Are we slow, or does Latin for Children pack a lot into the first few lessons?

[Wendi]

I have no idea how someone with no Latin is supposed to grasp pronunciation, conjugation of verbs, and declension of nouns, so quickly. We are already needing to take a "review week" to make sure ds has everything straight before we move on.

I guess I'm surprised how fast they are introducing the grammar topics.

Wendi

[elegantlion]

I have no idea how someone with no Latin is supposed to grasp pronunciation, conjugation of verbs, and declension of nouns, so quickly. We are already needing to take a "review week" to make sure ds has everything straight before we move on.

I guess I'm surprised how fast they are introducing the grammar topics.

Wendi

Are you using the DVDs? We started LFC A this year as well. It seems like a lot, but I know he states in the DVDs you don't necessarily need to know the meaning of some things yet.

I see it as they are building the formatting and filling in the blanks as we go along.

[yslek]

I think it moves pretty quickly, too. I tried this when my B was 8, and we had to stop around lesson 5 because it was too much for him. Now I'm doing it with B & T and it's going quite well. I play the vocabulary chant CD every day and drill the other concepts during the week. So far it's worked. (We're at the end of lesson 5).

I have to say that it's not so bad when you break things down. Some things are just meant to be memorized at this point (not really understood).

Before LFC came out with Latin Alive! they recommended going straight into Oxford Latin 2 after completing all three primers. So slowing down and taking 1.5-2 years to complete this level might be a consideration. Or (if your ds is on the young side) you could do what I did and revisit this at a later time.

Hope you find your groove with this.:D

[buddhabelly]

As I recall, they build the review right into the lessons. In "C", every fourth lesson or so is a review of the previous three lessons. Did you check in your book to see if the next lesson is a review lesson? If it is, your child will ace it! :001_smile:

I think what's challenging for some of us perfectionists is that with LFC, you have to be content with not knowing some stuff. For example, when you learn a new noun, you learn two forms of it. It is NOT the singular and plural, it is the nominative and the genitive. And there are really, really, good reasons for learning the genitive of every noun (corpus, corporis instead of simply "corpus.") But you don't know that yet --- or a lot of other things. It takes a lot of trust that everything you are memorizing will come in very handy later!

By the way, I believe the new DVD for Primer A has more explanation than the old ones. So you might want to make sure you have the latest edition of the Primer A DVD.

Or maybe that's the problem! Perhaps so many people were asking "why" that they added more detailed grammar explanations to the first few chapters.

Anyway, hang in there and it will prove fruitful in the long run!

Julie

[Pylegang]

Yes, try using the DVD! We use it and LOVE it! I have my son watch the chant portion of each chapter as a review every day. It only takes a few minutes. This keeps the grammar fresh in his mind. I usually try to do it with him, as I am learning as well. We complete one chapter every week to week-and-one-half. The slower pace works a little better for my 3rd grader ds. We are on chapter 5. I have thrown in a few other exercises, such as practice conjugating verbs and declining the nouns for extra practice.

[frogpond1]

because parents want to understand what declensions are and conjugations etc. Just go with it and it will all become clear. Shurley English was a true Godsend though, for me.