Showing posts with label foreign language. Show all posts
Showing posts with label foreign language. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Memoria Press Second Form Latin Complete Set Review #ComplimentaryProductReceived


Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. Affiliate links are in this posting. Thanks for supporting my blog.

My family had the privilege of trying the Second Form Latin Complete Set from Memoria Press for this review to use in conjunction with our own curriculum at home. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.


Memoria Press is a family-run publishing company that produces simple and easy-to-use classical Christian education materials for home and private schools. It was founded by a woman named Cheryl Lowe in 1994. They currently have preschool through ninth grade in most of their curriculum and some through twelfth grade. They also cover subjects in: Classical Core Curriculum, Latin, Classical Studies, Christian Studies, Logic & Rhetoric, Phonics & Early Reading, Penmanship, Literature & Poetry, American & Modern Studies, Writing & English Grammar, Science & Math, Greek, Modern Languages, Educational Resources, eBooks, Special-Needs, and Art & Music.

Second Form Latin is a Latin grammar course for grade 6+ students that have finished First Form Latin. It comes with a Student Text, Student Workbook, Quizzes & Tests, Teacher Manual, Teacher Key, Pronunciation CD, Flashcards, and Instructional DVDs. This course was designed for teachers with little to no background in Latin. Second Form Latin reviews all material in First Form (the previous course to this one), completes the verb paradigms for all four conjugations in the indicative active and passive, and much more! After completing Second Form Latin, Memoria Press has the next course in the series called Third Form Latin. There is also a course that is for grades 1-3 called Prima Latina and a course for 3-5 called Latina Christiana that you can have your younger children do before the First Form Latin course, but it is not required.

After finishing Second Form Latin, the student will have mastered:
  • 6 indicative active and three indicative passive tenses of all four verb conjugations
  • 5 noun declensions, including -er/-ir nouns and i-stem nouns
  • Adjectives in three declensions
  • Personal pronouns
  • Prepositions
  • 365 vocabulary words (185 in First Form, and another 180 new words in Second Form)

Everything Included in the Set:

The Second Form Latin Student Text is a 9×7.5 inch soft cover book that is 120 pages long. It includes 31 two page lessons on facing pages. These are very concise and informative to teach the lessons in the workbook. There are also Appendices that include: Conversational Latin, Prayers, Latin Sayings, Sentence Labeling and Diagramming, English-Latin Verb Tenses; Pronouns, English-Latin Pronouns, Grammar Forms, Oral Form Drills, and a Vocabulary Index. Go here to see a Student Text Sample and a Table of Contents of the Student Text in PDF format.

The Second Form Latin Workbook is a spiral bound consumable workbook that can only be used by one student. This workbook consists of 211 pages with 5 units of 26 lessons total. The lessons begin with word study and grammar, sometimes vocabulary review, declensions, form drills, dative/genitive case, translation and ends with derivatives usually (sometimes ending on review or enrichment). The exercises are about 4-7 pages long. It also has Translation Checklist at the very beginning of the workbook and after all the lessons it has an Appendix with Grammar Questions and Vocabulary Drill Sheets with a how to. Go here to see a Student Workbook Sample in PDF format.

The Second Form Latin Quizzes and Tests is a soft cover booklet that has reproducible weekly quizzes and unit tests that ensure material is being mastered. The pages are perforated so they can be torn out easily if needed. Go here to see a Sample Quiz in PDF format.

The Second Form Latin Teacher Manual is a soft cover teacher and parent guide to Second Form Latin. It is 119 pages. It consists of Teaching Guidelines with: Introduction, Lesson Overview, Lingua Angelica Syllabus, Games; Syllabus, Preparation, Testing, a Student Text with Lesson Plans and Student Text Appendices with: Conversational Latin, Prayers, Latin Sayings, Sentence Labeling and Diagramming, English-Latin Verbs, Pronouns, English-Latin Pronouns, Grammar Forms, and Form Drills, ending with a Vocabulary Index. The Lesson Overview Schedule consists of 5 parts: Lesson, Workbook, Final Oral Drill, Quiz, and optional Lingua Angelica. The Lesson Plans have an opening with a Latin greeting from both teacher and student, Recitation of: grammar forms, Music and Prayers; and Review which could include Grammar Questions, vocabulary drill with flashcards, vocabulary drill sheets, form drills, and / or Latin Sayings. Then the lessons go on to include: Latin Saying, Vocabulary, and Grammar - Syntax. The pages of the Student Text are in miniature on the page for each lesson. Go here to see a Teacher Manual Sample in PDF format.

The Second Form Latin Teacher Key is a spiral bound answer key for the workbook, quizzes, and tests. This has inset pages from the student workbook & quizzes and tests booklet with a with the answers in an easy-to-read, 2-color format. A grammar summary including all questions from First Form is included, as well as, vocabulary drill sheets. Go here to see a Teacher Key Sample in PDF format.

The Second Form Latin Pronunciation CD is 2 discs that include all vocabulary and grammar forms and the complete verbal ecclesiastical pronunciation (the way the word sounds when it is spoken) for each lesson. It has 32 parts. You can listen to a CD Sample here.

The Second Form Latin Flashcards are a large stack (238 cards) of 3.5 x 2.5 inch pre-cut cards to help with study and memorization. It includes: vocabulary, Latin sayings, and grammar forms. These contain all the words in the Second Form Latin program. On this page there are Sample Flashcards in PDF format.

