Latina Christiana from Memoria Press || A Curriculum Review

I love it when I have the opportunity to learn with my kids!  I never learned Latin growing up when I was in school, but I wanted to introduce it to my kids being that many of our English words derived from Latin.  We had the opportunity to review Latina Christiana from Memoria Press and I have really enjoyed learning alongside with them.

What is Latina Christiana

Latina Christiana is a beginning Latin grammar course intended for kids in grades 3-5.  The course was designed for the teacher or mom with no background in Latin.  After finishing Latina Christiana your child will be ready for the First Form Latin Series.  This is a classical Christian curriculum that can be used as a self-instruction course or parent-directed.  There is also an optional history component that introduces the history and culture of Rome.

What did we receive

Our family received the Latina Christiana complete set.  The complete set included the following...

• Teacher Manual is spiral bind (which I absolutely love) it is the same as the student book but it has the answers filled in, which makes it easy when you are teaching because you don't have to flip through the book for the answers.  The weekly lesson plans are laid out for you.  It has the grammar overview, reproducible quizzes, drills, and tests. 
• Student Book is consumable and intended to be used for one student/child.  In the front of the student book, you will find pronunciation rules.  After that lessons 1-25 and the five lesson reviews.  Last is the Appendices it contains the prayers, history guide, vocabulary index, derivatives and more.
• Instructional DVDs comes with 3 discs to cover all 25 lessons.  The lessons are taught by Jessica Watson. She teaches the pronunciation of the words and the grammar. This is my favorite part of the set because I believe this is what makes teaching Latin doable without any Latin background.  
• Pronunciation CD includes prayers, songs, table blessing, and the pronunciations of each vocabulary word.  This was great for helping the kids review how to pronounce the words.
• Flashcards cover the vocabulary with the derivatives, Latin sayings, and declensions and conjugations.

How we used it in our homeschool

It is suggested to complete a lesson a week in the teacher's manual, however, we just jumped right in before I read the TM so we did the first lesson in one day.  I do not recommend that all.  It was doable for my oldest daughter who is 15 and just wanted to sit in on the lessons, but not for the younger kids because there was a lot that was covered.  So, after that hiccup, I sat down and read over the TM.  I decided to do as suggested and complete one lesson each week.  I wanted to be sure to incorporate everything that came with the set so that we could get the most out of the curriculum.  I originally planned to use this with my 3 older kids and let my little tag along, however, I only received one student book so I had to tweak it a bit until we were able to order more student books.  So my oldest used the student book and my younger three copied notes from the board.  So here is how we made it work.

• Monday we watched the corresponding lesson on the instructional DVD all the way through.  I wrote out notes on our whiteboard for the kids to look over and copy (only the kids without the student book were required to copy the notes) and we discussed the vocabulary words and derivatives for the week.  I wrote notes in my TM as I watched with the kids so that I could remember pronunciation and meanings.

• Tuesday we listened to the corresponding lesson on the pronunciation CD and did part A and B in the student book.  I did this orally with the kids that did not have a student book yet.
• Wednesday We watched the instructional DVD again as the kids did part C, D, and E in the student book.  Again, for the kids that did not have a book yet, we did this orally.

• Thursday We listened to the pronunciation CD again and did a written drill.  For the written drill I just had the kids write the Latin words and what it meant in English.  After that, we played different games with the Flashcards to help with memorization of their vocabulary words.  The TM suggested a few games, but their favorite was the Lego board game we created.

The Lego game we created to review vocabulary

• Friday is quiz day.

This is a Quiz that my daughter completed

We have not used the history component because we are already studying Rome in history, but I will be adding the recommended book, Famous Men of Rome, to our read-aloud time soon.   The CD can be used throughout the week to help with pronunciation.  We sometimes listened to it in the car or during lunch.

Our thoughts

Although this is intended for grades 3-5 I would say it is a good fit for older kids with no Latin background as well.  My son and daughter who are in 6th and 9th grade have been able to benefit from this as well as my younger kids.  My 9th grader can use it on her own and can complete a lesson fairly quickly while the younger ones still needed me to work through it with them.  The teacher manual is very resourceful and has everything laid out for you, however, I would not have been able to get through this without the instructional DVDs.  In my opinion, they are what makes this teachable without any Latin background.  My only complaint and I wouldn't really consider it a complaint, just a "need to know type" of thing, is that the instructor did not pause long enough in between her teachings.  For example, she would ask the kids to repeat after her but before we could finish she would already be on the next word.  The kids became a little frustrated with it so I started pausing the DVD in between to give them time to repeat it.  The most exciting part so far is when I reading to the kids, from our history lesson, and I came across the word orator, the kids pointed out that it was one of their Latin vocabulary words and they knew what it meant.  That word would have gone right over their heads had we not previously learned it in Latin.  I would definitely recommend this to any family that is thinking of adding Latin to list of things to learn.  This curriculum is awesome!!

When I asked my kids what they thought about the curriculum so far this is what they said.

• My 3rd grader said, " I like it, uh the quiz is kind of hard.  I love the Lego game it's really fun.  I've learned a lot of new words and I remember them!  I think kids my age would like this, especially the game part."
• My 5th grader said, " I liked it, it was good, it taught me some new words and it wasn't too hard or too easy, it was just right.  I liked how she explained each word and she repeated it a couple of times so that we could remember it.  I like the review because it helps to make sure we actually remembered what we were taught."
• My 6th grader said, " Well, I kind of like it.  I don't, uh like that we don't have time to recite our words.  I love how she translates from English to Latin.  I really love the flashcards game it's a good way to mix learning with fun.  I love the pictures before the lessons.  I learned some new words that I didn't know before.  I would recommend it for your younger kids.  I wish I would have learned it earlier and then progressed with it."
• My 9th grader said, " I love Latina Christiana the lessons are fast, quick, and easy.  The teacher did a good job explaining she didn't go too fast or too slow, except when we had to recite we didn't have enough time to do so.  I didn't like how she forgot to tell us to sit down after she told us to stand up. HAHA.  I loved the flash cards they really helped us study.  The CD was helpful, also.  Overall it is a very good curriculum I picked up on Latin very easily and I would recommend it to kids of all ages."

Other things offered by Memoria Press

Memoria Press is a family- run publishing company that offers classical Christian education material.  Here are some of the other wonderful things they have to offer.

• Traditional Spelling I and II include student and teacher books, practice sheets, flashcards, and classical phonics.  I is intended for grades 1-2 and II is intended for grades 2-3.

• Music Appreciation I  includes the book and two CDs.  It is intended for grades 3-5.

• First Form Latin I can't wait to start this one next.  It is intended for grades 4-9 and should be down after completing Latina Christiana.

These are just a few, they have so much more to offer.  You should check out what other moms on the homeschool review crew are saying about the product they reviewed.  Click the banner below.

I hope this review gave you a good insight into what Latina Christiana is like.  If there's something I didn't cover or if you have questions, please don't hesitate to drop them below in the comments and I will be sure to answer as best as I can.

I pray you have a blessed day!