Enjoy Learning Latin with Second Form Latin

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Learn Latin with Memoria Press’s Latin series!

I received First Form Latin for free. All opinions are my honest opinions and I was not required to post a positive review.

Last year my son used First Form Latin.

The curriculum was an amazing fit for my family’s needs! Needless to say, I planned on staying with the series after such a successful year studying Latin.

Memoria Press offers Latin series for kids. The age range tends to be 4th grade (to start) through high school.

  • First Form Latin: 4th-9th
  • Second Form Latin: 5th-10th
  • Third Form Latin: 6th-11th
  • Fourth Form Latin: 7th-12th

The 4 years of Latin cover all of Henle 1. Basically, you cover all of Latin grammar. Fourth Form Latin introduces Henle 1 with the goal of preparing you for Henle 2 when kids tackle Caesar’s Gallic Wars.

Second Form Latin is set up exactly like First Form Latin. My son has a student textbook and a student workbook to study. There is a nice big pile of flashcards to learn over the year, and DVD lectures to follow.

I have a Teacher’s Manual to help me teach and a Teacher’s Key for grading. The Teacher’s Key includes answers to the workbooks, quizzes, and tests.

Let’s take a close look at Second Form Latin.

Second Form Latin

Second Form Latin picks up where First Form Latin left off. By the time you’ve finished Second Form Latin, you’re halfway through learning Latin grammar!

Here’s a quick look at what Second Form Latin covers:

  • Nouns and Adjectives (lessons 1-6 + unit 1 review)
  • Personal & Possessive Pronouns, Prepositions (lessons 7-11 + unit 2 review)
  • Present System Indicative Verbs (lessons 12-16 + unit 3 review)
  • Perfect System Indicative Verbs (lessons 17-21 + unit 4 review)
  • Passive Voice, Present System Indicative Verbs (lessons 22-26 + unit 5 review)
  • Appendices
    • Conversational Latin
    • Prayers
    • Latin Saying
    • Sentence Labeling and Diagramming
    • English-Latin Verb Tenses
    • Pronouns, English-Latin Pronouns
    • Grammar Forms
    • Oral Form Drills
  • Vocabulary Index

Last year my son used First Form Latin. The curriculum was an amazing fit for my family's needs! Needless to say, we're using Second Form Latin this year.

The Student Textbook

The Student Textbook includes a summary of all the information my son needs to learn this week.

First, you have a quote. For lesson 5 the quote is Mare Nostrum or Our Sea. On the facing page, in the box, is an explanation of the quote. In this case, it’s what the Romans called the Mediterranean because they controlled all the lands surrounding it!

Next, you have the grammar being studied. In week 5 we’re studying Third Declension i-stem Nouns. The chant is written right there with a few notes underneath it.

After the notes, you have the vocabulary for the week.

Because the First and Second Form Latin series is grammar intensive, you don’t have as many vocabulary words to memorize. This week there are 10 words!

You’re then given a brief explanation of you know if a noun is an i-stem.

Basically, the Student Textbook includes a quick overview of what the student needs to learn. However, it’s not enough!

Last year my son used First Form Latin. The curriculum was an amazing fit for my family's needs! Needless to say, we're using Second Form Latin this year.

Teacher Manual

The Teacher Manual includes an illustration of the Student’s Textbook, which I love. I can instantly see what my child sees on their page. Along the outside of the page are teaching tips. First, there’s an oral recitation/ review.

Next, there’s the Latin saying with a quick explanation of the grammar.

The vocabulary section recommends you say each word with its genetive form, gender, meaning, and derivative. The kids repeat AFTER you! Then there are some tips to help kids memorize the vocabulary.

The grammar-chalk talk gives you the explanation you need to teach kids Latin grammar.

It’s also handy to give kids a quick review of what they learned from the DVD lecture!

DVD Lecture

In my opinion, the DVD lecture is the heart of Second Form Latin, especially if (like me) you have no Latin background. Glen Moore is a former Highland Latin School teacher. He includes subtle jokes, memorization tips, and an example of how a lesson should run.