How The Flashcards are Laid Out:

  • Vocabulary (Latin, lesson number, and any derivative, on one side; English on the other)
  • Latin sayings (Latin and lesson number on one side, English on the other)
  • Grammar forms (cue word and declension or tense name on one side; Latin forms and lesson number on the other).

The First Form Latin Instructional DVDs are a set of 3 discs having a total of about 8.5 hours. Lessons take an average of 15-20 minutes per lesson. The teaching is done by former Highlands Latin School teacher Glen Moore. There are on-screen notes, illustrations, diagrams, a full First Form – Second Form recitation, “Latin parties” (Glen’s version of unit reviews), and more! This makes it easy to educate yourself in Latin. On this page there is a DVD Sample.

Teela reading the Second Form Latin Student Text.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

We love Memoria Press and their classical christian curriculum! We have a bunch of their other studies and have found them all wonderful. We've been very blessed to have been able to also receive a number of their curriculum to review here.

Second Form Latin is a fabulous curriculum for kids to master more Latin after First Form Latin. We did this curriculum for my daughter Teela who is in 6th grade and has finished First Form Latin last year. We did this on an average of three days per week. This classical christian homeschool curriculum is fantastic!

I found the Teacher Manual very convenient and thorough. I loved how it was laid out and how it explained things. The information is given to me, the parent and teacher, so I could teach the student in a way that we both comprehend all the information. I also liked having all the answers of the workbook, quizzes, and tests in the Teachers Key at my fingertips so I didn't have to seek them out myself.

Both DVDs and CD were very helpful tools. We started out watching the lesson for the day on the DVD. The DVDs helped me learn along with Teela. The DVDs I found especially great because of the illustrations and diagrams they used as well to clarify and explain the point better. These lessons are the perfect length as well which helps the learning happen without information overload. The CD we used to teach the correct pronunciation of the vocabulary in the student books and flashcards.

Teela working out of the Second Form Latin Student Workbook.

The Student Text can be easily followed along with the DVDs and Teacher Manual. I had my daughter read the text and work from the Student Workbook after each lesson and if there were Quizzes & Tests she needed to do I would have her work out of the booklet for those. If we needed to review something it was easy to get the lesson back up on the DVD and find where the specific thing was talked about or look it up in the Teacher Manual.

Teela working with the Second Form Latin Flashcards.

We also thought the flashcards were very handy to have with the set. This deck is huge and covers all of Second Form Latin vocabulary. We used these as a further study and memory aid reinforcing learning the Second Form Latin vocabulary. I love that I didn't have to punch out the cards or cut them out myself because this would have taken me a long time. I am glad that these were pre-cut. I also liked the fact that these had the lesson number on each card so we could reference back to it if needed.

We highly recommend Second Form Latin by Memoria Press! It is a great Latin curriculum. I look forward to using other curriculum books from Memoria Press with my children in the future and after finishing the Second Form Latin moving onto Third Form Latin.

Follow Them on Social Media:

BUY IT
You can purchase the Second Form Latin Complete Set for $125.00.

Read other homeschool curriculum reviews for Memoria Press...
Prima to Fourth Form Latin Complete Sets {Memoria Press Reviews}

Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Kid-Friendly New Year's Eve Ideas From Kidstir!

Look what we are doing for New Year's Eve! Kidstir has put together some fun things for families with kids to ring in the New Year and you can join in the fun. Teach your kids how to say cheers from countries around the globe with this downloadable print out for some around-the-world fun.

Kidstir also has a healthy drink recipe for your kids to toast the New Year called Grape Fizz! Yum! 



And don't forget to put on some Silly 'Staches & Smiles while you count down to midnight! You can even add them to your straw for fun while you drink.

Zari with her silly stash 😁


About Kidstir
Kidstir is a unique cooking kit subscription service for children that can be joined or given as a gift, or you can send one of the single kits, as well. Each month, Kidstir will send your child a box filled with three delicious, nutritious recipes, kid-size cooking tools, games and activities! This subscription focuses on nutrition and hands-on fun. Created by moms who know that through cooking, children will gain important life skills in the kitchen — and cook up some fun family memories through the process.



Monthly, 3 month, 6 month, and 12 month subscriptions are available with free shipping. Plus, Kidstir will debut a new surprise kit which will be revealed on the 21st of each month! All subscribers receive a 2 year magazine subscription to Real Simple, Parents or All Recipes magazines as a thank you bonus. A Cookbook Binder and Sibling cooking tools & creative materials can be added at checkout.


DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received this information and images for this post. I wrote this blog post because I thought you might be interested in knowing this information and taking part of the fun. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I will be receiving samples later to try out and review.

Thursday, March 28, 2019

Memoria Press First Form Latin Review


My family had the privilege of trying the First Form Latin from Memoria Press for this review to use in conjunction with our own curriculum. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.



Memoria Press is a family-run publishing company that produces simple and easy-to-use classical Christian education materials for home and private schools. It was founded by a woman named Cheryl Lowe in 1994. They currently have preschool through ninth grade in most of their curriculum and some through twelfth grade. They also cover subjects in: Classical Core Curriculum, Latin, Classical Studies, Christian Studies, Logic & Rhetoric, Phonics & Early Reading, Penmanship, Literature & Poetry, American & Modern Studies, Writing & English Grammar, Science & Math, Greek, Modern Languages, Educational Resources, eBooks, Special-Needs, and Art & Music.

