Ok, I will pipe in if y’all don’t mind.
Best way to learn Latin is to speak it. This goes for any language.
I recommend you start learning at least one Latin word a day, for the rest of your life. Talk to yourself in Latin, keep a journal in Latin and never give up. Sometimes your brain will rebel and you will have to take a break but then get back into it. NEVER GIVE UP.
Learning a second language is hard. Your body will become physically tired from doing so. This is normal, there is nothing wrong with you.
Now I assume you are Catholic. If so, then you have a really great resource, The Church, avaliable to you to help you learn Latin. Learn to pray some of the Liturgia Horarum in Latin.
Every day, every day, you should learn a new word. This means you need to get a Latin dictionary at least. You should speak some Latin EVERY DAY. You should read some Latin, EVERY DAY.
Practice, drill, practice, drill. There is no other way to learn a second language.
Now that doesn’t sound that great but you can make it as fun as you want.
Write Latin words on playing cards and play cards saying the words whenever you see them. There are lots of ways to make learning Latin for yourself and your child very fun.
Verbs are the heart of the Latin language. Learn your verbs and you can have entire conversations with just them. This is great to used to learn with your child.
As for books, I recomend Collin’s Ecclesiatical Latin. Not for your Child, for you. You are the text book for your child. Your text book can be Collins. From there you can get Latin Grammar, yes the ugly green Latin Grammar book. It is really a dictionary that teaches Grammar. Then get Let’s Read Latin which comes with a tape but to be honest, you don’t need the tape.
DO NOT TRANSLATE!!!
Latin is a language, not a code for ENGLISH. Do not translate. Understand Latin IN LATIN.
Use the Catholic pronunciation not the Athiest pronunciation.
Books that I do not recomend, in fact, avoid at all cost. Do not use Wheelock. It is pagan and has graphic sexual references and prayer to pagan gods in every section. Also, avoid the Latin Wikipedia. Same reason.
Basic priciples to remember, Latin is not English. It does not work like English. It does not sound like English. Two words spelled identically in both Latin and English will most likely have a very different sound. Understand this and go with it. Latin has FIVE, count them 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, vowel sounds ONLY. English has the same five letters but has 18 vowel sounds. Don’t fool yourself. Only use the five vowel sounds that actually exist in Latin.
On the internet there are all kinds of free materials you can download in PDF format to learn Latin.
Textkit.org is one site and there is a nother dedicated to the teaching method used by Fr. Foster, the Pope’s very own Latinist. Look around and get into the language.
Remember, you are trying to learn Latin, not learn how to talk about Latin in English. Latin is not the Roman Empire, it is a language. It is not a math problem, it is a language. Languages are tools used by humans for communication. We can say whatever we want in that language that the other person will understand. If someone says to you, well Cicero didn’t… DO NOT LET THEM COMPLETE THE SENTENCE. WE are not Cicero. Cicero was a pagan who died and was judged by God. I don’t speak British English nor do I speak Ciceronian Latin. I speak MY English and MY Latin and the people who I speak with understand me.
And that is the real point. Learning Latin means that you are joining the international Latin speaking community. Be proud of that.
Good luck.
