FAQs

Of course. You can just use the Latin grammar and English vocabulary-building exercises which makes up 2/3 of the books.

Yes, I’ve written the lessons so that an upper elementary student could teach him- or herself independently. The sixteen lessons in the BigBooks are each subdivided into 3-5 mini-lessons. The mini-lessons give a manageable bite of new information. The student then practices the new skill with an exercise on that same page. Then follows a page or two of varied exercises which reinforce that skill along with others learned previously. So students (and parents) build up a body of knowledge and skill little by little with plenty of practice and reinforcement. Interspersed among the lessons and exercises are the history stories and activities, art study, character study, English vocabulary building, etc.

The BigBooks are a parts to whole program, meaning they starts with the fundamentals and build up from there to a full understanding of the language. I prefer this approach as it teaches the patterns of the language so that students can take new words and fit them into the pattern to gain meaning. The whole to parts approach, on the other hand, forces students to memorize individual words and their meanings without the benefit of the pattern.

Yes, from Romulus’ founding of the city in 753 BC, through the overthrow of the kings and the establishment of the Republic in 509 BC, clear to the end of the 3rd Punic War (BB1), and from then to the fall of the Roman Empire (BB2), the stories of famous and infamous Roman figures and deeds is presented. I’ve taken stories from two works in the public domain, The Famous Men of Rome and The Story of Rome, broken them into 1-3 page stories, and then added an activity at the end of each which will review or expand upon the major points in the stories so that students can fix them in their heads better. Of course, included are dozens of maps, battle plans, and famous pictures of the events.

It costs me about $20 for the paper and ink to print the book in color on my home printer. Your cost, of course, will vary depending on the cost of your ink cartridges.

Can I print it in black and white? Though it’s not quite as inviting, you can print about 90% of the book in black and white. You should look ahead to each lesson, though, as you will want to print the art pictures in color.

I am willing to work with co-op leaders on a pricing arrangement that’s beneficial for all. Contact me directly at livelylatin@livelylatin.com.

Though I have my own religious beliefs, I have written the BigBooks from a secular point of view so that many different groups can feel comfortable using it. Also, families involved in public charter schools can use their funds for purchase of the BigBook.

Until I get BB3 written, here’s what I recommend:

If you’re okay with religion (Catholic Christian) mixed with Latin, you can do Henle’s First Year Latin. If your student has retained much of what of was presented in BBs 1 & 2, s/he can do Lesson 8 on third declension adjectives (Unit 2) and then skip to start at Unit 5.

Another option is Latin Via Ovid, a high school text based around mythology, without the Christian religious element. It moves fairly fast so your student might want to start at the beginning for a brief review of previous learning.

Then Wheelock’s Latin is always an option. It’s a college text but they’ve recently been adding lots of helps (workbook, readers, online aids) that makes it easier to learn with (since I was in college!).