First Form Latin is a Latin grammar course for grade 4+ students that have finished Latina Christiana or students that are grades 5+ if they have not. It comes with a Student Text, Workbook, Quizzes & Tests, Teacher Manual, Teacher Key, Pronunciation CD, Flashcards, and Instructional DVDs. This course was designed for teachers with little to no background in Latin. After completing First Form Latin Memoria Press has the next course in the series called Second Form Latin. There is also a course that is for grades 1-3 called Prima Latina and a course for 3-5 called Latina Christiana that you can have your younger children do before this course, but it is not required.

The First Form Latin Student Text is a 9×7.5 inch soft cover book that is 121 pages long. It includes 34 two page lessons on facing pages. These are very concise and informative to teach the lessons in the workbook. There are also Appendices that include: Conversational Latin, Prayers, Latin Sayings, Grammar, Classical Pronunciation Guide, Oral Drills, and a Vocabulary Index. On this page there is a Student Text Sample and a Table of Contents of the Student Text in PDF format.

The First Form Latin Workbook is a spiral bound consumable workbook that can only be used by one student. This workbook consists of 190 pages with 5 units of 34 lessons total. The lessons begin with word study and grammar, sometimes vocabulary and sayings, conjugations, form drills (Latin to English and English to Latin), and end with enrichment usually. The exercises  are about 4-6 pages long. It also has Pronunciation rules at the very beginning of the workbook and after all the lessons it has an Appendix with Grammar Questions and Vocabulary Drill Sheets. On this page there is a Student Workbook Sample in PDF format.

The First Form Latin Quizzes and Tests is a soft cover booklet that has reproducible weekly quizzes and unit tests that ensure material is being mastered. The pages are perforated so they can be torn out easily if needed. On this page there is a Sample Quiz in PDF format.

The First Form Latin Teacher Manual is a soft cover teacher and parent guide to First Form Latin. It is 121 pages. It consists of Teaching Guidelines: Introduction, Lesson Overview, Games and Review Activities, Developing a Syllabus, Preparing to Teach the Lesson, Sample Lesson Plan, Pronunciation; Student Text with Lesson Plans, an Appendix with Conversational Latin, Prayers, Translations, Latin Sayings, Basic Grammar with English-Latin Comparisons, Verbs, Basic Sentence Patterns, Parts of Speech, Parts of the Sentence, etc.; Oral Drills, Vocabulary, and Endnotes. The Lesson Overview Schedule consists of 5 parts: Lesson, Workbook, Oral Drill, Quiz or Test, and optional Lingua Angelica. The Lesson Plans have an opening with a Latin greeting from both teacher and student, Recitation of: grammar forms, Music and Prayers; and Review which could include Grammar Questions, Cumulative vocabulary drill with flashcards, Cumulative vocabulary drill sheets, form drills, and / or Latin Sayings. Then the lessons go on to include: Latin Saying, Vocabulary, and Grammar - Syntax. The pages of the Student Text are in miniature on the page for each lesson. On this page there is a Teacher Manual Sample in PDF format.

The First Form Latin Teacher Key is a spiral bound answer key for the workbook, quizzes, and tests. This has inset pages from the student workbook & quizzes and tests booklet with a with the answers in an easy-to-read, 2-color format. On this page there is a Teacher Key Sample in PDF format.

The First Form Latin Pronunciation CD is all vocabulary and grammar forms and the complete verbal ecclesiastical pronunciation (the way the word sounds when it is spoken) for each lesson. It has 32 parts. You can listen to a CD Sample here.

The First Form Latin Flashcards are a large stack of 3.5 x 2.5 inch pre-cut cards to help with study and memorization. It includes: vocabulary, Latin sayings, and grammar forms. These contain all the words the First Form Latin program. On this page there are Sample Flashcards in PDF format.

How The Flashcards are Laid Out:
  • Vocabulary (Latin, lesson number, and any derivative, on one side; English on the other)
  • Latin sayings (Latin and lesson number on one side, English on the other)
  • Grammar forms (cue word and declension or tense name on one side; Latin forms and lesson number on the other).

The First Form Latin Instructional DVDs are a set of 5 discs having a total of about 9 hours. Lessons take an average of 15-20 minutes per lesson. The teaching is done by Jessica Watson. There are on-screen notes, illustrations, diagrams, recitations, and more. This makes it easy to educate yourself in Latin. On this page there is a DVD Sample.

Teela reading the First Form Latin Student Text.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

We love Memoria Press and their classical christian curriculum! We have a bunch of their other studies and have found them all wonderful. We've been very blessed to have been able to also receive a number of their curriculum to review here.

First Form Latin is a fabulous curriculum for kids to learn Latin. We did this curriculum for my daughter Teela who is in 5th grade and has finished Latina Christiana last year. We did this on an average of three days per week. This classical christian homeschool curriculum is fantastic!

I found the Teacher Manual very convenient and thorough. I loved how it was laid out and how it explained things. The information is given to me, the parent and teacher, so I could teach the student in a way that we both comprehend all the information. I also liked having all the answers of the workbook, quizzes, and tests in the Teachers Key at my fingertips so I didn't have to seek them out myself.

Both DVDs and CD were very helpful tools. We started out watching the lesson for the day on the DVD. The DVDs helped me learn along with Teela. The DVDs I found especially great because of the illustrations and diagrams they used as well to clarify and explain the point better. These lessons are the perfect length as well which helps the learning happen without information overload. The CD we used to teach the correct pronunciation of the vocabulary in the student books and flashcards.

Teela working out of the First Form Latin Student Workbook.

The Student Text can be easily followed along with the DVDs and Teacher Manual. I had my daughter read the text and work from the Student Workbook after each lesson and if there were Quizzes & Tests she needed to do I would have her work out of the booklet for those. If we needed to review something it was easy to get the lesson back up on the DVD and find where the specific thing was talked about or look it up in the Teacher Manual.

