I am completely on board with the classical model of education. I love everything about it from the use of living books and primary source documents, to the studying of history chronologically. It is a fairly rigorous method, but I feel relatively confident about teaching it. There is just one facet of classical education that stumps me…Latin.
A key component of classical education is the study of ancient language, most commonly Latin. Needless to say, I know nothing about Latin. I figured that I would wait a few years and then get my kids a book that they could pretty much teach themselves from. Well, my ideas changed once I heard some other bloggers talking about this neat little program called Song School Latin.
Song School Latin is a yearlong course for students in grades 1-2.
Did you ever believe there could be a Latin program that would match the energy, developmental level, and fun-loving nature of your youngest kids?
Song School Latin does just that! Lessons are filled with songs, enjoyable vocabulary, illustrations, handwriting practice, stories, games, and engaging activities, providing students with a vocabulary-based introduction to the language.
After looking into it just a bit, I decided to contact the kind people at Classical Academic Press and ask them if I could review Song School Latin. I was thrilled when they said that they would send me a copy to review! So, thank you Classical Academic Press! (I was not required to write a positive review, nor am I being compensated for writing this other than receiving the copy to review.)
What is Song School Latin?
Song School Latin is an amazingly fun program designed to teach your youngest students Latin. I never would have thought that I would be teaching my three and four-year-old children Latin, but this program makes it simple.
Each chapter introduces a few new words or phrases, teaching them to you by song. The songs are memorable, fun, and effective. There is a workbook that helps reinforce the new words in your child’s mind. The workbook has traditional fill in the blank and multiple choice questions, as well as game ideas, stories, spots to draw pictures, trace words, and more. Most chapters even have sections that you can read to your children (or have them read themselves) that help them see the Latin words they are learning in our English language, and include very gentle introductions to Latin grammar.
How to Use Song School Latin
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| The coloring pages are taking over the school room wall! My kids love looking up at them and remembering their Latin words. It may look a little crazy, but it help the kids so I don’t mind. Maybe one day I’ll get a wall-sized bulletin board and then it will look neater =) |
We do a Latin lesson a few times a week. If it were up to my children, we would do it every day (or multiple times a day)! Here is what we do:
- We start off by listening to the previous lesson’s songs. The is pure fun! My kids love the songs and they don’t drive me crazy at all =) My daughter loves to dance around the room as she sings and I’ll often hear my son singing the songs even when it is not lesson time.
- This is usually when I will have them do their coloring page. Each vocab word has a corresponding coloring page and you can get these FREE on the Classical Academic website! Just scroll down and click on Free Song School Latin Coloring Pages!
- Next we introduce the new vocab. There are usually about 4 new words per lesson, all hinging on a theme (animals, family members, parts of a house, etc.).
- After that we sing the new song for the week, making sure to listen for the new words in the song!
- Then I read to them the short ‘Chapter Lesson.’ If you have a good reader, they could read this part themselves if you’d like these lessons to be more independent.
- Finally, they will do the activities in the workbook. My kids are on the young side of being able to do this program, so I usually break up the activities over two days. This lets us spend more time on each set of vocab words and also helps them not get fatigued doing the work.
- If you have kids a bit older than mine, you will find the extra practice sheets in the Teachers Guide to be very helpful! Each chapter has an additional page or two of activities that will help your child remember what they have learned.
- I mentioned the free coloring pages above. If your children are older than mine, they might not be interested in the coloring pages, but they are a perfect way to include little brothers and sisters who love listening to the songs and want to be a part of the lesson! Have your 3 year old color the picture while your 6 year old is doing the workbook, or whatever works for your family.
Why I LOVE Song School Latin
Recently I had a friend ask me if I would consider joining a homeschool group with her. While I really do like the group she wanted me to be a part of, it would have required me to do some major curriculum changing. I thought about this for a long time, but ended up with the conclusion that I just love where we are at right now too much to change it. Song School Latin is one of the reasons that I love what we are doing for school so much! Here are some of the things that I love so much:
- Learning through song. Lately I have seen how well my children can learn by singing, so I am trying to incorporate songs into as many subjects as possible. Not to mention that these songs (all 30 of them) are really cute and fun to sing!
- Stories in the review chapters. My son absolutely loves the stories that are in the review chapters! Each story is a well-known tale reworked to fit Latin words in. He loves listening to find the words he has learned!
- Fun introduction to Latin. The idea of studying Latin could be daunting to anyone, but if you start your child with Song School Latin, they won’t be scared!
- My kids beg to do it. How could I not love a curriculum that my kids can’t get enough of? My daughter often wakes up asking if it’s time to do Latin. When people ask my kids what their favorite thing to learn in school is, they reply (to the questioners surprise) LATIN!
- Free coloring pages. My daughter is a major drawer. She loves the new coloring pages each day! I love that they are simple to print right from my computer. My son isn’t a huge fan of the coloring part, but he loves looking at all the pages on the wall which help him remember what he has learned.
- Open and go. Most of the studies we do for school require a bit of prep work on my part. I love that all I have to do is print off the coloring pages and I’m ready to teach! We just work our way through the workbook. Introducing the vocab when it says to, singing the song when it says to, and doing the activities right in order. I know nothing about Latin, but simply reading my kids the little ‘Chapter Lesson’ makes me sound like I know what I’m talking about!
