Salve! Quid agis? Sum optime! Just in case you don’t know what I said, let me share with you. I said, “Hello, how are you doing?” “I am doing great!” And, I said it in Latin. Latin! Yes, I know, just saying the word used to scare me too, so, when we offered a review of Latin products, I hesitated at first. But, since we will be studying Ancient Rome next year, I decided to give it a try with my youngest-since that was by far the easiest course. :o) So, with a bit of trepidation, we chose to review Song School Latin, from Classical Academic Press.
www.classicalacademicpress.com Now, I will say that I do not particularly follow a Charlotte Mason or classical education approach, although I do like many things about them, but they just aren’t a super great fit for our family. However, I do completely believe in learning as much as we can about things that are relevant to our lives, and I believe that Latin is very relevant. Just look at all our English words that derive from Latin. And, so much of our culture that comes from the Romans. I could go on, but suffice it to say, I was very willing to give Latin a good try-and oh, am I glad we did!
Now, let me tell you a bit about Song School Latin
It is geared for younger students, approximately K-3rd grade and, I just have to quote from their website:
“Did you ever believe that there would be a Latin program that would match the energy, developmental level, and fun loving nature of primary students? Song School Latin is a gentle and delightful introduction to Latin. Each weekly lesson is peppered with songs, illustrations, hand-writing practice, stories and activities for easy mastery and memorization. Learn over a hundred engaging everyday Latin vocabulary words for the seasons, body parts, food, animals and common greetings. A lively musical CD is a delightful piece of the program and comes in the back in each student text. As an ideal introduction to the language, Song School Latin will more than prepare a student to begin a grammar school program such as Latin for Children. Come join the fun!”
And, I agree with them 100%! We received the Teacher’s Manual, student book, which includes the CD, and a partial set of their special cards for the card game. I started this with my three youngest, although Scientist is now 10 and in 4th grade. His grammar not very strong, and he loves music and catchy tunes, so I guessed that he would enjoy it as well. (He has!) All three of my children just love, love SSL! They eagerly ask for it each day, and that does not happen with any of our other subjects. ;o) There is a suggested pace given in the Teacher’s Manual, but we are just going at our own pace. We probably spend about a week on each lesson. One of my favorite parts of this program is that all three of my children will just randomly start singing the songs during the day. (Okay, actually, I have done that a few times too.) We are really feeling comfortable with Latin now and are eager to continue on in our book. I also like the easy activities in the student book. They are easy enough for my Kindergartener, but not too easy for my 2nd grader. So far we have learned how to say: hello, good-bye, teacher-male and female, how are you? I am doing: fine, terrible, sad, scared, and great, father, mother, sister, brother, and we are now on “girl, boy, man, and woman.” We are also thankful for the supplementary coloring pages. You can view those here: http://classicalacademicpress.com/images/free_resources/SSL_ColoringPages.pdf
We are planning on slowing down a bit for the end of the year, but picking back up in August when we start the next school year. I may purchase an additional student book so my youngest can have his own. He is just now beginning to like copying and writing on his own, so it would be a perfect time for him.
And, here is a link to their free resources page for all the programs: http://classicalacademicpress.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=16
They also have 2 other levels of Latin: Latin for Children, for grades 2-6, and Latin Alive! which is for 7th and up. Different crew members reviewed the different levels, and I am excited to see what was said about the other two programs. I am going to seriously consider them for next year. And, if that’s not enough, CAP offers other great products in addition to Latin. Click here to see some of those: http://classicalacademicpress.com/
So, to sum up: the Teacher’s Manual and Student workbook, with CD, each cost $22.95. If you’d like the Latin Monkey Match card game, it’s $24.95, or you can purchase the entire set for the bundle price of $64.95. Click here to read more about each: http://classicalacademicpress.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=12 For a great price you can start your youngsters off on an exciting road to learning another language in an easy and creative way, and after they are “hooked” you can move up into even more. Who knows, one day even we moms may be Latin scholars! Thank you, CAP, for finding and offering some wonderful products to teach a difficult subject. We have been thoroughly blessed!
To see what my TOS crewmates thought of each program, click here: http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/783860/
Disclaimer: *The author’s honest review and opinions are entirely her own. This product was provided to the author for free as a member of the 2010-2011 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew. No further compensation was received.*
4 For His Glory 
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