Teela working with the First Form Latin Flashcards.

We also thought the flashcards were very handy to have with the set. This deck is huge and covers all of First Form Latin vocabulary. We used these as a further study and memory aid reinforcing learning the First Form Latin vocabulary. I love that I didn't have to punch out the cards or cut them out myself because this would have taken me a long time. I am glad that these were pre-cut. I also liked the fact that these had the lesson number on each card so we could reference back to it if needed.

We highly recommend First Form Latin by Memoria Press! It is a great Latin curriculum. I look forward to using other curriculum books from Memoria Press with my children in the future and after finishing the First Form Latin moving onto Second Form Latin.

Follow Them on Social Media:

BUY IT
You can purchase the First Form Latin Complete Set for $125.00.

Read other homeschool curriculum reviews for Memoria Press...
Phonics, Poetry & Latin {Memoria Press Reviews}

Crew Disclaimer

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Memoria Press Latina Christiana: An Introduction to First Form Latin Review

Memoria Press Latina Christiana Complete Set

My family had the privilege of trying the Latina Christiana from Memoria Press for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.



Memoria Press is a family-run publishing company that produces simple and easy-to-use classical Christian education materials for home and private schools. It was founded by a woman named Cheryl Lowe in 1994. They currently have preschool through ninth grade in most of their curriculum and some through twelfth grade. They also cover subjects in: Classical Core Curriculum, Latin, Classical Studies, Christian Studies, Logic & Rhetoric, Phonics & Early Reading, Penmanship, Literature & Poetry, American & Modern Studies, Writing & English Grammar, Science & Math, Greek, Modern Languages, Educational Resources, eBooks, Special-Needs, and Art & Music.

Latina Christiana is a Latin grammar course for younger beginning students. It comes with a Student Book, Teacher Manual, Pronunciation CD, Flashcards, and Instructional DVDs. This is a new and improved version and has been updated to make the product even better. This course was designed for teachers with no background in Latin. Intended for grades 3-5, but can be used for as a beginning course for students of all ages. After completing Latina Christiana Memoria Press has the next course in the series called First Form Latin. There is also a course that is for grades 1-3 called Prima Latina that you can have your younger children do before this course, but it is not required.

The Latina Christiana Student Book is a consumable workbook that can only be used by one student. This fourth edition book consists of 105 pages of 25 lessons and 5 review lessons. The lessons begin with a Latin Saying that teach Christian or Classical tradition of culture, 10 vocabulary words per lesson with corresponding English derivatives, Grammar Forms, and end with appropriate exercises that go with each lesson. It also has Pronunciation Rules at the very beginning and after the lessons it has an Appendix with Prayers, Conversational Latin, Songs, Latin Sayings, Grammar Forms, History Guide, Vocabulary Indexes, English to Latin Reference, and Derivatives & Definitions. On this page there is a Student Book Sample in PDF format.

The Latina Christiana Teacher Manual is a spiral bound teacher and parent guide to First Form Latin. It is 187 pages and is the fourth edition. It consists of Pronunciation Rules, a Teacher Guide that includes a Grammar Overview, Student Goals, Teaching Guidelines, Vocabulary Drill, and Grammar Drill; Lesson Plans, an Appendix with Prayers, Conversational Latin, Songs, Latin Sayings, Grammar Forms, History Guide, History Chart, etc.; Advanced Grammar Overview, Quizzes & Tests + Answer Keys, and Latina Christiana Final & Key. The Lesson Plans have an opening with a Latin salutation from both teacher and student, prayer in Latin and music sung in Latin; Recitation of cue words, Latin Saying, Word Study, Derivatives, Grammar, and the pages of the Student Book in miniature with answer key on the page for each lesson. It also has some reproducible pages in it. On this page there is a Teacher Manual Sample in PDF format.

The Latina Christiana Pronunciation CD is the complete verbal pronunciation (the way the word sounds when it is spoken) for each lesson. It also includes the prayers and songs and how they are supposed to be said in Latin. It has 32 parts. We received the second edition although they picture the fourth on their picture. You can listen to a CD Sample here.

The Latina Christiana Flashcards are a large stack of cards to help with study and memorization. It includes: vocabulary with derivatives, Latin sayings, and conjugations & declensions. These are second edition and contain all the words in Prima Latina and Latina Christiana. On this page there are Sample Flashcards in PDF format.

How The Flashcards are Laid Out:
  • Vocabulary (Latin, lesson number, and any derivative, on one side; English on the other)
  • Latin sayings (Latin and lesson number on one side, English on the other)
  • Grammar forms(cue word, lesson number, and form name on one side; Latin forms on the other).
  • For the lesson number, Latina Christiana is first followed by Prima Latina (PL) lesson number in parentheses, e.g. “1 (PL 4).”
  • Flashcards are 3.5 x 2.5 inches and are Pre-cut.

The Latina Christiana Instructional DVDs are a set of 3 discs having a total of 5.5 hours. Lessons take an average of 15 minutes per lesson. The teaching of grammar, recitation, review, vocabulary, and derivatives is done by Jessica Watson. There are on-screen notes, illustrations, and diagrams. This makes it easy to educate yourself in Latin. This is the fourth edition. Here is a DVD Sample.

Teela working out of the Latina Christiana Student Book.


How We Used This and Our Thoughts:
We love Memoria Press and their classical christian curriculum for our homeschooling! We have a bunch of their other studies and have found them all wonderful. We've been very blessed to have been able to also receive a number of their curriculum to review here.

