The longer we homeschool the more we learn about wonderful products available for learning a variety of languages and subjects at home at any age. We recently reviewed a wonderful product for learning beginning Latin from Memoria Press called Prima Latina Complete Set.
Prima Latina Complete Set
Student Book (workbook)
Teacher Manual
Lesson DVDs
Pronunciation Audio CD
Flash Cards
Grades 1-4
Retails $90.90
This is a terrific easy-to-use, beginning Latin resource for Elementary age students in grades 1-4. It was designed to make it easy to transition into the next level of learning Latin. But honestly older students and adults who have not previously studied Latin would also benefit using this beginning level program prior to moving on.
The Prima Latina Complete Set includes a spiral bound Student Book (workbook), Teacher Manual, Lesson DVD’s, Audio Pronunciation CD, and Flashcards.
All of the resources in this set coordinate together to cover 25 easy to use student friendly lessons. You can complete this course in 25 weeks or go faster or slower at a pace that suits your needs. The lessons include:
- grammar appropriate for primary grades
- 5 vocabulary words with corresponding English derivatives per lesson
- A practical Latin phrase per lesson
- One line of a prayer per lesson that is learned in 5 lessons
- Easy-to-read, 2-color format
- Reviews: The exercises in each lesson provide constant review of materials learned throughout the course.
- Tests: Every 5 lessons, students review the material and take a test (complete with key) to ensure mastery.
Our experience using Prima Latina:
Our daughter is using the Prima Latina Complete Set we were sent for this review. We like it so much we plan to order additional Student Books (workbooks) for the rest of our kids too. You need a Student Book for each student because they write in it what they have learned. However, each family would only need one complete set of the other resources that can be shared. So you could easily use this course with multiple kids in the same house if you get each one their own student book which only costs an additional $15 per student. That is one fee for the complete set for the first student and only $15 for each additional student to learn the beginning Latin course. For a large family like ours, with 6 kids, this is a win win!!!
Student Book (workbook):
We love this workbook! It is so easy to read and write in. It is spiral bound and printed on both sides of the page. Everything is broken down into easy to understand steps.
Each lesson contains about 10 sections:
Practical Latin
Lesson
Vocabulary
Latin Prayers
Derivatives
Review Questions (and sometimes additional Questions 2)
Translation
Speaking Latin
Write and Learn
Fun Practice
At the back of the book is a vocabulary appendix that contains an alphabetized list of all the words and phrases learned, what lesson they are found in, and what part of speech.
The student goals in the Student Book are to
- Learn basic Latin alphabet and pronunciation
- Pronounce, spell, and translate approximately 125 Latin words.
- Learn numbers 1-10 in Latin.
- Learn the names of the constellations in the sky.
- Understand derivatives and the English words that are derived from Latin.
- Grammar
Teacher Manual:
The Teacher Manual is also a very easy to use resource. It mirrors the Student Book and contains the answers to each of the questions. It also contains the vocabulary appendix, reproducible drills and tests and the answer keys, as well as a sample lesson plan, and teaching guidelines in the back.
I like the ease of use of this program. Even though I have no previous background in learning Latin myself, following the steps in this program is easy for me to teach and learn myself as I go. This course is great for both the student and the parent/teacher. Older students above the suggested grade level could teach this program to themselves independently too using the Teacher Manual.
DVD’s:
The DVD’s include 3 discs, with a total of 9 hours (15-20 min./lesson) taught by instructor Leigh Lowe. She includes a lot of vocabulary practice, explanations, recitation of words and phrases learned, and review.
She uses diagrams and on-screen notes, and examples to convey her meaning to help students understand.
Check out this example of a video lesson with the teacher Leigh Lowe:
Audio Pronunciation CD:
The Audio Pronunciation CD includes pronunciation explanation and direction for each lesson. We found the CD to be helpful for practicing drills and learning the correct pronunciation of the songs.
Flashcards:
We like using flashcards and the flashcards in the Prima Latina Complete Set are a fun way to practice and memorize the lessons being taught. They cover vocabulary with derivatives, Latin sayings, conjugations and declensions. The Flashcards can also be used the following year with the next level of Latin training called Latina Christiana.
Memoria Press has done a wonderful job creating this Latin course. Prima Latina is a student friendly way to teach Latin to young students. It teaches important English and Latin grammar concepts, as well as vocabulary, sayings, prayers, hymns, and many well known constellations in the sky.
Prima Latina Complete Set is a wonderful choice for homeschool families with young children. It may also be helpful for families with children who are still becoming familiar with English grammar as a second language too. Perhaps it would make a nice intro to Latin for bible study classes or groups. This program will also work great for families who need flexibility and for families who have students of various ages who want to learn Latin at a much slower pace than other programs. The program is flexible and you can go as fast or as slow as you need too. Finally it can also be used by families who have students that would like to work toward a rigorous language arts program using Latin as the foundation. This is a great beginning Latin language resource. Be sure to check out the next level course called Latina Christiana and the other Latin courses Memoria Press has to offer.
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Homeschool Review Crew
Be sure to check out what other families on the Homeschool Review Crew had to say about using products from Memoria Press.
