Contact: Contact Information
Cost: Varies. You can get four intro lessons and two regular lessons for free, ten lessons at a time as a single family download for $25, the first ten lessons on DVD for $30, all 30 lessons on DVD for $80, or take live classes starting at $115. Basically, you have quite a few options!
Recommended Ages: Nine and up, although Babydoll wasn’t quite nine and enjoyed it, and I think she would have been fine doing it at age seven as well. It’s totally up to your kid; as long as they can read and have a basic understanding of grammar and the English language they’ll be fine.
The Basics
Visual Latin is a Latin language curriculum taught by Dwane Thomas, either via download {computer or iPod/iPhone/iPad}, DVD, or live classes. Worksheets for the student {and answers for the teacher!} are included and provide a way to practice what is learned in the lessons.
Visual Latin is divided into Latin 1 and Latin 2, each taking approximately one school year to complete. Each video lesson is divided into three sections: grammar, sentences, reading.
Options are available to create a high school foreign language course out of the curriculum.
What We Thought
Overall we enjoyed Visual Latin! I’ve been wanting to try out a Latin program for quite some time, but didn’t have to chance to evaluate which one I wanted to try.
I like the fact that I was able to download the lessons to my computer and then use them either on the computer or on the iPod {extra practice, car schooling, etc.}. I’m a big fan of the video format. This could have easily been put in print form, but there’s definitely no way I could have a) gotten pronunciation down and b) made it nearly as interesting and animated as Dwane did. He seems very excited about Latin {which I definitely would not have been} and that comes through in his teaching.
I found that the video moved a bit too fast for us at times, meaning we had to pause it and review what we had just learned, but that really was a non-issue since we can pause and play the video whenever we want. Again, the beauty of the program: you can play it and pause it and review it as often as you’d like! I think this really wouldn’t have been the case for an older student, but since Babydoll is only nine, we had to take it a bit slow.
I also liked the fact that the worksheets helped reinforce the learning, but they weren’t a big component of the process. I think something like Latin would bore someone to tears if it was worksheet-heavy.
Final Thoughts
Babydoll and I really enjoyed the program and would highly recommend it. I like the fact that it is available for purchase in small chunks, so we can take it as we can. This probably will not be a regular part of our school week right now, but I definitely want to incorporate it as a fun extra as we have time, and having it available in smaller portions helps.
I also think this helps reinforce the English language {and other language learning for that matter} really well. It can help with spelling and several other subjects; it ties things together nicely. Definitely give it a try!
Also, be sure to check out what the rest of the Crew thinks about it!
True Confessions: I was provided with Lessons 1 – 10 for free in exchange for my honest review of the material as part of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Review Crew. You got my honest opinions!
About Tiffany Manley
Tiffany is the sparkly mastermind behind Sweet Phenomena. She hangs on Google+, Twitter, & Pinterest.