Latina Christiana is a fabulous curriculum for kids to learn Latin. Even though it is recommended for grades 3-5, I would say it is a good first Latin program for grades 4-7. We did this curriculum for my daughter Teela who is in 4th grade. We did this on an average of three days per week. This classical christian homeschool curriculum is fantastic!

I found the teacher's guide very convenient and thorough. I loved how it was laid out and how it explained things. The information is given to me, the parent and teacher, so I could teach the student in a way that we both comprehend all the information even though we have no background in Latin at all. I also had all the answers of the student book at my fingertips so I didn't have to seek them out myself. This also had vocabulary drills, grammar drills, tests and quizzes that could be reproduced so that Teela could work on these. I am glad that this was spiral bound so that it lays flat and I could copy the reproducible pages easily.

Both DVDs and CD were very helpful tools. We started out watching the lesson for the day on the DVD. The DVDs helped me learn along with Teela since I too did not know Latin. The DVDs I found especially great because of the illustrations and diagrams they used as well to clarify and explain the point better. These lessons are the perfect length as well which helps the learning happen without information overload. The CD we used to teach the correct pronunciation of the vocabulary in the student book and flashcards.

The student book can be easily followed along with the DVDs and teacher's guide. I had my daughter work from the book after each lesson. We liked that the vocabulary and grammar was on one page and the exercises were on the adjacent page. If we needed to review something it was easy to get the lesson back up on the DVD and find where the specific thing was talked about or look it up in the teacher's guide.

Teela working with the Latina Christiana Flashcards.

We also thought the flashcards were very handy to have with the set. This deck is huge and covers both Prima Latina and Latina Christiana vocabulary. I love that I didn't have to punch out the cards or cut them out myself because this would have taken me a long time. I am glad that these were pre-cut. I also liked the fact that these had the lesson number on each card so we could reference back to it if needed. We used these as a further study and memory aid reinforcing learning the First Form Latin vocabulary.

We highly recommend Latina Christiana: An Introduction to First Form Latin by Memoria Press! It is a great Latin curriculum. I look forward to using other curriculum books from Memoria Press with my children in the future and after finishing the Latina Christiana moving onto First Form Latin.

Follow Them on Social Media:

BUY IT
You can purchase the Latina Christiana Complete Set for $98.90.

Read other homeschool curriculum reviews for Memoria Press...
Spelling, Music Appreciation & Latin {Memoria Press Reviews}

Crew Disclaimer

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Greek 'n' Stuff Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! - Level 2 Set Review


My family had the privilege of trying the Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! - Level 2 Set from Greek 'n' Stuff for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Greek 'n' Stuff is a company that was founded in 1996 by Karen Mohs. They provide educational materials for homeschool, Christian school, Classical school, and Sunday school environments. They have Greek, Latin, and Bible studies to pick from.

Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! teaches koiné  or "common" Greek. This is not spoken in Greece today, but was the language spoken and written during the time of Christ and used for the New Testament of the Bible. Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! is a curriculum used for learning this biblical Greek. It has 8 levels in total. They have student workbooks, answers only key, full text key, quizzes & exams, and flashcards on a ring for all levels. They also have pronunciation CD's, a reader, bible copywork, sheet music, bookmarks and different sets.

Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! - Level  2 Set is a set of products that are for beginners to learn koiné Greek. This level is for early elementary grades and older. The target is 2nd-4th grade students. Level 2 begins with a detailed review of the Greek alphabet. This is taught in 4 lessons. Then it has alphabet practice for 3 lessons. After this the curriculum teaches eleven fundamental Greek vocabulary words which will then be used in Level 3 to introduce Greek grammar. Lastly there is a final review of what was taught.



We received a set of three Greek 'n' Stuff Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! - Level 2 products to review: workbook, answer key, and pronunciation CD. These are physical products. These teach the biblical Greek.
  • Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! - Level 2 Workbook - 30 lessons, 148 pages long plus pages for making 36 flashcards, spiral bound. Flashcard tips, glossaries, and a summary of the Greek alphabet in chart format is found in the Appendix.
  • Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! - Level 2 "Answers Only" Answer Key - A small booklet of answers to the workbook referencing page numbers and answers that go with them.
  • Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! - Level 1&2 + Reader Pronunciation CD - This CD has the Alphabet song sung for all Greek letters, the Reader read, and pronunciations of all letters and words taught.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:
My daughter Teela is nine years old and going into 4th grade this upcoming homeschool year. I was introduced to Greek 'n' Stuff and thought that it would be great to teach her Greek. I love that the Greek 'n' Stuff Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! is family friendly, biblical, and Christian based. I also love that this home education of the Greek language is geared towards children. Learning languages at such a young age comes more naturally. One of the other great things about this is that she would be learning Greek roots, prefixes, and suffixes to better understand the English words derived from them.

FUN FACT:
"The word etymology (or study of the history of words) is derived from the Greek word ἐτυμολογία (etumología), itself from ἔτυμον (étumon), meaning "true sense", and the suffix -logia, denoting "the study of". In linguistics, the term etymon is used to refer to a word or morpheme (e.g. stem or root) from which a later word is derived." ~ Etymology - Wikipedia

Teela doing the Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! - Level 2 workbook.

