This year we tried out a Latin curriculum for our two oldest children (ages 7 and 10) and have found it fairly simple to include Latin’s Not So Tough within our schedule.
Latin’s Not So Tough introduces the alphabet, diphthongs, and special consonant blends, followed by vocabulary and sentence construction/translation. The upper levels include noun declension, verb conjugation, and parts of speech study. The program emphasizes memorizing vocabulary, which is the foundation for learning a new subject.
About Latin’s Not So Tough Levels
Level 1 teaches the alphabet, diphthongs, and special consonant blends along with their corresponding classical pronunciations, as shown in the following sample:
Level 2 begins with a review of Level 1 and introduces 50 Latin vocabulary words:
Level 3 begins with a quick review of Level 1 and 2 and then introduces declensions and conjugations:
Level 4 reviews previously learned vocabulary and continues with declension and conjugation study, along with additional vocabulary, and Levels 5 and 6 continue with more vocabulary and other parts of speech.
Our fifth grader was very easily able to start in Level 3 without any previous Latin experience (aside from basic declensions, conjugations, and John 1 memory work). Our second grader has needed more time to learn the diphthong pronunciations and vocabulary, so he started in Level 2 this year.
This program has been simple to incorporate into our school day (It takes only 10 minutes… or less!), and even after a two-month break from our Latin studies, our oldest still remembered almost all the vocabulary. It doesn’t require an extensive teacher’s manual to teach. All I need is the student workbook (and a pronunciation CD because I still struggle a bit with Latin pronunciations beyond noun and verb endings and the words of John 1:1-7). There’s an answer key/test booklet also available.
You can download the Table of Contents and samples from each of the six levels by clicking here and scrolling down to Latin’s Not So Tough. You can also visit the Latin Word of the Month Online Interactive to learn new Latin vocabulary.
For a list of additional Latin Resources, click here.