Latin's Not So Tough is a product of Greek N' Stuff. As part of this review I was sent the Level 3 workbook ($21.95),full text answer key ($21.95)and pronunciation cd ($10.00).
Latin's Not So Tough Level 3 is geared towards the beginner Latin student in upper elementary or above. I started this program with my 3 oldest (14,13,11) and let my two younger ones (8,6) tag along. At first we were going along great. The beginning lessons are mostly vocabulary and my children were picking up the vocabulary quite quickly. The pronunciation cd was very helpful with pronunciation.
Where Latin got tough for us was where the conjugation began without teaching how to conjugate. According to the teacher guide "the third level uses an inductive (parts to whole) approach...Level four transitions to a deductive(whole to parts) approach". So the kids are learning conjugated verbs and are just memorizing what the all ready conjugated verb means. For example, Amō nautam, means I like the sailor. Therefore the kids are memorizing that Amō means I like. On the same page they learn others as well all with the ō , being told to recognize it but it will be explained later. It is just a different approach than I am used to and one that caused a stumbling point for us in our studies.
That being said we enjoyed the large font of the sprial bound workbook. The minimal exercises per day were enough to sharpen their vocabulary skills without boring or exhausting them. The flashcards were invaluable as well. The little checkbox on the bottom of each page reminding the student to study their flashcards was a great way to remove me from the nagging role :) I went ahead and ordered the accompanying test booklets as well available from Greek N Stuff.
This was our first exposure to Latin studies and it did seem tough because no one in our household is versed in Latin. Latin is tough but it is made easier with this program. After just a few lessons my kids were spotting Latin everywhere, root words in English, on coins etc.
In the end though, Latin's Not so Tough is a good program.
See what my crewmates thought here
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the workbook, full text answer book, and cd for free for review purposes only.
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