Song School Latin 1 - Student Book with CD

Hey! Hey! Quid agis? Tell me how you are, friend! Sum bene, sum bene, I am feeling fine!

From the publishers of Latin for Children and Latin Alive!, Songschool Latin introduces very young students to Latin study. A multi-talented little monkey man who is equal parts creepy and adorable dances and sings kids through a fairly extensive introductory vocabulary. Not only is this a good way to prime kids for serious language study, they'll think it's fun (though once you hear the songs you might not think so).

How Does This Work?

There is a student book with an audio CD and a teacher edition. The teacher edition is simply a reproduction of the student text with answers included and a few pages of cut-outs in the back; the cut-outs are included in the back of the student text as well in case you don't want to cut up one or the other. Both texts are black and white with crazy little drawings of the monkey man and cute illustrations for the exercises.

Thirty-onechapters teach kids basic vocabulary words dealing with things most kids are either familiar with or interested in—word list themes include household items, classroom items, animals, the body, and the seasons. This isn't a grammar or a primer; it's simply a consumable worktext with lots of Latin words and their meanings.

A supplemental audio CD included with the student text contains 60 songs to help kids learn the words. Sometimes the lyrics are somewhat unclear; fortunately, all lyrics are included in the text. This isn't Grammy award winning stuff—just a man and woman with an acoustic guitar singing Latin words and their English meanings while strumming two or three chords. Still, it's the kind of repetitive jingle that kids like because it gets stuck in their head and they can remember it. Unfortunately, some of these songs will likely get stuck in your head as well.

This is for very young students, grades K-2. It isn't really proper Latin instruction, but when students encounter Latin for real later on, they will remember some of what this course teaches and be a bit ahead of those who've never encountered anything Latin and are studying it for the first time. This doesn't need to be a huge part of your child's studies, but it can be a fun way to introduce a subject more and more parents are opting to teach.

Our Honest Opinion:

It makes most sense to go from Songschool Latin to Latin for Children, though you could conceivably progress to any elementary Latin course. Don't expect your young kids to become proficient at Latin with this book—this is just a way to get their feet wet before chucking them in the deep end. The exercises are creative and fun; there really are a lot of words to learn, and it's well-known by now that Latin education helps English-speakers better understand their own language. For students not yet ready to jump in to a full program, we highly recommend this text (even with the monkey man and the pseudo-folk vocabulary songs).