Picta Dicta Natural World: A Roman Roads Media Review

This summer I started my 7 year old (and my 5 year old smarty-pants by osmosis) on a Latin and English Grammar program.    Parents are encouraged to learn along with the students so I'm trying my hand at it too.  We're taking it slow, but it's been a lot of fun!  Little did I know that this review of Picta Dicta Natural World, a Latin vocabulary program from Roman Roads Media, was  heading my way.  The combination of the two has been perfect!  

Picta Dicta is a self-paced online program designed to assist in learning Latin vocabulary in such a way that it is easy, useful and permanent. The Crew reviewed two of the Picta Dicta programs: Picta Dicta Natural World and Picta Dicta Vocabulary Builder.  Each program comes with multiple difficulty levels so that every student can be successful.  It even appears that if you pick the wrong level, through the parent account you can go in and change it.  

We received three subscriptions to Picta Dicta Natural World to review that I could set at whatever level I chose.  For miss Z (age 5 and still learning to read), I chose the English Level.  This level only introduces vocabulary in English, but uses the same images as the other levels.  This will make the graduation to the next level seamless.  For J (7 and avid reader), I chose Reader I that combines English and Latin vocabulary, ensuring proper usage and context.  The third subscription I set on Express and used it for myself.  This was similar to Reader I, but moved quicker and included a lot more reading in the form of history and informational stories.

As you can see in the picture above, they divide the lessons into categories (like Nuts and Berries or Land Forms and Terrain) and then teaches them in multiple different ways.  There are review sections regularly and they seem to build on what has already been taught.  This provides a lot of opportunities for solidifying memorization.  Once accounts are all set up, students are able to work independently with little to no help from parents/teachers.

What We Thought:

Since both of my kids did a different level, they often watched each other work through the program.  This really benefited miss Z, as she was only doing the English level.  This way she started picking up on the Latin too.  I started my subscription after the kids had already been working through theirs for a while so J would often come and watch over my shoulder.  The Express level was aptly named because it moved very fast and would show my weaknesses sometimes.  J would step in and start helping me.  Before you know it, it was a group effort.  For learning Latin, this is a huge tool.  It was simple to use and everyone enjoyed it while being sufficiently challenged.  

Whether you are looking for a stand-alone curriculum or simply a supplement to your already active Latin program, Picta Dicta is a great choice!

Roman Roads Media on Social Media: 

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YouTude: https://www.youtube.com/user/romanroadsmedia  @romanroadsmedia
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/romanroadsmedia  @romanroadsmedia

If you are interested in some of the other programs like Fitting Words or Vocabulary Builder, check out the rest of the Crew's reviews!