Our family follows a classical model for educating our children. With this style of learning comes the study of Latin. The thought of studying Latin may make you quiver with fear. But it doesn’t have to when you have a great guide to follow. You may be thinking why study a dead language? Latin is alive every day in our lives so let me tell you about this program and tell you how Latin’s Not So Tough to learn.

Our package of new Latin books came in a heavy box. Too my surprise the box was jammed packed with Levels 1-6 of the Latin’s Not So Tough program. Each of the books are softcover, spiral bound books. All of the levels are easily identifiable because they are color-coded with a thick stripe on the front cover. Typically, each leveled set includes a full text answer key, student workbook, quizzes and exams book, and flashcards on a ring. We received this full set for levels 1-3, along with the Pronunciation CD for Levels 1-3.

Level 1 of this program is for the very young students. Older children learning Latin could start at Level 2 or Level 3 if they already know the Latin Alphabet, diphthongs, and special consonant sounds. This program has a gentle approach to learning this fascinating language and brings it to life from lesson 1. 

Each Level covers the following topics:

Level 1 - Latin alphabet, diphthongs, special consonants

Level 2 - Latin alphabet, diphthongs, special consonants taught at a higher teaching style for older students

Level 3 - First declension nouns, second declension (-us and -ius) nouns, three special case uses, first conjugation verbs, and present active indicative

Level 4 - All cases of the five Latin declensions, additional special case uses, present active indicative of the four Latin conjugations, principal parts, macrons, syllables, accents, and question formation

Level 5 - Adjectives of the first and second declensions, adjectives of the third declension, additional special case uses, propositions, adverbs, substantive use of adjectives, translating and writing Latin sentences

Level 6 - Infinitives, personal pronouns, cardinal numerals, ordinal numerals, special case uses, passive voice, imperfect tense, future tense, and translating and writing Latin sentences         

Each level of the curriculum is reasonably priced with the lower levels beginning at just $41.40 and progressing up to $69.40 for the highest level of the curriculum Level 6.

This Latin curriculum is the perfect starting point for anyone looking to add Latin to your student’s curriculum lineup. Teaching Latin with a classical pronunciation students will progress through the program on a page-by-page basis rather than progressing through weekly lessons. 

• Level 1: 104 student pages; 28 lessons
• Level 2: 144 student pages; 30 lessons
• Level 3 through Level 6: 170 student pages; 36 lessons

I was able to use levels 1, 3, and 5 with three of my daughters aged 7, 10, and 14 respectively.  My 7-year old first grader is the only one of the three to have no formal Latin experience besides what she would hear from her older sisters’ studies over the years. Level 1 was a perfect starting point for her. My 10-year old 4th grader has had previous Latin instruction so I just looked at where she has left off in her studies. With my 14-year old, 8th grader we were able to slide her seamlessly into the Level 5 set after taking an online Latin program.

Latin’s Not So Tough is a do the next page type of program so that’s what we did. We would do one page and then progress to the next one the next day. Built in review is provided with helpful reminders to practice the flashcards daily. A feature myself and my girls enjoyed.

Overall, we have truly enjoyed a change of pace to our current Latin studies using Latin’s Not So Tough! It gave us a chance to learn Latin in a different format. My girls enjoyed the short daily lessons instead of weekly lessons of our previous program. I will say that switching from an ecclesiastic translation to classical was a bit challenging for pronunciation for my two older girls but we were able to make due. It did not affect my first grader at all. If you are looking for a full Latin curriculum that makes learning Latin fun then definitely check out Latin’s Not So Tough for your youngest of students on up.

-Product review by Jacquelin Caffey, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, May, 2017