Monday, October 10, 2011

Visual Latin

Visual Latin


Here's an introdution from them - it sparked my interest right away!

 "Visual Latin is a rather unusual Latin Curriculum that thinks:

It’s better to make students laugh than yawn. Shorter videos teach more effectively than longer ones. Small successes lead to big successes. Children like reading Latin more than memorizing it

That’s what we want to give your children: pure delight in learning a new language. And along the way, we want to strengthen their understanding of English grammar and powerfully expand their English vocabulary."


Well, that pretty much sums up most of my educational philosophy in a nutshell!

We have done alot of Latin at the Bentz Test Laboratory over the years.  In fact, tester #1 did Latin in Kindergarten (due to his over-zealous-very-nervous-going-to-cover-it-all mom/teacher combo).  Over the next several years (and children...) this Mom/teacher combo has relaxed a bit on the "covering-it-all" mentality, and Latin has been more hit-or-miss.

Recently however - with tester #1 about to start taking all those important college scholarship exams...I've been re-thinking the Latin subject quite alot...

So, Latin is back on the assignment sheet.  And, Visual Latin has been a huge hit here!  If you are looking for a way to add Latin to your schedule but not to "your" schedule (know what I mean - mom's schedule!), Visual Latin is a great choice!

Each of the lessons are prepared for you and available online, as a DVD, or even downloadable to your child's best friend..ummm - I mean "device" - the ipod, iphone, i-thingy that captures their complete attention.

The lessons are short, easy to follow, and Dwane (the instructor) has a sense of humor.  Really, Latin with a sense of humor - that's worth the price alone! 

My oldest students (ages 9-14) all found him entertaining.  The short lessons are followed by short worksheet exercises.  Did I mention they liked the instructor, and the lessons are SHORT!

Best of all, my students were able to jump right into their study of Latin (along with another adult telling them why Latin is such a valuable learning tool...) on their own.  I didn't have to spend alot of prep time making sure I understood it first. 

I don't like all subjects to be "independent study" at the Bentz Learning Laboratory, but in the case of Latin studies - if they aren't easily picked up and completed by the student, they may spend more time on the shelf gathering dust than on the desk...

Visual Latin proved to be interesting enough to capture their attention, easy enough to get started, and engagaing enough to keep going!  Read why their approach is working so well.

You can check out this video to see for yourself:


Visual Latin | A Quick Explanation from Compass Cinema on Vimeo.

Try Six FREE Lessons right now!

Latin 1 is a 3 Volume set containing 30 lessons.  You can get this for just $80.00 as a DVD Set (it includes PDF files of all worksheets).  You can also purchase it as a Download  in 3 -10 lesson downloads - $75 total. (this is the option to use when adding it covertly to their "devices").   I love that it is reusable - especially with multiple kids!

The Visual Latin website offers alot of great information - including this Free Latin Learning Resources Link.

See what the other members of the TOS Review Crew thought about it here.

I was sent a complimentary DVD with lessons 1-10 in exchange for my honest opinion as part of the TOS Review Crew.

4 comments:

  1. We also love Visual Latin. I'm visiting from the crew and following you already.

    Karen @ http://fruitofhands.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Another Crew girl here! I love your blog and I'm following you now! Reading your review just makes me love Visual Latin more than I already do :-) I can't wait to read more from you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a great way to write up this great course. My kids loved it, too. In fact, they are continuing to love it. Could it be that they want to talk about me behind my back? Or in front of my face? Nah!

    Hi friend!

    From the crew!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have loved the intro lessons. I'm just not ready/able to jump in to buy the whole shebang right now. I need to save my pennies.

    BTW, I love the photo of the kids with the "Bentz Academy" uniforms on. What a great shot! I love it so much I'd love to replicate it in my own home school ...but it might lose something as all one student line up for the "group" photo... :)

    Di

    ReplyDelete