We are getting our curriculum for next fall ready, and took the opportunity to review Latina Christiana 1 Complete Set from Memoria Press.

We are preparing classes and goals for my soon to be highschooler.  He studied Greek and Roman History and an introduction to the Greek Language this year.   As we set goals for his upcoming school year, we wanted to see if this introductory course to Latin might be a good fit for his Foreign Language requirement.

Three main reasons to Study Latin:

• Helps kids master the English language.
• Improves test scores.
• Kids who study Latin score higher on SAT test than the average student.
• Encourages mental discipline.
• Encourages cultural understanding of the Greeks, Rome, and the Christian faith.

Latina Christiana 1 Complete Set

A beginning Latin Course
For students of all ages
Grade 3 and Above
Retails for $98.90

This Latin course is recommended if your student is:

• In at least Grade 3 or higher, even if your child is in Highschool 12th Grade,
• If they have had no prior experience learning the Latin Language.
• It is also recommended for teachers who have no prior experience teaching Latin.

What We Received

With this program we received the complete set which includes:

Student Workbook:

• 25 Lessons plus 5 Review Lessons.
• Includes 10 vocabulary words, maps, song lyrics and exercises to go along with each lesson.
• Sayings that teach Christian

Flashcards:

• Includes card stock printed vocabulary cards with Latin and English to go along with each lesson.

Pronunciation CD:

• Complete pronunciation of words in each lesson.
• Also has performances of songs and prayers.

Instructional DVDs:

• Includes 5 disks (18 hours of lessons)
• Each disk contains  45+/-minute video instruction for each week’s lesson.
• Comprehensive instruction
• Grammar, Recitation, Review
• Onscreen notes, illustrations, and diagrams
• Self teaching format.  Complete virtual instruction so that motivated students can do this program independent of having a live teacher in the room.

Teacher Manual:

• Notes on how to teach the lessons, incorporate the videos, cds, and flash cards.
• Maps
• History
• Song lyrics
• Copies of the student workbook pages with answer keys.
• Recitation schedule.
• Teaching tips for each lesson.
• Questions for the optional history.
• Reproducible drill practice pages.
• Lesson quizzes
• Review Tests that cover each set of five lessons.

Several supplemental materials are also available for additional purchase including Latin Work Wall Charts ($20), a Certificate of Completion ($.50), and National Exam Guides (3 guides: Introduction, Level 1, and Level 2 (prices vary)), Review Worksheets ($9.95), and additional Student Workbooks ($16).

How We Used This In Our Home

We received the Latina Christiana 1 Complete Set for the purpose of writing an honest review. This material covers 25 lessons, and each lesson is designed to be studied for 5 days or 1 week. For most students this course will provide a whole school year of Foreign language learning. An older student could complete this course in 1 semester if highly motivated and moved at a fast pace.

We finished up our 2014-2015 school year several weeks ago, but jumped on this opportunity to review Latina Christiana 1 when it was offered through The Old Schoolhouse for review.  My son wants to study foreign languages, and started to really apply himself this past year in Spanish 1 and also learning Greek Morphemes.

He took an awesome online class this school year on the History of the Greek and Roman Empire and New Testament Church History.  He loved it!  He let me know he wanted to learn even more about this period in history and learn to speak Greek and Latin.  This Latin Language course seemed like a good way to introduce him to the language and give him even more experience with learning about the early church.

He is very smart, but I never in my wildest dreams thought my kids would want to learn how to read languages like Greek and Latin, or learn about early New Testament History.  Not many 8th grade boys think like that!  But he is fascinated with the formation of the Christian church, and comparing how different it is today.  If it is this fascinating to an 8th grader, perhaps everyone in modern day church could learn something from reviewing early church and the Greek and Roman culture in the beginning of it’s formation.   Thank God for the opportunity to write reviews with TOS, because they have provided our family with all of these opportunities to review and learn each of these classes my son has been interested in this year.

When the material first arrived, we went through the materials together.  We read through and practiced pronouncing some of the letter combinations that would be used in the course.  These are found right in the beginning of both the Student Workbook and the Teachers Manual.   After this initial introduction, and he became more familiar with the materials, he took off like a rocket and my son has mostly worked on this class independently so far.   He always gets to it before I am ready since I have six kids to help.  He does most of his studies independently at this point.  But I hope to get him to slow down a bit and be able to get his brothers in on the fun too this fall.  Honestly I want to learn this too, as I believe I can understand the scriptures even more by learning this language.  I don’t want to be left out and this is my opportunity to learn it right along with the kids.

Each day my son sits down to the video instruction from the DVD.   She does a very good job explaining things in simple easy to understand instructions.  He has the opportunity to pause the DVD and practice what he is learning and then move forward.  Next he listens to the pronunciations on the CD and uses his flash cards.  Then he completes the related assignment in his Student Workbook.

He is a very motivated self learner.  He can search out any info on the internet and apply it before my head even grasps what button to push on my keyboard.  So in true fashion to his character, he took the lead on learning this material on his own.  He is thrilled with it, and finds it easy to navigate.  Our toughest challenge has been pronunciation of some of the words is different than they are written.  Some words sound the same as they are written.  So going back and forth and understanding when to use a different sound for the same letters has been the biggest challenge for him to wrap his brain around.

My son found this beginning Latin course challenging, and we are both excited for him to resume learning with it when our new school year 2015-2016 begins this fall.  I plan to purchase the wall charts and certificates and the additional student workbooks for the next two sons right behind him, and one for mom (and maybe Dad) too.  I hope to motivate all three of the older boys to learn this material together during our coming school year.   This class is definitely on our list of curriculum for this coming year.

I would encourage you to consider introducing your students to Latin.  I did not have this learning opportunity growing up and was a bit scared of it at first.   But once we got into the materials, I am excited my kids have this wonderful curriculum resource.

These course materials could be used in a variety of class settings and great for homeschoolers, coop classes, private schools, after school learning, and even bible study enrichment.  This is such a valuable resource and teaching tool so why not use it for Sunday School church classes too.  Think of the fun you will have to offer your students (young or old) a certificate of completion when they have finished! I am looking forward to both my kids and myself earning our certificates too!!

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Be sure to check out what others on the Schoolhouse Review Crew had to say about using curriculum products from Memorial Press.