Visual Latin Curriculum Review

Recently I was provided an opportunity to review Visual Latin.


Name of Product: Visual Latin

Price: Latin I (lessons 1-30 DVD Single/Family)$80.00

Age Range: 9 years and up

Okay, so here is the honest nitty gritty from me...We decided to homeschool my child (7th grader) in or around March. One of his first formal homeschooling curriculum requests was to learn Latin. I cannot pretend I was so happy about this request at first, as I took French in middle and high school and college. I did believe it would assist him tremendously in his phonemic awareness and root word knowledge, if he was successful with the skills. My biggest fear was how my dyslexic child with learning disabilities in multiple areas would master this dead language. The child expressed reasons much different from my thought processes about why he wanted to learn this language...which made much sense...so I agreed to pursue it. (in the back of my mind, I still wondered why he wanted to pursue this foreign language.)


In September, Timberdoodle contacted me about completing the Visual Latin review and sent us the first 10 lessons. I know it is now November and you might wonder why it has taken me so long to complete this review?? Timberdoodle might wonder the same.  I tested this product out on my homeschooling son and we plan to finish the program this year. He has completed 7 of the first 10 video lessons sent. We plan to purchase the remainder of the package and finish the series...unless, the publisher would like to contact me to send me the remainder for another final product review!!

Each video lesson has more than one short video component in it. These build upon each other. I watched the first 3 video lessons with the child...and then he simply left me behind as he pursued the Latin world. Each lesson also contains worksheets that reinforce the skill taught and give a means for the parent to have a visual and realistic assessment piece to file away. (An answer key is provided as well!) He completed the first three lessons and did well. I left him to view the video for the lessons of session 4 while I was at  work. About three days later, I reminded him to review lesson 4 and I would print the worksheets out. He informed me he had already viewed each of the lessons in sessions 4 and 5 independent of me and had repeated them for review as well. He was waiting on the worksheets.

This LD and Aspie child completed studies independent of me asking him to do so and was waiting on me to get the message and catch up!  I will admit, in the world of Latin, he has now left me officially in the dust.

In better news, since we have began this program, he is recognizing the roots of multiple words now and associated them with their Latin origins. He has completed simple translations from Latin to English, both verbally and in writing. He is doing this without complaint as well. So, this program has impressed me more than I can say and he has done well with it.

Timberdoodle does provide other homeschooling materials that one can view and purchase. I reviewed this item free in exchange for an honest review.  As a member of Timberdoodle's Blogger Review Team I received a free set of Buddy Blocks in exchange for a frank and unbiased review.