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Latin for Children, by Aaron Larsen & Christopher Perrin   Review by Martha Robinson, June 2006

Latin for Children offers a three year Latin study for elementary aged students. In this program, the authors introduce a tremendous amount of vocabulary and many grammar concepts to third to fifth graders. Written in a folksy, informal style, the book speaks directly to the child. The text uses a large, easy-to-read font, ample white space, and has black and white illustrations on almost every page.

Primer A (bundle of student book, answer key, DVDs, and CD for $74.95) is intended for use in third grade. The course is divided into seven units with two Latin maxims, primarily quotations from historical figures, briefly introduced per unit. Units contain two to five chapters and a unit review with the recommended pace being one chapter per week. Each chapter begins with the maxim, a new chant of a declension, conjugation, or irregular verb, and the vocabulary list. The "Grammar Page" introduces the grammar concept for the lesson in casually written, and sometimes grammatically incorrect, language. The "Worksheet" page follows and has brief fill-in-the-blank exercises for eleven vocabulary words/maxims, the new chant, two to four grammar items, and two derivatives. The final page of the chapter is the "Pre Quiz" which includes more fill in the blank exercises for all new vocabulary, a few review vocabulary words and the chant, and a few short answer questions for grammar. Quizzes and tests are not included with this program, but homeschooling parents could use the "Pre Quiz" for this purpose.

The "Review Week" lesson has more pages devoted to it than the regular chapters. First is a checklist of all vocabulary studied in the unit. Children are instructed to "Check the ones you have not mastered, and then spend extra time chanting these words until you have mastered them." The "Derivative Study" page, next, sows many of the words from the unit with derivatives written beside them. Children are encouraged to use a dictionary to find the derivative to see the Latin root noted, and in the later reviews children must write five sentences using derivatives. A recap of grammar concepts covered in the unit is on the "Grammar Review" page along with some translation exercises. An end of unit test is not included with the program.

The final chapter is an "End of Book Review." The "Vocabulary Check" pages have all of the vocabulary words listed in Latin with a blank for the student to translate them. Eight pages of simple exercises (matching, fill-in-the-blank) and basic sentence translation activities allow the student to review the grammar concepts covered in Primer A. The book ends with a reference section including "The Apostle's Creed," grammar charts, and a glossary.

The teaching method used in Latin For Children relies heavily on chants, though the authors do recommend making flash cards. Classical pronunciation is used. Topics covered include first and second declension nouns; first and second conjugation verbs in present, imperfect, and future tenses; the irregular verb to be; prepositions that take the accusative and ablative cases; adjectives; and basic sentence structure. Sentence patterns and their chants from Shurley Grammar are briefly explained.

The Answer Key shows copies of only the pages with exercises, with all answers filled in. Additional teacher's notes are not included.

The DVD for Primer A has beautiful graphics for the menu, but resembles a somewhat formalized home video, complete with distracting noises. The DVD includes a basic overview of the information in the text with reinforcement of the chants. One section shows the vocabulary chants being acted out by the students and the author. Sound quality and picture quality are not what is usually found on professional recordings.

Primer B (bundle of student book, answer key, DVDs, and CD for $84.95) continues with basically the same format as Primer A with two extra pages of exercises per chapter*. The book has a medieval theme with black and white illustrations of knights and kings, for example, throughout and corresponds to the history studies prescribed by Veritas Press. Christian readings are included.

The seven units, comprising thirty-two chapters, has review of concepts learned in Primer A and new material. Additional topics include personal and demonstrative pronouns, numbers, third declension, and third conjugation.

Some concessions are made for families interested in ecclesiastical pronunciation with a brief explanation of the differences between classical and ecclesiastical. The DVD introduces both classical and ecclesiastical one after the other during the lesson. The "c" is pronounced "ch" and a "j" is shown at the beginning of a word rather than an "i", but the author still uses the "w" sound for "v" in the lessons; however, in the ecclesiastical chants section, the "v" is pronounced as "v."

The DVD for Primer B has greatly improved audio. On-screen charts help make chants easy. Beautiful pictures of European castles illustrate the menus on the DVD. Lessons were filmed four at a time, and the attention level of the young student begins to fade after the first couple. Only the instructor has a microphone so comments from the students are difficult to hear.

Don't miss Martha's fabulous Latin Curriculum Comparison Chart!

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