Visual Latin

We've been struggling with finding a program to teach the kids Latin that was both easy to use for us and interesting for the kids.  It's been a struggle.  Since both Alan and myself lack any experience in Latin, it's been a bit hard to teach.  German or Spanish I can safely say could be managed with no struggle. Latin, well, there's a struggle.  And teaching Latin to children who would rather be outside rather than learning a language they will only hear in church and then only on those rare special Sundays is even more of a struggle.

The Visual Latin program has seriously changed all of this for our family.  When I received the first DVD, I was not yet sure which child I was going to select to work with me.  I decided on Sean since he was sitting alone in the living room when I was ready to pop the DVD in.  To say he was not happy is putting it mildly.  But after doing just a few lessons, he has asked that we abandon the Latin program we've been using and switch to Visual Latin instead.  I kind of view this as high praise.

The Visual Latin program is a DVD based program.  There are no books to go along with the program but there are plenty of worksheets to print instead.  Each lesson is broken into 3 small parts. You watch a short video section and then do the corresponding worksheet.  Starting with the first lesson, the student is translating short paragraphs from Latin into English.

Because the program is DVD based, it is a one-time purchase for your family.  This keeps the program very affordable for those with large families.  All of the worksheets, flashcards and assorted resources are available for download from the Visual Latin website.

The teacher in this program keeps the students engaged.  His presentation is very down to earth and humorous.  The short lessons are easy to absorb without being overwhelming.  After 3 lessons, my son who previously said he could not understand any Latin is now able to translate sentences.

I would say the only negative I can see with this program so far is that the worksheets are not available in an already printed workbook format.  Yes, the downloads keep things more affordable.  But there are times when I've been known to run out of printer ink in the middle of the day or a child needs something printed when I am busy feeding the baby.  I honestly prefer whenever possible to have the worksheets already available for the kids in a format that keeps them from wandering around the house.  It's easy to loose a single printed page around here.  Yes, I can use a hole punch and put them in a binder but when I'm pressed for time those things just don't always happen.  So I would love to see a workbook option available in the future.

If you are interested in the Visual Latin program, be sure to request a free homeschool catalog from Timberdoodle today. You can also find resources for teaching many other foreign languages to your students.

As a member of Timberdoodle's Blogger Review Team I received a free copy of Visual Latin in exchange for a frank and unbiased review.