Review: Prima Latina

This spring I was sent Prima Latina, from Memoria Press, for review purposes.  This program has been on my radar for the past year so I was very excited to receive it!  Memoria Press is known for their rigorous and well rounded products.  They specialize in classical education materials encompassing everything from Latin to logic.  You have to love a company with a tagline that says "Saving Western Civilization One Student at a Time", right?  I figure if you're going to bother spending time on Latin with your children, that time should definitely be spent with a thoughtfully designed and comprehensive program - like this one.

I have a confession.  Although I like the idea of having my children learn Latin, I didn't do very well with reaching that same goal as a youngster myself!  I took a year of it when we started homeschooling but the grammar of it all was a bit much for me. (Grammar, as you may have noticed if you read my blog, is still not my forte!)

Anyway.  Despite this lack of great academic success on my part I do feel like I received some valuable vocabulary tools from my Latin experience.  I want to give that same advantage to my kids, and hopefully help them end up with even more from Latin than I did.  If you're not convinced Latin is important, check out this great article - one of many which extols the virtues of this language.

Prima Latina is designed to be used with students in grades 2-4, but I think it also works well with a 1st grader who can write and read well (like Bentley).  There are 25 lessons in the book and it's not hard to get 1 lesson/week done.  There is plenty of review built into the program so it's not a difficult pace to maintain.  It's easiest if you plan to use the program 4 days a week - at least, that's what I think!  On day 1 we watch the video, and on day 2 we look at flashcards and chants from the book.  On Day 3 we continue with flashcards, and do our workbook pages.  Day 4?  More review!  The audio CD is helpful when used as an extra review tool throughout the week as well as for initial pronunciation help, of course!

My Thoughts:

• Prima Latina blends seamlessly into Latina Christiana, a well respected program which is also from Memoria Press.  I like knowing that it's not just an introductory program that is going to leave me scrambling to figure out where to go next.
• I love the DVD.  It teaches the lessons for you and does so in a clear and easy to understand manner!
• The grammar isn't scary.  Memoria Press and Leigh Lowe, the author, do a good job of making the material approachable for a young audience.  All this despite the fact you're discussing conjugations and declensions.
• The pace is just right.  Only 5 words are covered per lesson, this is definitely doable.  Those 5 words add up quickly so you have a great foundation by the time you're done with the program!
• I like that the Christian pronunciation for Latin is used and not the classical.  It's doubtful my kids will run into Latin being spoken, but if they do it's more likely to be in a religious setting where the Christian pronunciation is more common.
• The workbook pages have a simple clean design to them - not too busy or cluttered, and not so much material that the student is overwhelmed.

In conclusion?  I have not yet found a magic key to make Latin FUN to young kids.  At least - not fun in the same way as a good book can be, or maybe a math game where you can shoot aliens.  I don't know if it's possible to provide that type of *sparkle* to the classic languages!  Regardless of that, I think there is definite value in providing my kids with knowledge as to where the foundations of our language, and others, comes from.  Learning Latin helps them understand English better and it's also a great tool to help discipline their young minds.  Latin will provide many great mental tools they can make use of throughout their lives!  Prima Latina is a great tool to help get them started on this road.

You can check it out at Memoria Press's website, here.  The complete package, which we were lucky to receive, includes a student book/teacher's manual/pronunciation CD/instructional DVD/flashcards.  It costs $90.90.  Not the very cheapest product on the block, but I think it's a good value for what you get.  If you don't want to invest that much up front you could start with their student book/teacher's manual/pronunciation CD for $32.95 - a great way to "test the water", so to speak, with your child.

Check out more reviews of Prima Latina here.  This Old Schoolhouse reviewers also tried out some other product offerings from Memoria Press that you might enjoy learning more about!