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Prima Latina is an introductory Latin course designed with children from Kindergarten to 3rd grade in mind. The course contains 25 lessons spread over four pages. Each lesson teaches a “practical Latin” phrase, such as “Salve!”- Hello, 5 vocabulary words, and one line of a Latin prayer, such as the Sanctus (the total prayer is learned after 5 lessons). The lessons also contain English derivatives for the vocabulary used and grammar skills. At the end of of 5 lessons there is a cumulative review chapter. The teacher’s manual also contains a test for those 5 lessons.
Prima Latina was created to be taught by parents with no Latin background, so don’t be intimidated! The pronunciation cd is well worth the $4.95. It instructs how to pronounce the Latin vowels and consonants, goes over all the lessons and prayers, and also has 4 songs from Lingua Angelica.
I initially bought Prima Latina to use in 1st grade, but once I had it in my hands, I felt my daughter was not reading well enough yet to successfully navigate the workbook. An advanced 1st grader could probably use the program successfully, but I think using the full program for a Kindergarten is overly optimistic. I would say that a child who doesn’t have a good foundation of reading and writing would easily get frustrated trying to use the whole program, though of course a younger student could listen to the CD and get an introduction to the vocabulary, prayers, and songs.
Prima Latina is intended to prepare students for Latina Christina I. My daughter and I are both very happy with the program, and will definitely continue on with Memoria Press for our Latin education!
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Memoria Press has great Curriculum, we have not used their Latin, but used their Famous Men of Modern Times last year, and have their French curriculum right now.
I am using this with my first grader, and am very blessed to have the dvd that goes along with it. My 6 year old is an advanced reader, so I feel this gives her a nice challenge. She literally cheers when it is time to do latin! We are taking it very slowly, my plan is to take two full years to go through it all. For instance, I took about three days just to work on the vowel sounds before moving on. We love this program!
I agree on your assessment of this curriculum. For some of mine it was great, others it was far too hard. Those struggling with reading would be advised to perhaps look into something else.
We didn't have the dvds though, so maybe that would have helped!
I have used Memoria Press and the Latin Primer series… I definitely prefer Memoria Press. When I used Prima Latina with my first grader, we did not use the grammar or written parts… only the vocabulary lists. The next year, he was ready to go through it again, this time with the grammar and written things added. It also helped to ensure that he was ready for Latina Christiana I.
Thank you for this great review. =)
Our co-op did this as a class last year. My son learned a lot. This year he is in Latina Christiana I.
The teacher added in games to extend the lessons, such as Hangman with the vocabulary words.
I'm using it this year. My kids love it.