The workbook starts out with a review of the Greek alphabet. Teela was to practice handwriting each letter across three lines, say the letter, and understand how to pronounce it. Then practice the flashcards with the letter cards from the back of the book. She could check a box at the end saying that she practiced her flashcards that day. There were two letters per day to learn. Then she would move onto the "More Practice" pages to: practice writing the letters in order that were learned, write/circle the correct names of the Greek letters, draw lines from the Greek letters to their sounds, find which Greek letter came next in the sequence, and color the correct letters a certain color, and practice flashcards again adding new cards as she went. These pages are great for making the curriculum deeply ingrained in the mind. After the alphabet we are introduced to words: 6 nouns, 4 verbs, and a conjunction.. There were activities for learning words as well: true or false/yes or no, matching, fill in the blanks, coloring, and writing. There is a great Appendix in the back with glossaries, charts of the Greek Alphabet and Vowels & Diphthongs, and flashcards. I followed along in the workbook to learn Greek myself as well. We got done about 4 weeks of lessons.

Samples of Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! - Level 2 workbook pages.

I am glad to have had the answer key and CD as well. The answer key helped me check her answers in the workbook. The CD helped in making sure we were pronouncing everything correctly. The Greek alphabet song on it..though a little babyish, was still helpful in knowing the sequence of the alphabet's 24 letters. The reader was a bit silly as well, but did get the point across.

I cannot wait for her to master Level 2 and move onto Level 3. Level 3 is a good place for older beginners (4th grade and up) to start. I am glad that I started with Level 2 though, because it has been a great learning experience for the both of us so far. I highly recommend this to those who want their children to learn Greek.

Follow Them on Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreeknStuff/
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/heyandrewteachmesomegreek/ 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GreeknStuff  Tag: @GreeknStuff   
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kuriakos/greek-n-stuff/   
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenmohs/  Tag: @karenmohs  
Hashtags: #hsreviews #greek #greeknstuff

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You can purchase the Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! - Level 2 workbook for $18.95, the answers only answer key for $4.00, and the pronunciation CD for the Reader and Workbooks 1 and 2 for $10.00 on the Greek 'n' Stuff website.

Read other homeschool curriculum reviews for Greek 'n' Stuff...
Teach Me Some Greek {Greek 'n' Stuff Reviews}

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Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Whistlefritz Spanish Educator's Collection Review


My family had the privilege of trying the Spanish Educator's Collection from Whistlefritz for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Whistlefritz is a great foreign language curriculum with videos on DVD, music CDs, lesson plans, matching cards, etc. Whistlefritz’s award-winning French and Spanish products teach children these languages using the immersion method. This means the child is taught by the exclusive use of the language by hearing and speaking only that language without translation. This is one of the most effective ways to teach a language.

The Spanish Educator's Collection from Whistlefritz is a wonderful Spanish curriculum for ages 1-7. This collection includes a lesson plans book, Spanish videos for kids on 5 DVDs, 3 Spanish music CDs, and some Spanish matching cards. These work together to provide a complimentary program that appeals to all types of learners.

Whistlefritz Spanish Educator's Collection.
  
The Educator’s Spanish Collection comes with:
  • Whistlefritz Spanish Lesson Plans for Kids book
  • Whistlefritz Ultimate Collection Spanish for Kids DVDs & CDs
  • Whistlefritz Spanish Matching Cards

Whistlefritz Spanish Lesson Plans for Kids is a 273 page book of 40 reproducible lesson plans. This manual doesn't rely on drills or memorization to learn Spanish. Instead, it uses a multi-sensory approach with projects and activities like: crafts, sorting, playing games, drawing pictures, coloring, etc. to go along with each lesson. This helps the child learn the language easier because they are actually learning by doing and making as well. The lesson plans start with the lesson number and title with: a short description of lesson, goals, objectives, vocabulary, materials needed, and time taken. Then it has activities and their: focus and review (if any), teacher input, guided practice, independent practice, closure, and extension activities. This lesson plan book also has over 50 flashcards and other pages to copy, print, and use for use with the lessons. This can be used as a stand alone lesson book to teach Spanish, but it does reference the other products in it as well for the some of the extension activities. These lessons build upon each other and come back to words and themes that were previously taught to reinforce the vocabulary. You can also find Translation Guides and extra Lesson Plans to download on the website.

Spanish Lesson Plans for Kids book and some pages. Zari with her puppet.

Whistlefritz Ultimate Collection Spanish for Kids is a compilation of 5 DVD videos and 3 music CDs. This educational and fun series is a blend of animation and live-action with Latin rhythms to get kids dancing and singing. These programs have fun characters: Maria, Jorge, Fritzi, and the rest of the gang that engage the learner with enjoyable themes, songs, and stories. It also features live, native-speaking adults and children so the child learning can hear the language spoken in complete sentences. This helps teach the structure and cadence of the language. The child learning the language learns the vocabulary by actually using it too. You can listen to a Spanish music sample here. The videos can be watched in any order, but recommended to be watched in order in which they were created if you have a child 3 and under and if you have a child older than 3, start with Adentro y Afuera, then circle back to the earlier videos. The videos were created in the following order from first to last: Los Animales, Vamos a Jugar, Adentro y Afuera, Las Estaciones, and La Fiesta de Fritzi. Each video focuses in depth on specific themes and vocabulary. All teach greetings, introductions, and numbers.

Some images from the Spanish DVD videos.

Whistlefritz Spanish Matching Cards are a set of 50 fun memory cards. These are made up of 25 cards with a match to themselves. These show a illustrated fox that has been drawn to be doing different commonly-used action words. At the bottom of each card is the action word or phrase in only Spanish. These cards introduce new vocabulary and reinforce words that are introduced in the DVDs, CDs, and Lesson Plans.

Zari found her first match!
  
