The BigBook of Lively Latin

by Catherine Drown

Lively Latin

After years of teaching Latin to homeschooled students with existing curricula and doing a lot of adaptation, Catherine Drown decided it was time to create her own program for teaching Latin to students in the elementary grades.

There were a number of elements she decided were essential for her ideal program:

• Study of English derivatives so students “could use their Latin knowledge to become more articulate and attentive to meaning in their own language.”
• History of Rome incorporated into the course with related activities such as maps, timelines, internet links, and review.
• Use of traditional methods for learning Latin—recitation, chanting, parsing, and translating, but with a bit more fun and variety than in other programs.
• An online component for students to play vocabulary games and connect with other students.
• A program that is easy for both parents and students to use--requires minimal preparation and presentation time from the teacher and allows students to do a great deal of their work independently.
• Assumes no prior Latin study by the parent.
• Allows you to choose either ecclesiastical or classical pronunciation.

All of this available at an affordable price without having to purchase extra components!

The first versions of The BigBook of Lively Latin Volume 1 were only available online (downloads) or on a set of two CD-ROMs with printable pages. Increasing popularity and demand for a preprinted version resulted in the production of the print edition.

The online version includes access to the printable files (about 400 pages) for all the lessons (including answer key), access to the audio files for learning pronunciation, plus student access to the online vocabulary games. Access never expires!

In the CD set, one CD has all 400 pages from the BigBook (PDF format), the answer key, and notebook divider pages. The second CD has the audio pronunciation files. Students are allowed access to the online vocabulary games. Content is identical to the online version except you need not go online to access the course files other than the vocabulary games.

The print (hardcopy) version comes three-hole-punched with dividers and a binder—all ready to assemble. It includes the 2 CD-ROMs as well as access to the online files. The hardcopy version is printed in full-color throughout the book, although the color printing is critical on only about 10% of the pages. Keep this in mind when considering printing it yourself. The answer key is on one of the CDs.

Keep in mind, that purchase of any of these versions allows you to reprint pages for all students in your immediate family. Even with the hardcopy version, you receive the CD with the printable files.

Online access that comes with any course purchase allows entry to the “Study with the Magistra” section of the website where you will find the vocabulary games as well as extra teaching tips and resources. It also allows you to email the Magistra with questions.

The publisher describes Lively Latin as a program for the elementary grades, with a target audience of grades 3 through 6. However, the content is more substantial than some other programs for this level. BigBook 1 covers first and second declension nouns and adjectives. For nouns, students learn their cases and genders, but they learn the use of only nominative and ablative cases. They also learn first conjugation verbs (present, imperfect, and future tenses). BigBook 2 adds the next three declensions of nouns and teaches the use of all the cases. The second, third, and fourth verb conjugations are covered along with six tenses. The combined content of both volumes is approximately equal to that of a first year high school Latin course! You might use this course with students beyond sixth grade level who need the slower pace of learning.

In addition to the Latin basics, Lively Latin uses stories from The Famous Men of Rome and The Story of Rome (public domain works), with activities, mapwork, and illustrations added to enhance the lessons. BB1 covers Roman history from the founding of the city (753 BC) to the end of the Punic Wars (146 BC). BB2 picks up from there and spans from the fall of the Republic to the end of the Empire (476 AD). Some full-color photos of famous artwork that relate to the history are included along with some comprehension and observation questions—Charlotte Mason methodology is evident here in these “Art Studies.” If you wish, you can skip the history without any loss in understanding the lessons, but it does enhance the course. Other artwork is sometimes incorporated into the Latin lessons themselves.

The course begins with extensive background on the Latin language as well as its connection to other languages, especially to English. Even here, there are activities to reinforce the content: mapwork, timeline, fill-in-the-blanks, and internet links for further study.

Next, students choose a Latin name for themselves and study whichever form of pronunciation you choose—classical or ecclesiastical. Students use either the CD or online files to listen to correct pronunciation.

After the first few lessons, students begin each study session with a 2-to-3-minute warm-up session to review their vocabulary and chants. They do this out loud while using vocabulary cards they have created from either reproducible or preprinted pages.

New lesson material is presented at the beginning of each lesson, written directly to the students so they might work independently. Students continually encounter a variety of activities like underlining, circling, drawing, chanting, filling in blanks, and completing puzzles as they work through lessons.

Students construct a set of Mythology Playing Cards from pages in the course. Even with the hardcopy version of the course, you might want to recopy or glue these pages onto cardstock for easier handling and durability. Instructions are included for five different games, all of which might be played with as few as 2 players.

Although the author of this course is a Christian, the course is presented from a secular perspective. This includes learning about the gods and goddesses, their attributes, and their stories.

One unusual approach used in this course is sentence diagramming. Students learn to diagram Latin sentences to help them understand the way various words function in sentences. Obviously, this knowledge transfers to the study of English.

Students should work on their Latin lessons two to three days per week with sessions of 20-30 minutes each.

While much of the illustration (aside from the works of art) in Lively Latin is clipart, the entire product is very attractive in layout and design. Lesson material and exercises are presented with relatively brief portions of text interspersed with illustrations and activities to maintain student interest. The lengthiest blocks of reading material are in stories from Famous Men and The Story of Rome; these vary from one to three pages in length. You might want to read some of these aloud with children who are reluctant readers.

Included in the course are a glossary with all the vocabulary words—about 175 for BigBook 1, plus two pages of other useful reference material for students that includes the declensions and conjugations.

BigBook 2 is under development with lessons being posted as they each become available over the course of the 2008-09 school year.

In my opinion, Lively Latin lives up to its name. Even though the methodology is quite traditional, the mix of multi-sensory learning methods and use of stories and art should be more appealing to most students than most other options trying to cover comparable material.