I received this question:

Would you mind guiding our family in the direction we should go next?  My daughters are currently in Visual Latin II, lesson 43, and have read comfortably to Chapter 12, in Lingva Latina.  I am in the process of planning our 2016-2017 home education curriculum, and am not sure where to go to further their Latin education.  They will finish the video series, along with the worksheets and weekly tests for this year, but what should we do next?  I am requiring a third year of Latin, after that my oldest wishes to continue and has expressed an interest in trying for the National Latin Exam – I have no idea how to help her; our youngest plans to switch to another language after the 2016-2017 academic year.  I guess my reason for reaching out to you is two-fold:  what would you recommend we do for next year (keeping in mind we would very much like to stay with you), and any thoughts to help my daughter who wishes to further her Latin education?  I feel so very anxious about this, so I deeply appreciate your help, thoughts, guidance.

Here is my reply:

I am not sure if you are aware of this, but I teach “next level” Latin classes on my site.  I have quite a few students who, like your daughter, went through Visual Latin and want something more.  

Since she has already made her way through the first 12 chapters of Lingua Latina, I would continue with that book.  It really is the best book out there if she is serious about learning Latin.  Not only is it challenging, it is also an enjoyable book to read since it is a story.

I also take students through sections of the New Testament and through sections of Caesar’s Gallic wars.  Next year, I hope to add Roma Aeterna, which will take students through many of the classical Roman authors.  

I would also like to add a National Latin exam class.  Just trying to figure out where I will fit it in.  Working on that.

Meanwhile, if you daughter would like to practice the National Latin Exam, have her check out this site: http://nle.org/exams.html#previousexam  Here she will find all the practice exams (previous exams) she could ever ask for.

I hope I have answered your questions.  Let me know if you need more help!