Here are my kids showing off some of the Latin vocabulary they have learned from Song School Latin. As you can see they get a little bit excited about Latin! Sorry it got a little crazy at the end, they really like watching videos after we take them!
Thank you, Song School Latin! I can’t wait to start Song School Latin 2!
If Latin isn’t your thing, make sure to check out Song School Greek and Song School Spanish!
If you have any questions about this great curriculum, please don’t hesitate to ask! I’d love to help you figure out if Song School Latin would be a good fit for your family (I bet it would be!)
Anther Song School Latin Review
Amy Maze is a homemaker, mother to two little children, child of God, and a blogger. She loves to learn, plan, and create. When she is not teaching her children or spending time with her husband, you will find her blogging at Living and Learning at Home and Classical Copywork.
i would teach them Italian. We are part Italian and this program would be great. Took Latin in high school, didn’t do that well, but remember enough that I could do this and probably enjoy it more than I did then.
I would love to learn Latin with my children.
We are starting French, but I’ve been wanting to try Latin. I’ve looked at this program, which I think looks great. I would love to give it a try.
Latin
I would like to learn Spanish and Latin with my kids.
I recently sketched a broad view of what I’d like my daughter’s K-12 education to look like, and was taken with the idea of doing Latin in the elementary years, as prep for modern language study, a tool for understanding classical literature, and an aid in learning medical and scientific terms. Later I may want her to learn Portuguese and Spanish.
We would be thrilled to study any of them, but I am drawn to the Greek.
We are starting Latin in our coop this year with my oldest, and this would be a great way to get everyone involved!
We would love to learn more Greek and Latin:)
We will also be doing Latin. I’ve been wanting this program for a while. Thanks for the giveaway! It will definitely be a blessing to one of your readers.
This program looks awesome! I saw Classical Academic Press’s Latin program for my older child and I was wondering if I would do anything with my younger two. This just sealed it for me. I’m teaching them all Latin. Thanks for the review!
I’ve been thinking about starting Latin with my crew but have been pretty overwhelmed with the idea. I’m going to check this out!
Latin… 3 years with Rosetta Stone … Nope. Pulled this out and Lively Latin for the older ones. Let them use as they felt pulled to it…. They love it! One did the Greek and the Greek Code Cracker… Now pray we win the SSL 2 🙂
What an awesome giveaway. This would be perfect for my 2 little ones!! Thank you!!
This seems to be exactly what I have been looking for to use with my younger children. We have Word Roots and my 4-5th grader loves it, but it’s to hard the kinder and 1st grader age. Thanks so much for you review. I Love seeing Curriculum Choice in my inbox. It is always so helpful.
Definitely Latin…we’re starting on Song School Latin this year:)
My oldest 2 have been interested in Spanish but we haven’t totally dived into yet. My husband is studying Greek and my oldest daughter is learning sign language! I would love to do the Latin for all of us though and have a better understanding of the origin of words.
This sounds awesome! I want my kiddos to learn Spanish but would love to teach them many languages. Greek and Latin to help with English and then whatever interests them.
Learning Latin would be awesome! We really want them to learn some Chinese and Italian as that is what our families are. However I think that learning Spanish is something that the kids need to learn since its become such a staple in the heavily populated areas of the US.
Thanks so much for this review! I was considering this curriculum for my kiddos so I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on it! 🙂
I would like to learn Latin & Spanish with my children.
I am teaching my littles Latin through Classical Conversations. Mine are young, so I haven’t added on a full Latin program yet. This looks great & I’d love to try it!
I’m teaching my littles Latin through Classical Conversations. They are young, so I haven’t added a full program yet. I would love to check this out! Looks great! Thanks for sharing.
I taught Song School Latin when I was teaching at a Classical Christian School (we used it to introduce Latin to 2nd graders before they started a more rigorous program in 3rd…this year they are doing it with 1st). My students absolutely adored it! Most of my class would tell you that Latin was their favorite subject! Great curriculum program – and you’re right – the songs are not obnoxious! 🙂
Since we are already using Song School Latin 1…… I think I can safely say we will use Latin.
I know NOTHING about Latin, so Song School Latin would be a great way for me and my kids to learn together.
Spanish and Latin sound like good choices to begin with for language with my children. This will be our first year homeschooling (1st and 3rd graders) and adding a foreign language this year seemed too daunting of a task, but this looks manageable. Blessings!
My plan is to do Latin in the beginning and then, add Spanish when my kids are a little older.
We’ve studied Latin, but not at this early of an age.
–Gena
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Thanks,
Gena
We are just finishing up Song School Latin Book 1, and would love to continue. I’d also like to introduce Greek at some point, as well. Thanks for the chance to win 🙂
We just started Song School Latin Book 1 and my kids (5 and 3) love it! We’re also doing Spanish Book 1. Would love to have Latin Book 2 🙂
We are actually using Song School Latin 1 this year! I am so excited about it. SO to get level 2 would be amazing!
We just finished SSL 1 and I was surprised at how much my girls enjoyed it. It is a great program.
I would really like to start learning Latin with my Homeschool Class!
This sounds like such a lovely way to introduce a subject that could be so beneficial to them later on- a good foundation for and “Romance” languages, scinece, and even basis for some of the english language!
I wish I could learn Spanish with my children. It is so useful in the states!
Song school Latin! Latin is my choice!
Thanks for this. I have been interested in this program!
My 3 year old would be so excited to be learning Latin like her older siblings!
We just began Latin and would love this!