for about 20 lessons then it just advanced too quickly for my 9 yr old:).

[dotnetdiva]

Wow, it's been awhile since I was here, everything looks different! :)

Yes, we started Latin at age 5 with Song School Latin. Just today we're bumping it up a notch by also adding Getting Started With Latin. After we finish SSL, we'll try Minimus while keeping with GSWL. In about a year or so, we'll start Lively Latin, which is a bit on the early side, but I really like the looks of that program (integrating history and grammar).

[Fillyjonk]

Thanks for all suggestions

just ordered minimus from amazon, will report back on it. From website, looks pretty good, and I think it then leads to the Cambridge Latin Course which I know is good. Will report back when we've had a go!

[Jennifer3141]

You're going to love Minimus, Filly! :)

[Greenmama2]

We're just starting Song School Latin. My two are only little but my 20 month old loves to listen to "shongs" and 4.5 year old DD has memorised the songs from the first lesson already. I think it's a lovely gentle introduction. We also have minimus to move onto when we feel ready although if DD really "gets into" Latin we may skip it and choose something meatier instead.

[Fillyjonk]

Just got Minimus this morning! It does look really good. Its a very gentle introduction to Latin, IMO, which was what I was after. I would say, for anyone moving onto Minimus after anything else before...it is VERY basic for a 7 year old.

There are three things I really like about it. First, it is exactly right in terms of interest for my kids. Its very home-based, family based. The stories are very gentle. For anyone unfamiliar with the Cambridge Latin Course...the first series ends in carnage when Vesuvius erupts, and actually its quite emotional (insofar as first year Latin can be ;-) ). Its also a bit unexpected, it goes from happy tales of gamboling in the garden to nuclearesq holocaust. Which would, I think, be a bit much for mine at this age.

Second, it integrates the history really well, much better than the CLC (to be fair, I think the CLC is meant to run alongside class civ lessons)

Finally-and this is specifically great for me-its set in Britain, not that far from where my extended family live. So we have potential to actually go and see vinodolana! 

Have had a look at song school also and did like the look of it. I think they have some great resources for when things get a bit more serious. My concern with it was that it didn't seem so rooted in  history. Is this fair, do you think?

[ocelotmom]

Originally Posted by Fillyjonk 

Have had a look at song school also and did like the look of it. I think they have some great resources for when things get a bit more serious. My concern with it was that it didn't seem so rooted in  history. Is this fair, do you think?

Yes. SSL focuses entirely on everyday, modern application. There's an occasional "Latin Saying" included, but not with much in the way of historical context.

[Greenmama2]

Ah, that was what I really liked about SSL.

[littlest birds]

We are doing Getting Started With Latin with 11yo ds.  He really likes it and does a few lessons at a time with Dad.  He has actually become mildly obsessive about Latin and looks for more info on his own.