Quite some time ago now I was sent the Latin Alive! programme from Classical Academic Press. I was really excited to try out this programme because a certain young man decided that same week it was offered up that he really wanted to learn Latin.
When the products arrived I actually started to get a little weak in the knees as I hadn’t realized the curriculum was geared towards children in grades 7 and up. We ended up moving shortly after the curriculum arrived. One thing led to another before I finally pulled the curriculum back off the shelf and gave it a thorough looking through and then tried it out.
My 11-year-old was greatly relieved to see me checking it out, because he was becoming quite anxious that the idea of Latin lessons was never going to happen. I wish I could tell you his deep desire to learn Latin was based on the fact that he’s so in love with the Ancient Roman way of life, or some other great and lovely thing, but truth be told he just wants to learn to speak Latin so he can talk about things no one else will understand. Yep. True story that one.
As a warning this review won’t be laid out in the similar fashion as my other reviews because with the curriculum being aimed for a student older then my own we haven’t not used this with our boy yet. I have, however, used it myself to get a great feel of how it works, how it’s laid out and the information inside.
As for the curriculum, despite my initial trepidation and fear I am totally in love with this curriculum! This curriculum is written specifically to the student. Now I know a lot of curriculum boasts being written to the student and they often are, but I think Latin Alive! has gone the extra mile here.
How so? For one thing, the entire curriculum is on DVD. Now I know curriculum on DVD is not anything knew, but Miss Moore, as we call her, comes on and walks the children through the entire lesson. She reads some portions word for word and other portions she summarizes – being sure to touch on every important aspect.
She explains how to say the words and does some of the hands on work with you demonstrating on her amazing white board! She encourages the children to look in the Teacher’s Edition for extra information and also to double check their answers.
Now here’s where I think this curriculum really shines forth in regards to being written for the student and encouraging self learning. The Teacher’s Book (TB) does not put the answers on every page, but rather puts them at the end of each chapter. Instead, on each page is extra information pertaining to things in the DVD lecture. I absolutely love that my child can open up the TB and look at the extra information mentioned without fearing he’ll see answers!
In fact, right from the very start of this programme with the Introduction segment of the DVD you can tell just how much effort was put into making this curriculum all about the student. Miss Moore has some great suggestions for using post-it notes in your book{s} to help you quickly find pronunciation keys if you need them in a flash. She even mentions how much of a lesson you should do in a sitting and how much time you should dedicate to your lessons as well. You absolutely should not skip that introduction!
The lessons are rich with Roman history, which is very very appealing to my child who, despite his own reasonings for doing Latin, is very much in love with the history of Ancient Rome. There’s even black and white pictures in the book of Ancient Roman artifacts, ruins, and more.
There are some famous Latin phrases kicking off each chapter too, all though they may only be more famous to people living within the USA. Either way, I know my children have heard a few and will love learning more!
There’s even a CD included with all the DVDs where you can hear the Latin text for each lesson read. I love this, how many times do you want to hear, again and again, how something was said to be sure you’ve got it right! In fact, as I sat there listening to the various readings from the CD I was reminded how in our studies of Ancient Rome Latin is often considered a poetic language. It was quiet easy to understand why.
I absolutely love this curriculum. I love that it’s designed for a student to stand up and teach themselves and that each item is set up for that exact purpose. Miss Moore even encourages the children to contact her if they get stuck, have questions, or simply want/need more information about what they are learning.
While Classical Academic Press will ship to those of us living overseas I want to also mention that Latin Alive is available through Book Depository as well; all though currently I think only the CDs/DVDs are available there for Books 1 & 2.
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