More FAQ's

“I am curious if anyone on this list uses Wheelock's successfully with middle school/ junior high age students?”

Yes.

I have a class of 7 homeschoolers meeting one hour per week, and they are surprising me with how well they are doing. The main reason for this is that almost all of them have had at least two years of elementary Latin, using either Latina Christiana or Latin for Children. I am also fortunate to have children from homes with very dedicated parents! Most of them work with their children diligently. We will be covering at least the first 10 chapters of Wheelock's. I would try to do more but it just doesn't work when you've only got an hour per week with them!

At first I give them some very simple sentences and then after a few weeks have them start working on the sentences in the book. One thing I love about Wheelock's is that he uses terminology such as "appositives" and "substantives," etc. It causes you to teach the students advanced grammar concepts from the start. And I agree with what MMe says here:

"(In Wheelock) they get their first unadapted Latin poem in chapter 5, and ALL the Sententiae Antiquae and paragraphs are from Roman authors. I knew (know) enough to supply contexts and parallels when needed, and after a few chapters students start noticing certain patterns of thought in particular authors."

As to making it fun: I find the students simply enjoy succeeding with the translation of a sentence. We just go around the room and I have them read the Latin and explain the translation. If the student is not able to do a typical sentence in the chapter, I give them a very simple sentence. We have a great camaraderie in the classroom. I allow students who are not very confident just to listen a lot at first and then have them do something very easy and build their confidence.

One great way to get them feeling confident with the Latin is allowing them to use simple phrases and commands in Latin to say things to each other or to describe activities. This is a very simple diversion used when I begin to see lost or bored faces:

A student can give me or another student a command: (the greatest challenge with this is to keep the smart alecks from saying "sit under the table" or "jump out the window") But I've learned how to deal with this :)

Sede in sella "Sit in the chair" Ambula ad tabulam "Walk to the board" Indica mensam "Point at the table"

Then I will contrast these with having them make statements DESCRIBING what I or another student are doing: Sedes in sella (you are sitting in the chair) Ambulas ad ianuam (you are walking to the door) Indicat fenestram (he points at the window)

I find that this activity helps them to really understand the difference between the "imperative" and the "indicative." And using the commands to play "Simonus Dicit" is a big hit with with younger kids!

Another way in which I make the Latin more interesting or relevant for them is to introduce a short Bible verse that they are very familiar with and have them memorize it, along with explaining some of the grammar there. I pick one that has a grammar concept or some vocabulary that they have just learned. During Ch. 4 of Wheelock's I introduced: "Domine, dominator noster, quam grande est nomen tuum in universa terra..." This gave an example of the neuter adj. tuum in the neuter nominative and the Vocative of "dominus" with the -e ending. And here you have an example of why it's so helpful that these kids have studied Latin in the grammar years: they are already familiar with 3rd dec. nouns such as "nomen." It's not totally puzzling to them.

Another very important activity we do is to simply read the paragraph in the chapter (e.g. “The Rarity of Friendship” by Cicero).... read it out loud in Latin, without translating. I ask them to just listen and comprehend as much of the Latin as possible. At first they don't get much of it, but after repeating the process a few times, they are delighted to find themselves getting it! I go back to the paragraphs in previous chapters regularly, just reading the Latin without translating. (I do skip a few paragraphs with this age, like the one in Ch. 7.)

Although I have to do a lot of didactic explanation in order to cover the material, I just surprise them with a diversion like the ones above whenever it seems appropriate. With the limited time I have I can't pander to them too much. I try to get them in the habit of hard work, but this keeps their interest when things get a little tedious.

Beth Harvey
Collegium Study Center Colorado Springs, CO