Latin Transition Question

[3Blessings]

I am trying to decide on the Latin course my older son will take. He's 12 and in 6th grade. We were STRUGGLING with SFL this year. I think it was poor retention from FFL (we did not review over the summer), and we were on the review for unit 2 when the Henle 1 videos came out. I decided to switch to them to see if a fresh approach would help, and he is loving it. He happily gets his Latin out every morning, is getting 90%-100% on every quiz (I take off for spelling but he has all the concepts), it's working really well. I also feel it takes less of me to teach, I watch the video over the weekend and work myself through some of the translations and we move on.

However; I'm stuck because even schooling all through summer (minus 2 weeks of camp and 1 week I will be at Sodalitas) we can't finish Henle 1 I-V in time to start Henle 1 (the second set of units) with MPOA. I do not feel equipped to take him all the way through Henle 1, but perhaps that is my only option? I am not opposed to moving back to TFL and having him take 2 years to do TFL and 4FL, but I don't know how compatible they are.

Any Latin teachers out there who can advise me? Are the forms compatible with Henle? I know there is a different vocabulary base. I would appreciate any assistance or insight!

[pickandgrin]

Magistra Strickland? (What is your handle here anyway? I don't want to tag some unsuspecting, innocent, bystanding Sue by mistake!) Jon Christianson ?

[Jon Christianson]

I'm glad he likes the Henle videos!

My answer is that sticking with one program as thoroughly as possible is usually the best idea. I wouldn't generally recommend a program switch for any reason other than that the previous one isn't working for you, such as the switch you've already made from Forms to Henle. Switching back to meet an MPOA deadline would incur its own costs, especially in the kiddo-satisfaction department if he's enjoying Henle. I'd push along with Henle and let the videos do the instructional heavy-lifting.

However, for the sake of thoroughness: if you do decide to switch back to the Forms, the halfway point in Henle (except for vocab) is a relatively safe transition point to move into TFL, or vice versa. So, while your son is probably better served by sticking with Henle at this point, and no jump from one program to another is totally safe unless starting from square one, the end of Units I-V would be the least challenging time to jump to TFL. There is no handbook on how to negotiate that switch, however, and you'd have to do some management that might not be any less difficult than simply following through with Henle to the end.

- Jon

[3Blessings]

Jessica, thank you for the tagging! I forget that we can do that now!

Jon Christianson thank you for your reply. I appreciate it. It probably does make the most sense to just continue with Henle, I am just nervous about my capacity as a facilitator. I certainly don't have the knowledge I would need to make the transition between programs if it's less than a clean split. I still have some time to work ahead, so we will be learning together! I was so happy when these videos came out, the switch was just what he needed, so thank you for all the work you've put into them! They are very well done and we both are enjoying learning through them.

[pickandgrin]

I am also very thankful for this new addition to the Latin resource shelf. Hoorah!