Prima Latina Samples - Conventions

[Anonymous]

Thank you for sending me your catalog. When I first
discovered your website, I was impressed with your
excellent publications. I then explored The Highlands
School website which confirmed to me that your
philosophy matches mine completely.

I am very interested in the Prima Latina curriculum
for my 4-year old "kindergartner," but only if it is
appropriate for her. She is currently learning to
read through a phonics program (PHONICS PATHWAYS) but
is not quite fluent. Would it be possible to see a
sample lesson? I would appreciate the opportunity to
see something before I purchase. Also, does your
company ever participate in homeschooling conventions?
I plan to attend the California event in July.

Thank you again for your help. I look forward to
using your materials through my homeschooling
adventure.

Joyfully Yours,
Patrice M.

[blowe]

You can find links to samples of most of our books at the top, right of the product page. http://memoriapress.com/descriptions/prima.htm

We don't attend any shows, but our books are carried by many convention vendors so that you can see them. Martin Cothran also attends some shows as a speaker and keeps samples of our books.

Thanks,
Brian Lowe

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your question and enthusiasm about our Latin programs.

While some Kindergarten students are ready for Latin, we usually do not recommend Prima Latina for students who are not fluent readers. Latin vowels sound different than English vowels, which could confuse a beginning reader and hinder the study of both English and Latin. Once your student is a confident reader, able to easily discern vowels without error, then you are ready for Prima.

Until then, a great "warm up" to Latin study is listening to Latin music (with our Lingua Angelica audio CD) and memorizing Latin prayers, without emphasis on translation.

When you are ready, sample lessons, information on supplements, and reviews are available under product descriptions at memoriapress.com.

[TJean]

My daughter started Latin at 5 by sneaking into a secondary class until everyone thought she belonged. Multiple attemps at forming younger kids classes never got very far but a friend finally got Latin Primer 1-3 with the video's and we grabbed class sessions as we could.

She actually learned to read (decode) Latin easier than English and Latin's relative phonetic consistency helped her gain confidence when tackling English's inconsistency. She went from basic primers to finishing the first Harry Potter book during kindergarten. Now she's working side by side with her brother using Wheelock's at the tender age of 10 (reduce workload).

I was raised bilingual until I switched to Italian during my first week of kindergarten. The principle told my parents I needed to go to an ESL class and my grandfather forbid anyone from speaking Italian. He never spoke in Italian again, but when I hear it for more than a few minutes I still can understand but can't make my mouth speak right. But I absorb spoken language like a sponge even now.

Go for it!

[abbey]

I did Prima with a very young child last year, and loved it. But he was already a fairly fluent reader... He had also gone through most of Jessie Wise's "First Language Lessons", and I believe that helped a great deal too. It's certainly not a prerequisite for Prima, but if you're itching to do something more than Phonics Pathways for now, you might consider adding in First Language Lessons now. (It can certainly be used with a child who is just beginning to read). Then when you start Prima, your child will already be very familiar with the basic parts of speech and the Prima grammar (which is very basic) will merely reinforce what you have already covered in English. ... So, yes, Prima can be used with a 4yo, but no, I wouldn't recommend it until she is reading well.

If you attend a convention, I think it's quite likely that there will be vendors there with Prima Latina and Latina Christiana.