Homeschooling Latin question

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Moore11

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I am a homeschooling parent who would like to incorporate Latin into the curriculum. I have a 2nd Grader and a Kindergartner. I have never learned Latin so I need a good curriculum that I could teach from. The other option is a curriculum that a friend who used to be a high school Latin teacher could use. But she is unfamiliar with age appropriate materials.
Any suggestions?
We don’t really need to have this be a huge focus but I would like to introduce them to Latin.
 
Check out Memoria Press: memoriapress.com/ They are a wonderful company - not Catholic, but very Catholic-friendly. We are using First Form Latin here, over grades 5 and 6. But they have one called Prima Latina, which is made for early elementary.
 
Our homeschool curriculum calls for the “English from the Roots Up” flashcards which have been great for beginning basics. We started it at 3rd grade and the cards teach Latin and Greek.
 
If I may offer up a suggestion:
there is a forum that I go on for Latin as I am trying to teach myself. A lot of the members on there are college students from all around the world. Quiet a few of them are either in the advanced stages of learning the language while others are beginning. All of the people on there are VERY friendly and welcome new members.

I find myself using it quite a bit for even the most simple questions. just type in “Latin D” on google and it will be the first thing that comes up.

I hope this helps!
Schatzl
also, the forum is free.
 
My understanding from the Latin academy in town is that formal training doesn’t start before age 10. Before that, do it the natural way: that is, teach the child prayers and Bible passages in both English and Latin, so they get an ear for it and gain the vocabulary as children usually do, by imitation instead of by theoretical study. (Not a bad way for you to go, either!!)
 
I would highly recommend teaching them from a Classical Latin textbook, not an Ecclesiastical Latin one. For older children, Wheelock’s and Cambridge are good.

Teaching Latin to young children is rather difficult because it is not a spoken language, and no ecclesiastical textbook I know covers the necessary aspects of pronunciation, in particular vowel quantity.
 
ahs said:
Our homeschool curriculum calls for the “English from the Roots Up” flashcards which have been great for beginning basics. We started it at 3rd grade and the cards teach Latin and Greek.
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We use these with my 3rd and 1st grader - they both know all of the cards from the first set (100) and are begging me to buy the second set. I highly recommend them!!
 
Baelor said:
I would highly recommend teaching them from a Classical Latin textbook, not an Ecclesiastical Latin one. For older children, Wheelock’s and Cambridge are good.

Teaching Latin to young children is rather difficult because it is not a spoken language, and no ecclesiastical textbook I know covers the necessary aspects of pronunciation, in particular vowel quantity.
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Some of the Memoria Press materials come with DVDs, so you can hear the teacher pronouncing them.

I much prefer ecclesiastical Latin, since it is what we chant in Church and sing in choirs. My goal in having my kids learn Latin is to help them understand the language as the Church uses it, and help them understand the roots of their own language a little better. Since it isn’t a spoken language, I’m less concerned about the intricacies of correct pronunciation.
 
I’m using a textbook called “LINGVA LATINA PER SE ILLVSTRATA” It uses the natural method, meaning that the book is in Latin. But it builds up your vocabulary as you go along. For example, the first sentence of the book is “Roma in Italia est.” or, Rome is in Italy. It then gets more and more advanced to the point that by the time you finish the first book, you are able to speak at a beginner level. The book itself is like a story about an ancient Roman family, but has parts of the Vulgate in it. If you are looking for the Church’s pronunciation, I’d just google search “Ecclesiastical Latin pronunciation” and use that version.

Good luck!
 
ThyKingdomCome said:
I much prefer ecclesiastical Latin, since it is what we chant in Church and sing in choirs.
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It is not that different from Classical Latin, and it is easier to go from Classical to Ecclesiastical than the other way, not least of all because that is the chronological development. Ecclesiastical Latin is much simpler in style than classical Latin, so you cannot read everything in Latin simply by learning the Mass etc. Furthermore, the Pope has stated that Latinity is worth preserving, especially Cicero. Finally, and most importantly, the current Vatican Latinists all use Latin heavily influenced by Ciceronian prose and write in Classical Latin, not Ecclesiastical Latin.
My goal in having my kids learn Latin is to help them understand the language as the Church uses it, and help them understand the roots of their own language a little better.
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See above – Classical Latin will do all of those things. Ecclesiastical Latin is not a root of English. Nor is Classical Latin, for that matter.
Since it isn’t a spoken language, I’m less concerned about the intricacies of correct pronunciation.
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You just said that it was used in the Mass and in chant. Those are spoken activities, so why would you not care about pronunciation? Would you rather sing gibberish because you do not know how to pronounce the words?
 
Are you going to be learning Latin with your children, or staying a few steps ahead of them as they progress? Or will someone else be teaching them?

It’s definitely a good idea to teach some prayers (Ave Maria, Pater Noster) in Latin – they contain a lot of grammar and are or will be familiar material.

Reading the Bible in Latin is much easier than reading even the more basic Classical authors. At least in my opinion.
 
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