Visual Latin for Middle School

Should you try Visual Latin for Middle School or wait until high school?

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Visual Latin for Middle School

We have had a love for Rome ever since we started reading Percy Jackson stories and learning about Greek Myths. Those myths quickly turned into Roman myths and numerous studies and crafts on Ancient Rome over the years.

After our 2 week trip to Italy in 2018 my son wanted to learn Latin. I had taught a Latin class in 4th grade, basic words. Never conjugating a verb, just a list of vocabulary words. I had my students “act out” the words while chanting the Latin word. Imagine a room full of 12 preteens crawling around and growling like bears chanting “URSA! URSA!”. If anything … I was amused.

My objective was to incorporate a lot of games and make Latin fun. I didn’t really care if they retained any of the information. I just had to survive the 45 minutes of teaching a Latin class when I didn’t know Latin myself !!

Kicking off 6th grade I decided to use WordUp! The Vocab Show to teach my son Greek and Latin roots. My oldest son loved the program when it first launched in 2000 forever ago. He is still bummed they waited so long to make a Volume 2 when he was almost graduating! Watch the trailer – it’s hilarious! I was definitely leaning more toward the higher standardize testing reasons for taking the supplement than actually attempting to learn Latin.

WordUp! was an easy natural continuation of introducing Latin to my son. First and most importantly, Dwane Thomas is fun. He is hilarious. My boys loved every single joke and was super bummed when they finished the course. It was the first thing they asked to do every morning. I had to slow them down because they kept doing more than one lesson. I wish I could say that about math. Or Physical Science. Or Grammar. Or the dishes!

Visual Latin for Middle School

Since Henry has this great respect for Dwane, I quickly transitioned him in to Visual Latin 1. Another online Compass Classroom course. We chose the digital subscription since we travel so much and I can access the course anywhere. Like those days Hubs goes snowboarding in Breckenridge and we’re studying in the library.

We made a Latin binder and you’d think it was made of gold the way the boy treats it. He loves how challenging Latin is and how Dwane teaches the course. Not as a snobby know-it-all elite, but a regular approachable guy who wants to help students learn Latin while telling “the best Dad jokes on the planet”.

Visual Latin Tips

Get headphones. If you have online access and don’t plan on learning Latin or doing the course together, headphones will definitely save the day.
Make a Visual Latin binder. We 3-hole punch all worksheets & quizzes to keep in one spot. I printed the “worksheets” page and slid it in the binder cover.
Print worksheets before the lessons. It’s far easier to have the worksheet ready after the video lesson than click around a few places to print that one worksheet you need. We print up to 3 lessons ahead of time and keep them in a binder.

Don’t wait to start Latin. Even if your introduction is a bunch of Harry Potter spells and characters. You’ll love “Bellatrix” after a Latin translation. Just please don’t call it a ‘dead language’ in front of my son. He won’t like it! Neither will my landscape architecture husband who has to know all of the Latin names of plants to speak to his clients in Brazil.

Having one son in high school and one son in middle school, I can tell you high school courses are much more demanding. I would recommend introducing Latin before piling on a heavy high school load.

Also, my middle school son thinks the dad jokes are hilarious. My high school son … not so much anymore. He thinks he’s too cool. He took high school Italian instead – another after our Italy trip decision. Catching an interest always makes courses easier. Having respect for a teacher and thinking they are “the coolest” has made learning Latin far more enjoyable. Start Latin in middle school!

One of the best things about Compass Classroom is that they offer tons of free lessons! Try one & see for yourself!

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