How We Used This and Our Thoughts:
I used the Whistlefritz Spanish Educator's Collection with my daughter Zari who is 6 years old. She knew a bit of Spanish from me teaching her at home. I had taken 3 years of Spanish in high school and so I remembered how to pronounce the words well, but I was still not as fluent as I would have liked to be. I am glad we got this program to try together.

We started watching the videos first. We started with Adentro y Afuera like they suggested. Even though Zari can't read yet, I still thought it best to turn off the subtitles so that it could be viewed without translation. We found that this video was about directional terms, rooms in a home, and foods. The lady named Maria was trying to find the animated mouse named Fritzi with the help of children and audience. She also showed foods by asking a dog puppet what he liked to eat...then later she asked a mouse puppet, and in the credits a horse puppet. They are educational, fun, entertaining and Zari learned quite a bit while watching. I loved all of these. They are very pleasant and can be watched over and over for repetition without being irritating.

After we got done with the videos she did some lessons out of the lesson plan book. The first lesson she did had an activity to make a paper bag puppet and then make it say phrases in Spanish about personal identity and greetings that she learned in the lesson. Each lesson takes about 30-40 minutes depending upon if you do all the extension activities as well. These lessons had great hands-on activities and Zari liked the projects and playing the games and seemed to learn Spanish better when engaged with making and doing something with the vocabulary.

We also tried the matching cards out. First we set them all upside down on the table and she flipped two over trying to match them. Since there were 50 cards total it took a while for her to finish finding all the matches. She had fun anyway and as she matched up two cards together I would tell her the action on the cards reinforcing the learning from the videos and lesson plans.

I highly recommend this foreign language program. We love Whistlefritz! The Spanish Educator's Collection is great for teaching Spanish to children ages 1-7. These programs are a wonderful multicultural homeschool curriculum for a child to learn to be bilingual.

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whistlefritz @whistlefritz
Twitter: https://twitter.com/whistlefritz @Whistlefritz
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/whistlefritz
Hashtags: #hsreviews #spanish #secondlanguage

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Now you can purchase Whistlefritz Spanish Educator's Collection for $165.00! Save more than 20% (regularly $202.90) by ordering the Educator’s Spanish Collection of Spanish Lesson Plans for Kids + 5 Videos + 3CDs + Matching Cards!
Read other homeschool curriculum reviews for Whistlefritz...
Spanish and French {Whistlefritz Reviews}

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Thursday, October 27, 2016

Middlebury Interactive Languages Elementary Spanish 1: Grades K-2 Review


My family had the privilege of trying the Elementary Spanish 1: Grades K-2 from Middlebury Interactive Languages for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Middlebury Interactive Languages offers online world language courses for students in a classroom setting or homeschool. They offer courses in Spanish, French, Chinese and German in elementary, middle and high school. Course levels range from introductory through advanced. These courses are for one student to do and are yearly subscriptions that go a semester (about 6 months) at a time. Each semester for Middle School & High School consists of 18 weeks (90 days) of content. Each semester for grades K-2 consists of 35 days of content. Each semester for grades 3-5 consists of 45 days of content.

Elementary Spanish 1: Grades K-2 is one of the courses from Middlebury Interactive Languages. Other than Spanish they have Chinese and French for grades K-2. Elementary Spanish 1: Grades K-2 has twelve units total. Units one through five and seven through eleven have six lessons each. Units 6 and 12 are review for previous lessons. When your student finishes an activity it will automatically check mark it to show you where your student is in the program and what activities have been completed. There are Authentic Stories, Course Vocabulary (in both Spanish and English) & Songs and Translations as PDF files to download and print out. The lessons consist of: an introduction, parts to explore, warm ups, practices, speaking labs (these need a microphone), stories, find and color, review, where is/which has, coloring pages (to download and print), culture, songs, worksheets (to download and print), vocabulary, unit summaries, and quizzes & tests. Some lessons have places to click, drag and drop, interactive videos, videos to watch, and click to listen activities. There are places where the child can click to hear what is being asked or said. This is wonderful if the child doesn't read yet. If you start from the Home/Dashboard instead of the Table of Contents you can continue the course from where your student left off and see where your student is supposed to be in the course.

Above: Table of Contents, Below: Home/Dashboard (notice check marks indicating finished work)
  
Contents of Elementary Spanish 1: Grades K-2:
  • Unit 1: Greetings
  • Unit 2: Numbers
  • Unit 3: Family
  • Unit 4: Colors
  • Unit 5: School
  • Unit 6: Review of 1-5
  • Unit 7: Body
  • Unit 8: Animals
  • Unit 9: Calendar
  • Unit 10: Food
  • Unit 11: Descriptions
  • Unit 12: Review of 7-11

Zari watching Las manchas del ocelote for learning greetings in Spanish.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:
The Elementary Spanish 1: Grades K-2 program is a totally immersive Spanish language study. My daughter Zari who is in Kindergarten was able to do this even though she isn't reading yet.  We worked on this about 2-3 days a week or when ever we had some free time. She did fairly well with the instructions and understanding what to do. I love that it teaches the basics.

The lessons are short (about 15 minutes), interactive, and held my daughter's attention. The stories, songs, and  activities are done all in Spanish. If you want to know what the stories and songs are in English you have to download the PDF files. They have vocabulary words and phrases that you are supposed to look out for and learn. They tell you what these mean in English within the program as well as the PDF files to print. We made flash cards with the words and phrases that were being taught.

