Learning Latin with Memoria Press {Homeschool Review}

This entry is part 9 of 24 in the series 2018 Homeschool Reviews

With my daughter’s goal of being a missionary one day learning languages is high on her list of to-do’s. When the opportunity to review First Form Latin by Memoria Press came you can imagine she was pretty excited.

Now you may ask why a dead language will help my daughter in her missionary goals. Latin has many benefits for her mind and her future in learning other languages.

In addition to helping her understand the English language better, over half of the English vocabulary is made up of Latin words.
Latin is the gateway language for learning the Romance Languages such as French, Spanish, Italian. Make it easy, study Latin first.
Latin helps to develop the thinking and the mind.

You can read more about the benefits of studying latin on Memoria Press Top 10 Reasons for Studying Latin.

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About First Form Latin

Memoria Press provides Classical Education curriculum materials for homeschoolers. In a nutshell Classical Education is about teaching students how to think. That is what sets it apart.

Memoria Press has an article on their website about What is Classical Education.

Latin

First Form Latin is recommended by Memoria Press to be used by beginning Latin learners grades 5 and up or by students who have already taken the Latina Christina program, also by Memoria Press.

Since we, oop I mean, my daughter is a beginning Latin Learner in the 7th grade it seemed the perfect fit for us. Younger beginning Latin Learners can take the Prima Latina program.

We received the full package of First Form Latin which includes…

Student Textbook
Student Workbook
Teacher Manual
Quizzes & Tests Book
Teacher Key for Tests and Quizzes
A Pronunciation CD
Flashcards
and the lesson DVDs

How We Used First Form Latin

Following the pattern in the Teacher’s Manual for a weekly lesson, we start studying Latin each week by watching the lesson on the DVD first.

The next days we work through the workbook, practice with the flash cards and pronunciation CD, and then end the week with a quiz or test.

I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly my daughter has picked up on the Latin. Even after taking Italian I found I had some difficulty remember verb ending and all the tenses ohmygoodness! She’s just breezing through and really working her memory. Maybe she’s got more brain space up there or something but this has not been a problem for her! The only difference is I’m not doing the worksheets but I am going over them with her. It makes me think that seeing, hearing, reading, and applying is a formula that really works.

My daughter really enjoys her lessons and looks forward to moving through the Latin lessons each week. What’s been really helpful is finding derivatives throughout our day. English words coming from Latin roots. Those are aha moments for us.

Some things we’ve had to tweak. After a full school day sometimes the worksheets are a lot of work to add on to her day so we spread them out a little doing one a day as opposed to the recommended 2 or 3.

Also, the flash cards are a bit difficult for me to figure out how to use. There are SO many of them. They have numbers on them which I assume to go with the lessons but all the lesson cards are not together. I thought I was using all from a lesson but then would find more in the middle of the pack. I use them hit or miss but they are a bit overwhelming.