Latin Road to English Grammar....frustrated

[organicmom3]

We started the Latin Road this year with my 9th grade daughter and 5th grade son....with the intentions of doing volume one and part of volume 2 to count as one credit of foreign language for my daughter who wants to do a different language possibly next year if I don't decide to make her do one more year of latin.

I am frustrated with the time it is taking. So much prep time for me and the lessons are taking a good hour a day for them , sometimes more.
I understood it would take some time, but it is taking this long even with some adaptations that I am making...and now we are undergoing a move we had not anticipated and , something wonderful, a surprise baby...so I know I can not put in this prep time in the spring at all!

So I'm trying to figure out what to do, ...someone suggested first form latin to me? Or Latina Christiana?
My biggest problems are TIME, money, and how , if I make a switch, do I determine where to start in a new program and how to still count this as a one credit course for my daughter?

Thanks to anyone that can help me find a little peace of mind with this!!

[tanya]

Hello.

I'm sorry you are frustrated with Latin. I do believe that First Form would work well for you in your situation. I would begin at the beginning and just work more quickly through the material that is review. You can't really review too much in Latin grammar, and the reinforcement would help build the confidence of your children.

I think the FF dvds would be perfect for you because you could sit back with your children and learn right along with them as a Latin teacher teaches the lessons. I know that you are frustrated at the thought of purchasing 2 Latin programs in a year. If you will order the FF books, I will send you the unedited dvd of the first 12 lessons to try at no charge. Then you will know if this approach works for you before you invest in it.

And I can say with confidence that you will like the format of FF and will find it very teacher-friendly. This is an investment you won't regret.

I think that since your children already have a beginning background in Latin, you should be able to get through most or all of FF this school year. But even if you don't complete FF, you have been doing Latin all year, so I would certainly count it as a Latin credit, finish it up at the beginning of next year, and move on to Second Form.

If you have any further questions, I'll be glad to help you.

Tanya

[organicmom3]

I think I might do that Tanya....
a couple quick questions:

about how long is a lesson...do the kids do 5 in a week? (typically, I know we need to play catch-up)

and how is the undedited version different?

Thanks!

[tanya]

Good morning.

The unedited dvd is just our rough video before the charts have been added and before the finish work has been done, but it is the teacher teaching the complete lesson. Obviously, the finished product will be better, but it won't be ready until the end of Nov. This video would give you a good idea if this format would work for your children. He teaches the complete lesson which should minimize your prep time considerably.

First Form is set up to be one lesson/week. It is a high school credit and can easily be completed in 1 year at that pace. I would listen to the lesson on dvd the 1st day and do p. 1 of the workbook (which will reinforce the grammar concept for the day). I would have the students read the lesson again the 2nd day and do a couple more pages of the workbook. The 3rd day, finish the workbook lesson. The 4th day, review for the quiz, making sure everyone understands and can recite the grammar form, knows the vocabulary, etc. Then, take the quiz at the end of the week. If you need to, you can always go back and listen to the dvd lesson again.

This is just a rough sketch of the format of FF, and you can get a better idea of what our users are doing with it if you join our Yahoo First Form Group at the link below:
http://memoriapress.com/descriptions/first-latin.html

First Form is formatted for ease. Each lesson is formatted the same, only introduces one new concept, and is written to build mastery by constant review.

You can see sample pages on our website.

I hope this helps you in your decision-making.

Regards,

Tanya

[organicmom3]

Do you have any idea about how much time each day takes....an hour? less?

How do I go about ordering to get the unedited dvd??

THANK YOU!!!

[tanya]

Hello.

The dvd lessons are only 15-20 minutes long. I don't think you need to allow for more than 1 hr./day for Latin - and less than that on most days. Your 5th grader will probably take longer than your 9th grader to get the actual work done, but 4-5 hrs./wk. will be plenty.

If you call and order the FF books, just tell the CSR that I offered to send you the unedited dvd at no charge. She will add it to your order, and we'll ship it right out.

If you have questions after you receive your materials, I'll be glad to help you.

Thanks,

Tanya