Within the last few years, we've added Latin to our homeschool curriculum, much to the delight of my daughters, ha. We have a curriculum that we've been using that we love, but I'm never one to turn down an opportunity to add a supplement that may help us in our lessons. Roman Roads Media graciously provided us with one of their programs to review, Picta Dicta Vocabulary Builder . I say supplement, but this is no lightweight resource.
This self paced program is appropriate for junior high, high school, college, and adult students. You can expect to learn to read and comprehend over 1,000 vocabulary words in this course. It has been designed to work for students with varying learning styles, as it implements seeing, speaking, and hearing in its lessons.
The creators of this program have made it very easy to set up. There is an easy level, and a normal level, which is a little more advanced. Once you have your students signed up, and logged in, their progress is displayed on the screen. The program records their information, so they will simply click the icon at the top right of their page, and pick up at the last lesson completed. There are a few steps involved in completing a chapter. They are, learn, choose, spell, forms, and test forms. All of these steps need to be finished before moving on to the next. The first, Learn, is where a series of vocabulary words are introduced, only about five at a time. For each word, the picture is displayed, spoken, and used in a sentence. The next page quizzes the student to see if they can remember the word and the correlating picture by choosing from a series of pictures.
After "Learn", students move on to "Choose". This is where they will need to remember the word and its meaning, because they will choose from a series of pictures and select the correct one. It sounds simple, but it's challenging. Following this level is "Spell". This is where, you guessed it I'm sure, you'll spell the words that you've learned. The picture is presented on the first page, and you spell it on the next. Before the chapter test, you'll work through the "Forms" section. This is where the variations of the vocabulary words are practiced. Again, they are simple, but challenging. In order to move on to a different level, the prior one must be completed. No line jumping! But, you can redo a level if you aren't please with your progress. I've done that, as have my two daughters, who have been working through this with me.
Each lesson is graded with stars, ranging from 1 to 5. As you work through each page, you'll also see the current percentage that has been earned. It's a very easy to follow program. Instructions are offered at the beginning of each section, so you'll know what to do. You should plan on working through this at least three times a week.
The three of us, that is, me, my 12 year old, and my 14 year old, have been working through the "Normal" level of this program, averaging 3 days a week, although my 12 year old has done a little more than that. Personally, I love learning languages, as does my 12 year old, so we've enjoyed this program a lot. It's challenging, but very enjoyable. My 14 year old is not as much of a fan of well, most language curriculum, so as I expected, she was more neutral on the program, but did say that as programs go, it was alright. Thanks for the lengthy comments, sweetie, lol.
Thoughts from my 12 year old:
" I love this program! I love the format. It doesn't flood you with too much information at a time. There is a little bit of information learned, and then a quiz. I learn more that way. I like the colorful pictures. The voice of the narrator is great, but I wish it was a girl. I really like this program."
As I wrap up, I'll say that this is a fantastic program, and I love it. I Agree with my 12 year old, the way that the material is presented in small bites is ideal for maximum retention. Now that the school year is underway for us, I'll be increasing the amount of time that we work on the lessons. I know that my 40 something brain needs more frequent exposure to the content. You can use this as a stand alone course, or in partnership with the Latin curriculum of your choice. A great pick all, around, check it out!
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