My 9 year old tried out Prima Latina last year while his younger sister observed. This time around I decided to let her (6 years old) start Prima Latina while her brother started Latina Christiana. The ages were appropriate and it gave me a chance to sufficiently compare the two.
What We Received:
We received a Latina Christiana Teacher's Manual, Student Workbook, Instructional DVDs, Introduction to First Form Latin audio CD, and a set of Flashcards.
How It Works:
Whether you have an ounce of experience with Latin or not, everything you need to teach your children is provided for you in these materials. The Teacher's Manual begins with a Grammar Overview that includes Cases of Nouns, Declensions, Latin Word Order, and Conjugations to give a teacher new to Latin an overview of what all will be included. The Manual also gives student goals for the first year Latin and General Teaching Guidelines. This gives an overview of possible schedules, and a summary of each element covered in individual lessons. The program is designed to cover one lesson per week.
Instructions for each lesson are presented on the Instructional DVDs as well as written in the Teacher's Manual. This allows for parent understanding to support students OR for a parent to do the teaching. Each student workbook has exercises for the student to complete during or after the lesson presentation, but there are also printable vocabulary and grammar drill worksheets in the the Teacher's Manual to be used throughout the week. The flashcards and audio CD serve for practice and further engagement opportunities.
How Does Christiana Compare to Latina?
Latina and Christiana are very similar in procedure. There are videos that introduce information, workbook, audio CDs and flashcards in both programs. The biggest difference is found in the content. While Prima Latina introduces students to grammar, Christiana builds on a basic understanding of Grammar. Prima ends the program with an introduction to conjugating Latin verbs and Christiana begins with conjugating. The Prima DVDs walk to the student through the exercises pretty plainly, while the Christiana requires a bit more comprehension on their part. This requires a little bit more parental oversight just to make sure there aren't any gaps, but I feel it is age appropriate. If you are trying to decide which program to use for your elementary student, the deciding question should be how much grammar knowledge your student has. If they have had no grammar, start with Prima. If they have a good understanding of basic (noun, verb, etc.) grammar, Christiana is a good fit!
What We Thought:
My kids really enjoy learning Latin and are starting to retain a surprising number of words. I get asked "Is this like the Latin word ____ ?" a lot, which leads to interesting and educational discussions! Since the procedure is very similar between the two programs, my son didn't have any trouble moving into Christiana from Prima. The flashcards for Prima and Christiana are the same set so both kids were able to quiz each other, which is a great asset to both of them. With both of them having their own program (even though they are so similar), they seemed to really appreciate their own work even though they would eavesdrop on each others just the same!
If you are interested in an elementary Latin program, this is an excellent one that solidifies grammar understanding along side Latin!
Follow Memoria Press on Social Media:
No comments:
Post a Comment