The stories and songs are fun animated videos that are spoken in Spanish. I liked to read the stories/songs in English to my daughter after they were told in Spanish within the program so that my daughter understood better what was going on. Before I read the English version I would ask her what she thought was going on.

Zari enjoyed learning Spanish with Middlebury Interactive Languages. The lessons are not difficult and after Zari got the directions down on how to use the mouse and microphone within the program she had no trouble with it on her own. She enjoyed working through the online lessons and always was enthusiastic about coming back and doing more.

Middlebury Interactive Languages has a lot of great online foreign language courses that meet multiple grades and levels. I love that they have so many to choose from. I highly recommend this Spanish Middlebury Interactive Languages course to anyone that homeschools or supplements their child's public education at home. This is a wonderful homeschool foreign language course!

BUY IT
Elementary Spanish 1: Grades K-2 is $238 without teacher support and $588 with teacher support for both semesters. You can also find other courses of Middlebury Interactive Languages in Spanish, French, Chinese and German in elementary, middle and high school with course levels ranging from introductory through advanced.

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Middlebury-Interactive-Languages-141015515949753/
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Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/middinteractive/
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Read other homeschool curriculum reviews for Middlebury Interactive Languages...
Spanish, French, German or Chinese {Middlebury Interactive Languages}

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Monday, September 12, 2016

Armfield Academic Press Getting Started with French Review


My family had the privilege of trying Getting Started with French from Armfield Academic Press for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Armfield Academic Press produces high-quality materials for learning language for homeschoolers and self-taught students of any age. They currently have curriculum for learning Latin, Spanish, French, and soon Russian. The books allow the student to go at their own pace in the comfort of their own home and don't require a teacher that specializes in the language to learn the language being taught. These beginning foreign language books give the student practice before mastering the ideas and moving on. They also have free downloadable audio recordings of pronunciations on their website so you can hear what the word or phrase is supposed to sound like in the language and orally say it back correctly and authors commentary lesson by lesson in case the student needs more help. This foreign language curriculum can be used with multiple students since it is non-consumable and requires no additional materials.

Getting Started with French is the newest foreign language program of study from Armfield Academic Press. It is written by William E. Linney and Brandon Simpson. It comes in a 281 page soft cover book. This book starts off with a preface that tells you about the book. Then it goes into an explanation of how to use the book. The lessons 1-172 are after that. Near the end it has some general advice, an answer key for easy checking of answers, a pronunciation guide, glossary, and subject index. The lessons are fairly short and don't take much time to do. The book refers to their website which has downloadable audio recordings with a native French speaker and the authors commentary.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

Ma famille apprend le français dans notre maison. (OK...so I might have cheated a little with this sentence on Google translation...I am just starting out with French after all.)

A little background...I took 3 years of Spanish in high school and lettered in language. My younger sister, Melody, on the other hand took French. Learning a foreign language was intriguing to me and since my father went on a Spanish speaking mission for our church when he was younger we could converse in Spanish around our home a little bit and . After taking Spanish and learning enough to get by when I traveled to Curacao in the Caribbean in college...even though it was a different dialect, I thought it would be neat to learn another language. I didn't really pursue that further until now.

My other children are learning Spanish this year...so I dove into the French myself. After I received the Getting Started with French from Armfield Academic Press I started the short lessons. I like how I don't have to spend a tremendous amount on each one because my time is precious and usually pulled fairly thin.  Each lesson can be completed in just a few minutes.

In Getting Started with French correct pronunciation is a huge part of learning to speak French properly. I found that with French their are sounds that I had never used before. These sounded unusual and unfamiliar to me. I went into my room to do the pronunciation part because I was a little embarrassed about my beginners accent and my kids were looking at me funny when I was making all these weird sounds with my mouth. I think the r sound was on of the hardest sounds for me to master. I was used to the English r sound and the Spanish r that rolled. This new r was a strange gurgling sound.

Getting Started with French Lesson 11.

I like that in the book they don't only teach pronunciation, but correct grammar in French as well. Not unlike other languages there are so many rules to remember, but this book goes and makes each a bite size piece that is not at all hard to handle. New words show up in the book in bold. The exercises in the book I both tried to pronounce to the best of my ability and translate them to the written English equivalent in a notebook as the book says to do. These exercises have the answers in the back of the book which also helped me see if I had gotten them correct.

It was important to follow the order and not skip around and I could understand why. Each lesson built upon the next which was very helpful to me and how I learn. The chronological order made sense.

The downloadable audio recordings have a native French speaker from Paris France saying the words and phrases learned in the book. The author commentary was a dialog between the author and Francois, a native French speaker. This further explained how and why things are pronounced the way they are. Both the pronunciation recordings and the author commentary comes in mp3 format so that you can either listen to it on your computer or take it with you on an mp3 player, thumb drive, or CD. This lets you learn the pronunciation of the language while you travel in the car too! Sometimes that was also where I practiced.

I believe that learning another language is very important. I know that many from other countries require learning English as a second language to their students. I believe that native English speakers should also learn other languages as part of their learning of different cultures and places.

The Getting Started with French course is perfect for those that want to teach themselves French. It is also wonderful for homeschooling as well. I recommend this homeschool foreign language curriculum to anyone. They are simple and straightforward. I can't wait to learn more!

BUY IT
You can order Getting Started with French here. You can also purchase Getting Started with Latin, Getting Started with Spanish now and soon Getting Started with Russian.

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArmfieldAcademicPress/
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Read other homeschool curriculum reviews for Armfield Academic Press Getting Started with French...
Introducing Getting Started with French {Armfield Academic Press}

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