The lectures are only 15-20 minutes a week, so they’re also easy to listen to again and again to ensure you and your kids understand the lessons.

Last year my son used First Form Latin. The curriculum was an amazing fit for my family's needs! Needless to say, we're using Second Form Latin this year.

Student Workbook

Each lesson in Second Form Latin includes 4 -6 pages of worksheets in the student workbook. These pages include word study and grammar, declensions and form drills, translation exercises, diagramming, and a study of derivatives.

I usually have my son complete 1 or 2 pages a day. The number of pages I assign changes depending upon the number of pages assigned in the lesson.

Periodically there are enrichment exercises. And yes, I assign those as well! If needed, we’ll simply take an extra day or two to complete the lesson.

Teacher’s Key, Pronunciation CD, & Flashcards

The Teacher’s Key is just what you expect. The answer key for all the worksheets, quizzes, and tests.

The Pronunciation CD is perfect for listening to in the car! It runs through the vocabulary and grammar forms giving you a chance to perfect your pronunciation and hear the Latin spoken.

You also receive a huge pile of flashcards! While some kids will dutifully fill out their flashcards every week, I’ve noticed many prefer to skip the flashcards. “I’ll just learn it from the book!”

But learning it from the book doesn’t work, at least not for my family. Having the flashcards filled out and ready to use makes a huge difference in my homeschool. The kids use their flashcards and actually learn the vocabulary!

How We’re Using Second Form Latin

  • Monday: We sit down to watch the DVD lecture for the current lesson. I elaborate on the explanations for my son as needed before he heads off to complete the first worksheet.
  • Tuesday – Thursday:  He runs through a review of vocabulary cards from both First and Second Form Latin and completes the chants. The audio CD is an excellent resource for ensuring you have correct pronunciation! My son then completes one or two worksheets each day.
  • Friday: My son completes the weekly quiz or test.

Needless to say, I’m thrilled with First and Second Form Latin.

The grammar is well explained with sentence diagramming in both Latin and English. I’ve noticed this makes a huge difference in my son’s understanding of what’s happening. He has to find the subject, direct object, and indirect object of the sentences.

There’s enough repetition to ensure the information is mastered. You can join Glen Moore chanting through the grammar forms on the DVD and listen to the audio CD in the car. And the flashcards are a huge help as well!

The worksheets cover the information well, and the quizzes quickly show holes in my son’s understanding that we need to review and master.

First and Second Form Latin have made learning Latin easy for my family!

Check out Second Form Latin for yourself.

Last year my son used First Form Latin. The curriculum was an amazing fit for my family's needs! Needless to say, we're using Second Form Latin this year.

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5 Comments

  1. Sara, so the DVD lesson is about 15-10 mins 1x/week – how much time does he spend on the other days doing workbook pages or quizzes?

  2. YAY! We’re in Third Form with Rachel this year and Prima Latina with the boys. 🙂

    Another resource I’d recommend is Quizlet — there are lots of study sets for MP Latin there. Think electronic flashcards with games. My kids love it for a change of pace.

  3. I’ve been wondering when to begin formally learning latin. My oldest is 10 this year. We’re in the midst of learning to diagram and understand English grammar. I’d say it will be another year before we’re confidently diagramming English sentences. Does he need a firm understanding of English grammar before starting First Form? Or do they work in tandem?

    1. That’s a good question, Lana. First Form Latin quickly covers English grammar as Latin is taught. There’s a philosophy of thought which advocates learning English grammar through Latin, so Memoria Press includes English grammar instruction along with Latin grammar instruction. This means kids don’t HAVE to know English grammar before beginning Latin. There’s a grammar recitation program to solidify the concepts kids are learning in Latin.

      That being said, I’ve found it helps to have my kids familiar with English grammar before we begin Latin. Then Latin solidifies my kids’ understanding of grammar and reduces the amount of information they need to learn at one time. 🙂

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