A Mom's Quest to Teach: Natural World in Latin – A Review of Picta Dicta

Roman Roads Media offers customers a classical education in their own home. What a great idea! While our family has been reviewing Picta Dicta – Natural World, there are many other great options for your family. From Introductory Logic (grades 7-12+), where the foundation is laid for reasoning and development of rational thought, to Fitting Words Classical Rhetoric which "instructs students in the art of classical rhetoric, providing them with tools of communication that will equip them for life" there are a number of choices to meet the needs of your family.

Our five-year-old son and I have been using Picta Dicta – Natural World to learn Latin over the past several weeks. It focuses upon vocabulary from the natural world like animals, plants, anatomy, insects, and geographical features. There are over 400 different words to learn and – depending upon which level one is using – students can learn both the English and Latin words and gain information about the vocabulary.

Picta Dicta is a self-paced online course with three different versions available

Natural World (which we are using)
Ancient World (which will be available soon)
Vocabulary Builder (please see review from other Crew Members to learn more)

Each student using the course needs a separate subscription to keep track of the student's progress. The lessons are customized, based upon how students answer the questions. As stated on the frequently asked questions section, there is not much need for parental involvement. I can even let our five-year-old work on the English activities by himself with no problem. (The Latin is still more difficult right now so we sit together to work on those activities.)

How the Lessons are Organized

Since we used Reader I and Express levels, I will focus upon those two parts of the Picta Dicta – Natural World. In general, the levels appear to be set up in a very similar fashion just with less emphasis on the English in the higher levels.

Reader I

The vocabulary is introduced via a set of 8 lessons.

Learn English
Article I – identifying the proper word with the correct fact
Learn Latin
Latin Picture – match the correct Latin name with the pictures
Choose English – selecting the correct English word for the picture and fact
Spell English
Choose Latin – selecting the correct Latin word for the picture and fact
Spell Latin

After the first two sets of words (Basic Animals and Fruits, Berries, and Nuts), there are a series of review exercises combing both sets of vocabulary. This pattern of reviewing the combined vocabulary continues throughout the course.

The first step is to learn the English vocabulary and some facts about the word.
The first Latin our son remembered was sus – pig.

Express

I am using the Express level and it focuses upon just the Latin through 3 lessons.

Learn Latin II
Latin Pictures II – match Latin vocab word to the picture
Spell Latin II

As you might surmise, the different levels provide simliar information based upon the level you have chosen and progresses to get more difficult as you move up to Express. The levels are as follows:

Basic
English I
Reader I
Reader II
Express
Teacher (which I just discovered during the weekend)

On this screen you see the specific chapters and the score after completing each chapter.

How We Are Using Natural World

While our five-year-old son is working through Reader I, I am using the Express level to learn new words. If I was the only one taking this course with the sole purpose of learning Latin, I would use a lower level because I find I am not retaining as much of the vocabulary I would like after three lessons on each set of words. Since I am working through the same set of words with our son, I am able to practice the words again and again as he completes his lessons with my help.

Learning Latin and facts about the fruit.

I think it is very important to place yourself or your children at a level that is best for you or your child. In other words, be honest with yourself. If you haven't studied Latin before, I recommend using one of the lower levels. For example, after I work through 26 sets of words, I will go back to one of the Reader Levels to re-focus myself. I would like to be able to remember the majority of the vocabulary exercised when I am finished using Picta Dicta – Natural World.

I have also incorporated the writing of the English version of the vocabulary into our Language Arts lessons. Our son has practiced his writing and reading using the words on a daily basis.

What We Like

I really like the design and set-up of the course. Each set of vocabulary, or chapter, is presented in several ways to encourage you to learn the words. For example, our son's is using Reader I level and one set of vocabulary is introduced and reviewed over the course of nine games or lessons. It moves through teaching the vocabulary in English and some facts about the vocab, to matching the English words and pictures, to learning the Latin, matching the Latin to the pictures, choosing and spelling the English words, choosing and then spelling the Latin words, and then a review of the Latin.

At the end of each game or lesson, you receive stars based upon your answering the questions correctly.

On the prior screen I was presented with the Latin word and now I need to pick the correct definition and picture.

I find that the repetition is what helps our son to best remember the words. As he is only five, I am helping him with the spelling (both of the English and Latin words). We are using both the online program and pencil and paper to work on the vocabulary.

The student is not just learning random words in a foreign language. There are facts presented and each set of vocabulary grouped together. I also like the fact that the user is learning to match up words, descriptions, and pictures.

I had difficulty with this set of vocabulary and our son just started it.
So many words to learn! So exciting!

I admit to having some difficulty setting up our account but I think that might have been due to user error – not a fault of the company. Once our account was set up, it was very easy to add our son as a second user with a learner profile. It is even easy to move between the different levels from Express to Basic and back to Express so I could show our three-year-old daughter the program (and so I could check out the lower levels myself).

Recommendation

I think Picta Dicta – Natural World would be a nice fit for any family wishing to learn more about the world around them. The information provided along with the Latin vocabulary make this a product that seems more than just a world language course. If our children wish to pursue learning more Latin, we will be sure to check out all the resources offered by Roman Roads Media.

If you would like to learn more, please visit the following:

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The Homeschool Review Crew had the opportunity to review Picta Dicta – Vocabulary Builder and Fitting Words Classical Rhetoric, please visit the rest of the Crew to see how they used these programs from Roman Roads Media.