Latin for Teachers - DVD Course

With the rise of classical education, many parents want their kids to learn Latin. But since many of them have no background in the language (or any foreign language for that matter), it seems like an impossible goal. Karen Moore's Latin for Teachers Video Series addresses this problem and teaches parents to be competent Latin instructors. The course is a series of lectures she delivered at a four day seminar, and includes all the information you'll need to teach Latin to your beginning-intermediate students.

How Do These Work?

Moore uses the Latin for Children primer series as her jump-off place, chosen by her after researching several texts. While it would be easiest to use these books in conjunction with the video program, you could use another since the material in the lectures is basic information and not specific only to that curriculum. Realize that taking this approach (using a program other than Latin for Children will mean more work for you, as the flow of the lectures follows the flow of the books and you may need to rearrange lessons to fit the pattern.

This isn't flashy footage—Moore stands in front of a classroom of parents and educators and presents the material, making occasional marks on a whiteboard. There are 13 DVDs with over 16 hours of content. This will require significant time on your part as you can't just pop a disc in and watch for a few minutes and turn it off when you get bored. This is basically a condensed college course on Latin instruction, and to get the results you want from it and your kids, you will need to treat it as such.

While Moore does teach you how to teach, offering suggestions for presentation, activities, etc., most of the material deals directly with the Latin language. She begins with a discussion of the principle parts of speech and their English cognates, describes verb conjugations, and moves on to in-depth language study. By the end you will have learned enough of the language yourself to at least guide your kids through a Latin course, if not teach them directly (though most parents will be able to do that as well).

A companion notebook contains an outline of the information covered on the DVDs, plenty of text that essentially acts as lecture notes, and reproducible worksheet pages for your students to complete. Between the lectures and the notebook you will have everything you need to teach your students Latin without worrying that you're missing something. This is for beginning and intermediate students: advanced students will have learned most of this already, and what they haven't will certainly be included in an advanced text.

Our Honest Opinion:

If you have limited or no Latin experience, this teacher course is invaluable. For first-time Latin teachers, it is strongly recommended that you use the Latin for Children primers and not try to collate Moore's information with another program on your first try. Moore's delivery is clear and intelligent, imparting to her audience a sense of confidence and assurance that they can teach their kids Latin. (While this is a lecture series for parents and teachers, many high schoolers may find that simply watching the lectures with you is more effective than getting the material secondhand.)

At the outset she compares learning Latin to taking a roadtrip—the destination is certainly important, but half the fun is getting there. Near the end she says learning Latin is more than learning a language: because of it's impact on academics and the world in general, it's also like getting an overview of the humanities and sciences. Both of these assertions are borne out in Moore's logical and energetic presentation.

Disc Contents:

1. Latin for Children: Primer A, Session A1
2. Latin for Children: Primer A, Session A2
3. Latin for Children: Primer A, Session A3
4. Latin for Children: Primer A, Session A4
5. Latin for Children: Primer B, Session B1
6. Latin for Children: Primer B, Session B2
7. Latin for Children: Primer B, Session B3
8. Latin for Children: Primer B, Session B4
9. Latin for Children: Primer C, Session C1 (and Q&A)
10. Latin for Children: Primer C, Sessions C2 & C3
11. Latin for Children: Primer C, Session C4 (and National Latin Exam)
12. Language tools: how to apply them to a classroom / Integrating Latin with other subjects
13. Supplementary Materials CD-ROM (PDF files)