An introductory Latin course for students in kindergarten through fourth grades. Prima Latina was developed for young children who are still becoming familiar with English grammar and wish to learn Latin at a slower pace. The program provides 25 lessons, each including a grammar skill, 5 vocabulary words with corresponding English derivatives, a practical Latin phrase, and one line of a prayer that is learned in totality over five lessons. The exercises that accompany each lesson are thorough and provide constant review of materials learned throughout the course. After each five lessons, a review chapter summarizes the material covered and provides a keyed test to insure mastery. With grammar lessons appropriate for primary grades and an easy to read two color format, Prima Latina is the perfect choice for those who would like to start Latin early and lay the foundation of a rigorous language arts program. Prima Latina was written to transition directly into Latina Christiana allowing students to complete an entire Latin sequence without missing important concepts or vocabulary. Prima Latina is accompanied by an audio CD which includes pronunciation direction for each lesson and four beautiful hymns from Lingua Angelica.

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I have seen a few other Latin Primers and find this to be one of the better ones for the younger grades.

20 of 20 found the following review helpful:

Classical/Ecclesiastical--no big deal!Mar 02, 2008
By Kathrine
I learned the classical pronunciation in college and I have had NO problem whatsoever switching over to the ecclesiastical. The previous reviewer mentioned we should teach children the "Standard" pronunciation in the first place. Well, there is no "standard" pronunciation. Some disciplines require ecclesiastical pronunciation, and some classical. They are both valuable and once you know one, it's really no trouble to switch over to the other. If you plan on singing in Latin, it has always been with the ecclesiastical pronunciation in my experience, which always screwed me up in college since I was learning classical Latin and taking voice lessons at the same time. ;) Before I bought Prima Latina for my son I consulted with a college graduate school professor about which pronunciation would be better to teach children. He was of the opinion that both pronunciations are equally valid and it doesn't really matter. So if you're worried about teaching your child the "standard" pronunciation, well, good luck on finding agreement in the academic world about which pronunciation is "standard."

As for the program itself, it is exactly how I would teach Latin to children if I were doing it off the top of my head. The grammar is not too difficult. My son started at age 6 and really had no trouble. Each week he memorizes 5-6 vocabulary words, one line from a Latin prayer, a bit of grammar (like a noun is a person, place, or thing), and one practical Latin phrase (like "Quo vadis?" Where are you going?) We also have purchased the music CD, Lingua Angelica, and we learned how to sing "O Come All Ye Faithful" (Adeste Fidelis) in Latin this past Christmas. It was really fun!
Even though I had college Latin, I can see how a parent with no Latin training at all can teach using this program. The pronunciation CD is very clear and the lessons are easily laid out and clear. [...]

3 of 3 found the following review helpful:

Very niceNov 06, 2010
By B. Smith
It's a well-balanced course that gives young learners enough new material to make good progress without being too much of a challenge. If you follow the instructions and revise past units regularly you will achieve excellent progress. The pronunciation follows that of church Latin but this is no more of a difference than say a New Yorker talking with a Californian. Should you prefer the more classical pronunciation it's easy to change or learn in addition.

For further reading I recommend Puer Zingiberi Panis: et Fabulae Alterae (Latin Edition) and Musici Bremae: et Fabulae Alterae (Latin Edition) for very young learners. For those at an intermediate level or above the Christian rendering of Robinson Crusoe is great Robinson Secundus: Robinson in Christian Latin (Latin Edition)!

5 of 6 found the following review helpful:

Text good. Speaker on cd has poor pronunciation.Jul 18, 2008
By letterm "letterm"
I'm fine with the ecclesiastical pronunciation in Latin -- it's perfectly valid -- but when the speaker sounds completely American and doesn't attempt to make the vowels more latinate and clean, well, that's bad. They could have found a couple thousand folks with better ecclesiastical Latin than this. Yikes.

1 of 1 found the following review helpful:

Great, but not neededSep 16, 2011
By vlehndorfer
The workbook itself is fine, but not necessarily needed since the program is meant for younger children. The teacher's manual is the workbook with answers, so you can save the money and write the answers on a blank piece of paper. I also had them write parts of the lesson down so they could be more engaged in the lesson itself.

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