Latin is not a standard subject that I've really given a lot of thought to teaching. I had heard of some homeschooling moms adding it in to their school, but honestly, to me it was a very intimidating subject. That is mainly because I've never taken a formal Latin class. Well we have recently added Latin into our school! I have had the opportunity, for the last few weeks, to review Olim, Once Upon a Time in Latin, Reader I and Workbook I from Laurelwood Books.
What did we receive for this review?
We received the Olim Reader I in Latin and also a separate workbook to go along with the course.
Why teach your kids Latin?
Like I said before, Latin has always been a subject that intimidates me. I always thought that it was something that the hardcore homeschoolers taught. I mean we cover a lot of subjects, but Latin...that just wasn't one I was interested in. I'm going to try and make sure that my kids have a good vocabulary, have proper grammar, and of course, at some point we are going to learn Spanish. So basically, English and Spanish are my main concerns. This is where the importance of learning Latin comes in. There are many reasons why Latin is beneficial in school, so I will give you the few that really made sense to me. Latin can actually improve your child's English vocabulary. Half of the English vocabulary is made up of Latin words and roots. It's been made apparent as we've studied Olim, that there is such a huge connection on where the English that we speak today stems from. Latin provides the root words for modern sciences. If your child is really into science then learning Latin will help them with all of the vocabulary that goes along with it. Also, Latin is the best way to prepare for learning any language. Considering so much vocabulary comes from Latin, it will not only give them a good foundation in the English language, but it also gives them a head start on other languages they want to learn.
How does Olim work, and how did we use it in our school?
Olim, Once Upon a Time Reader I and the Workbook I, that goes along with it are designed specifically for beginning Latin students. This program uses fables, parables, and Bible stories to introduce Latin to students. We were chosen to review the Reader I set that includes the stories:
- The Three Little Pigs/Tres Parvi Porci
- The Tortoise and the Hare/Testudo ET Lepus
- The Crow and The Pitcher/Corvus ET Urceus
As they read through in Latin, they have a vocabulary box on the side that tells them what each word means. This makes it much easier. At the end of the pate it will tell them to STOP and do the workbook page that goes along with it. The student can do one or more pages a day. We chose to do one, because it seemed to be too much if we tried to go on.
It's actually very simple. In the workbook there is also a Digging Deeper section that allows the student to learn more facets of the language.
We actually went a step further and created flash cards for the vocabulary words. This seemed to help tremendously, and my kids were memorizing their vocabulary words very quickly using these!
What did we think?
Even though this course is designed for beginners, it's still very challenging. I found the most difficult part to be trying to remember how to pronounce the words correctly. I'm very thankful for the page that tells you how to pronounce different letters and syllables. I had to refer to it A LOT!! Overall, I think this is a good course especially for beginners. It takes something familiar like the story or fable and then gives you the Latin version. It is a lot easier to make the connection that way. We will definitely be continuing this in our school. If you are interested in adding Latin to your school, Olim, Once Upon a Time in Latin, Reader I and Workbook I from Laurelwood Books is definitely a good start!
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