Warning. The free Visual Latin lessons you may download and watch will have you hooked. Watch them with your children only if you want to hear… Laughter. Soon followed by, “Can we watch another?” Then after the second introductory lesson, “Can we watch just one more?”
“…better to make students laugh than yawn.” ~ visuallatin.com
Why should you study Visual Latin?
Well, not only “because your parents told you to…” but pause here to watch the short video, above, by founder, Dwane Thomas, for a few reasons why plus an overview of the Visual Latin program. Mr. Thomas has 15 years of experience teaching Latin. He and his wife homeschool their five children.
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What we have experienced:
- The short lessons are one of the keys to successful learning with Visual Latin, most lasting four to six minutes. “This is what I want you to focus on…”
- It is interest sparking: “That’s where we get the English word…but we’ll talk more about that in future lessons.” Mr. Thomas asks questions and says he expects interaction from your students.
- The sentences, vocabulary and examples are right where your child can see them – on the chalkboard or highlighted on the screen. The lessons start slowly and begin to move a little faster as your child gains confidence.
- You can pause the lesson if you miss something. You can rewind, repeat.
There are accompanying, downloadable, printable worksheets for each lesson. The questions will have your children laughing too (as you can see from this photo I caught of my son, above, reading a sentence from his worksheet). Following each lesson, the instruction appears on the screen, “Now do worksheet 1B…”
What age is Visual Latin for? ” 9 and up. Kids need to be able to read, but other than that, elementary kids love it, middle school kids love it, high school kids love it, college kids… you get the point.” We enjoy Visual Latin at Hodgepodge with 8th, 7th and 4th graders. However, I’m not surprised when the youngest two show up when they hear the Latin teacher.
Visual Latin is good for high school credit! Students can count their studies as a half credit if only watching the lessons. But why not get a full credit by completing the accompanying worksheets? Visual Latin says, “In terms of the material it covers, Visual Latin Latin 1 (Lessons 1-30) and Latin 2 (Lessons 31-60) are each good for one high school foreign language credit (2 credits total). By itself, however, it will not provide a full 150 hours of work.”
The program is tech savvy and portable:
- Available in DVD format
- Downloadable. This means you and your child can view lessons on any computer – PC and Mac as well as mobile devices – iPod, iPhone and iPad. Visual Latin as you wait at brother’s practice? Sure! Or you can stream your download via Apple TV and watch it in your family room together – like we do.
Affordable, one time purchase for the whole family. Available:
- in single/family license
- as a group/class license
You may purchase the program in sets. Downloads for lessons 1-10, then 11-30 as well as DVDs. Visit the Compass Store for more information. Laugh through Latin and master English.
- Latin I – 30 lessons
- Latin II – 30 lessons
Equaling about one lesson a week. All the details on purchasing, downloading, scope and sequence and many more FAQs for your browsing pleasure on the Visual Latin site.
Visual Latin update for our third student!
Visual Latin update for our third student!Three new ways to learn with Visual Latin. Those worksheets save us for sure!
In summary: Having been a Latin student in both high school and college myself, I know personally the long-term benefits of Latin language study. We have tried two other Latin programs in our home but neither clicked. However, as you see from the quotes at top, Visual Latin is here to stay in our home. It is easy to build a habit of watching the lessons. I so appreciate this short, fun way of learning Latin. But I’m not the only one that is a Visual Latin fan.
I don’t have to remind. They ask, “When can we do our Visual Latin lesson?”
Click over for FREE Visual Latin Lessons!
- Lesson A – Why Study Latin?
- Lesson B – Latin Then and Now
- Lesson C – How to Learn a Language
- Lesson D – Stuff You Should Know About Latin
- Lesson 1 – Being Verb Basics – To Be and Not to Be
- Lesson 2 – Being Verb Basics – Predicate Nominatives and Adjectives
But don’t say I didn’t warn you!
We love all of Compass Classroom’s curriculum and resources for homeschool. So much so, I’ve shared reviews of all of these!
- Dave Raymond’s American History
- Dave Raymond’s Modernity
- Grammar of Poetry
- Homeschool Made Simple
- WordUp! Vocabulary from Latin and Greek roots
- Economics for Everybody
- Great Books Homeschool Video for High School
- Digital Homeschool Curriculum We Love
Homeschooling since 2000, Tricia faces a daily dose of chaos with five children. She is author of You ARE an artist art curriculum for all ages, a cookbook series and helpful homeschool habits at Hodgepodge. She and her husband, Steve, are owners of The Curriculum Choice.
-originally published 2011
Visual Latin is my son, Sam’s (9th grade) favorite subject. It is the one he always does first. The younger ones listen in, but don’t do the worksheets…yet. : )
What a way to start the day Phyllis – with Visual Latin! Isn’t it nice to know you have the curriculum for your younger ones to go through again – when it’s time to do the worksheets too?
Your post caught my eye in google reader since we ordered this curric last week.
And, just as you said, the video clips we’d watched of V.L were what hooked us 🙂