Latina Christiana Review

"Salvete amici Latinae," the sweet teacher on the DVD greets my children.
"Salve, magistra," they answer back.
Soon, they are reciting the Lord Prayer in Latin, followed by their Latin verb conjugations. The lesson is easy to understand for all the children. Later, we put in the CD and sing "O Come all Ye Faithful" (Adeste Fideles) in Latin. I love teaching Latin this way!

It is my personal goal to teach one year of Latin to each of my children when they are middle school age. This past year was my first time using Latina Christiana I: Introduction to Christian Latin by Cheryl Lowe and it was a great experience for all of us! In the past, my older daughters used a computer Latin curriculum that we thought was great. This was even better.

Latin is not a dead language, it lives on in numerous words in our own English language. Students who take Latin during their school years score higher on average on their S.A.T.s and other college placement exams. Latin study increases vocabulary and helps students understand English grammar better because Latin has affected our language. Latin grammar is easier than English grammar, so it helps students tackle any difficulties in English grammar. I taught my own younger children and my friend, Laura's three children this year once a week using Latina Christiana's workbook, teacher's edition, instructional DVD, and pronunciation CD from Memoria Press. I had never taught a language with a DVD before, but now I think that it is the best way to go. Seeing the teacher, listening to her teach on the DVD, and listening to the CD all combined to make learning smooth and simple.

Leigh Lowe, our teacher on the DVDs, is kind and pleasant. She explains each lesson thoroughly in a way that my children can understand. There are 17 hours of classroom instruction of 5 DVDs. The videos are simple with Leigh standing in front of a plain backdrop combined with powerpoint presentations. However, they are engaging and keep my children's undivided attention. You can tell that Leigh loves to teach Latin to her students. She smiles warmly and tells my kids that they've done a good job! We all like her and even notice when she wears her hair differently!

Our Latin class consisted of two fifth graders, two seventh graders, and one tenth grader. They all have progressed nicely in the course, and even sang Adeste Fideles at our Christmas church service! You can use this course as young as third grade, but I used it with a high schooler too!

During the lesson, after greeting the teacher and reciting a prayer in Latin, my children recite along with Leigh. They might recite First Conjugations (voco, vocas, vocat, vocamos, vocatis, vocant), First Declensions (mensa, mensae, mensae, mensam, mensa,mensae, mensarum, mensis, mensas, mensis), Second Declension Nouns (donum, doni, dono, donum, dono, dona, donorum, donis, dona, donis), or Plural Adjectives (boni, donorum, bonis, bonos, bonis, bonae, bonarum, bonis, bonas, bonis, bona, bonorum, bonis, bona, bonis). This looked and sounded so hard to me at first, but the children have memorized all of their recitations. I can say to them, "2nd Declension Nouns: Donum," and they will recite, "donum, doni, dono, donum, dono, dona, donorum, donis, dona, donis," without batting an eye!

Praying and singing in Latin help the course to come alive. Everyone knows the Table Blessing and The Lord's Prayer, so, saying it in Latin is fun! It feels like you are fluently speaking the language because you are speaking Latin and know exactly what you are saying! Singing is the same way! In fact, I think singing is the best possible way to supplement language learning because it almost impossible not to memorize the Latin words to the songs.

Leigh gives a grammar lesson during each session, making it amazingly easy to understand--even for me! There is frequent review so students do not forget what they have learned previously. The class session on the DVD ends with derivatives of Latin words. We stop the DVD a lot during this section so the kids can write all the derivatives down. We also read about Rome and famous Romans. Famous Men of Rome by John Haaran, A.B. Poland, & Cheryl Lowe contains thirty stories covering Rome's history from its founding to the last emporer.

If you are interested in classical education, this is a great way to get a taste of classical instruction. The curriculum and the DVD teach Latin in the classical way, building precept upon precept, reciting, memorizing, and challenging children to use their brains. Latin, of course, is a big part of classical education, along with logic and other core subjects. You can purchase logic, rhetoric, French, and other classical studies materials at Memoria Press.

You can purchase the entire set (Student workbook, Teacher's Manual, Instructional DVD set, Pronunciation CD, and Flashcards) for $97.00 on the Memoria Press website. Additional student workbooks are only $15.00. There are tests and quizes in the teacher's manual to copy for the children to take after each section.

Of course, the real evidence of the effectiveness of our Latin class was demonstrated on the soccer field. Phoebe missed a goal and yelled, "Mea culpa!" I smiled. What a great investement of teaching time and energy was expended this past year using Latina Christiana!