Olim, Once Upon a Time, In Latin Reader III

We liked the setup of Olim, Once Upon a Time in Latin Reader and Workbook III. We have used several Latin studies and curriculums and this is a very easy to use way of studying Latin. The lessons are short, the stories are familiar, which makes reading them in Latin a little easier, and the guides are very user friendly, making it a very good Latin independent study. You do not have to have had prior Latin experience to work with this program.

The Reader III has two stories To Give Good to the 5000 (Cibum Dare Quinque Milibus) and The Lion and the Mouse (Leo et Mus). The Olim program works as the student reads the story first in English and then reads the Latin version. The English version is a simple version of the story, making the Latin translation easier to work through. Each story has pictures. All pages are in black and white. Pictures are simple and complimentary to the story.

Each Latin page has a list of vocabulary with their meaning in the margins as well as a key and a note of what Workbook Exercise corresponds with that part of the story, making it very easy to use for independent study. There is even a STOP sign at the bottom of the page to draw the student’s attention to the workbook assignment. The front of the Reader has a Latin pronunciation guide, a How to Use this Reader page, and a Roman numeral guide, which is very helpful.

I think this makes a wonderful complement to our classical studies and would like to see us use other books in the series. My daughter, who is 5th grade, liked that she could read a story in Latin after working through the lessons; she found this to be a satisfying accomplishment. She could do the lesson herself and, don’t worry mom and dad, the answer keys are in the back of the book so you can help out even if you are not up to speed on your Latin studies.

Tawnee H.