A few days ago, I received an email full of questions. I suspect many of you have the same questions.
Here they are:
1. How much time should we expect to have to devote to Latin 1 daily?
Typically, students spend about an hour a day studying. I suggest they do this six days a week. I always suggested that they take Sundays off.
2. What does the homework tend to entail? Is it intensive? How demanding is the course?
The course is demanding. Whether you go through First Year Latin by Robert Henle or Lingua Latina, students are expected to be able to read the New Testament in Latin by the end of the course. There is no way to accomplish this goal without a demanding course.
3. Are quizzes & tests given in spite of whether we pay you to provide a grade or not?
Yes. There are online automated quizzes and tests that you can take on my site. There are also assigned quizzes during the school year from the textbooks. I will be creating a series of videos to explain to parents exactly how to grade these assignments. That series of videos should begin in about two weeks.
4. How does he ask you questions should he need further explanation?
Email. My blog. My contact page. Facebook. There are lots of ways.
5. How long is the course in terms of weeks & number of lessons?
We start at the end of August and finish at the end of May. We will take two weeks off for Christmas and one week off for Thanksgiving. I have not decided yet if there will be a spring break at all. Comes out to about 36 weeks of instruction.
6. How flexible is the course? i.e. in terms of holidays & unexpected occurrences?
Everything is recorded. So, students can miss any class they like. My site currently has about 430 videos on it. In theory, students never have to show up to the live class and could still reach the goal of reading the New Testament in Latin by the end of the course.
7. What does the calendar schedule for the class look like? Time off due to holidays?
Two weeks off at Christmas. One week off for Thanksgiving, and that’s about it. May change from time to time. If it does, I will make sure students are alerted well in advance.
8. Level of maturity needed for course? Age range? I have a group of 3 boys interested in possibly taking the course together (ages 11- 13). Would you suggest this course for them? If not, what is your opinion of a curriculum called Latin for Children – Primer A (Classical & Ecclesiastical Pronunciation) by A. Larsen & C. Perrin? Have you heard of it?
I require students to be age 13 at the least. Through years of experience, I have discovered that it’s just way too much for anyone younger than 13. I will make exceptions to that rule so long as the parents are willing to vouch for the maturity of their children. The parents also have to be willing to take responsibility if the course is just too much. I am familiar with Latin for children. If you are going to teach your children Latin, and I recommend it. Of course, I also recommend Visual Latin for younger children. However, I have to say that as I age I become increasingly convinced that the place to start with younger children is Spanish, Italian, or French. Push Latin off until later. If a child learns Spanish at a young age, he will be able to use Spanish for the rest of his life. If he never makes it to Latin, oh well. It’s not going to kill him. Millions of people have lived happy lives without Latin. If the child does make it to Latin, Spanish will have paved the road. (Italian and French will do the same).
