Prima Latina Student Book Grades K-4 2nd Edition

The book I received had water damage. It was damaged a quarter of the end of the book and back cover. It was labeled as “good” when I ordered it. I was disappointed with the condition of the book. It should of been labeled as “acceptable” not “good”. I purchased many books with the “good” label and they have been as described. Unfortunately the Prima Latina book I received was not in “good” condition.

My 5 yr. old and 7 yr. old have been using Prima Latina for the past couple of months. I know that I am using the book for an age younger than what the book was written. For others thinking about using it for a younger child, please know that there is a lot of writing in the student workbook. My 5 yr. old is new to writing and while he can verbally answer the questions and do the work, sometimes all of the writing is very laborious for him. I have taken to cutting down on the writing part for him, while having my 7 yr. old do all of the writing because she is a more proficient writer. Otherwise, it has been a great intro to Latin for both of my children. I had 3 years of Latin in school but, this curriculum could be used by any parent whether they had Latin formally or not. The pronuciation CD is extremely helpful since this is Ecclesiastical/Church Latin and I was taught Classical Latin, which has slightly different pronunciations.

I never learned latin in school, so this program is very easy for my son and I to use in our homeschool. It gives him an extra dose of grammar that he really needs. It was designed for Catholic schools, apparently, so we skip memorizing the prayers. I will be purchasing other latin storybooks for him to memorize passages because I think it is a valuable skill.

I love so many things about this course: - it treats young children as perfectly capable of learning the rudiments of a language like Latin - it comes with a DVD to make home schooling that little bit easier, especially if the parent supervising the home study doesn't know much Latin - it uses ecclesiastical pronuncation (not classical pronunciation), so it is exactly the Latin the children hear and know from Mass, Gregorian chant and prayers - This is where they will encounter Latin on a constant basis throughout their lives, rather than any Classical Latin they may later study - so the Church pronunciation is essential (and part of their heritage) - it teaches the children basic chants from the Mass and some basic Latin prayers. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

I learned the classical pronunciation in college and I have had NO problem whatsoever switching over to the ecclesiastical. The previous reviewer mentioned we should teach children the "Standard" pronunciation in the first place. Well, there is no "standard" pronunciation. Some disciplines require ecclesiastical pronunciation, and some classical. They are both valuable and once you know one, it's really no trouble to switch over to the other. If you plan on singing in Latin, it has always been with the ecclesiastical pronunciation in my experience, which always screwed me up in college since I was learning classical Latin and taking voice lessons at the same time. ;) Before I bought Prima Latina for my son I consulted with a college graduate school professor about which pronunciation would be better to teach children. He was of the opinion that both pronunciations are equally valid and it doesn't really matter. So if you're worried about teaching your child the "standard" pronunciation, well, good luck on finding agreement in the academic world about which pronunciation is "standard." As for the program itself, it is exactly how I would teach Latin to children if I were doing it off the top of my head. The grammar is not too difficult. My son started at age 6 and really had no trouble. Each week he memorizes 5-6 vocabulary words, one line from a Latin prayer, a bit of grammar (like a noun is a person, place, or thing), and one practical Latin phrase (like "Quo vadis?" Where are you going?) We also have purchased the music CD, Lingua Angelica, and we learned how to sing "O Come All Ye Faithful" (Adeste Fidelis) in Latin this past Christmas. It was really fun! Even though I had college Latin, I can see how a parent with no Latin training at all can teach using this program. The pronunciation CD is very clear and the lessons are easily laid out and clear. [...]

This is a great Latin starter for the younger grades. The pronuciation is ecclesiastical. We are not Catholic, but found the program very useful for learning the inital grammar rules. It is designed for an independent reader, although you can adapt to a non-reader. The lessons are laid out nicely, introducing about 6 words per lesson, in addition to lines from a prayer. The grammar rules are explained simply and a young child can catch on quickly. The words are laid out on the page aesthetically and there are no cartoons or other frills to distract the teacher or the child, like some programs. I have seen a few other Latin Primers and find this to be one of the better ones for the younger grades.