Dwane Thomas speaks Latin and Greek, German, Spanish, French, and Italian.
I mention that not to impress you, but because it tells you something important about what Latin does for a person. Dwane didn’t arrive at six languages despite studying Latin — he arrived there because of it. Once you truly understand Latin, it changes the way you see every other language you’ll ever encounter.
A student who has wrestled seriously with Latin doesn’t just know Latin. He or she starts to see the architecture underneath language itself — the skeleton that holds English and Spanish and French and Italian together. She begins to understand why words work the way they do. In a real sense, she becomes a young linguist.
Dwane puts it this way: “After pumping iron, lifting a salad fork is pretty easy.” Learn Latin well, and every other language you encounter will feel lighter in your hands.
That is what Latin is for. Not a line on a transcript, not a box checked on the path to college admissions — a doorway into the logic of human language, one that opens onto a world of linguistic understanding unavailable any other way.
Here’s the complication, though. Latin has to be loved before it can be learned — and most programs aren’t designed to do that.
Latin has earned its reputation for burying students in declension tables and vocabulary drills before they’ve felt the joy of reading it. Many curricula — rigorous, well-respected curricula — manage to make Latin feel more like a punishment than a privilege. And children who experience Latin that way don’t become linguists. They become the adults who mention, apologetically, that they tried Latin once.
When you sit down to choose a Latin curriculum, the real question isn’t which program is most complete. It’s which one will give your child a genuine love for the language. True learning, after all, is really about the joy of discovering new things in God’s world.
In this article:
- What Latin actually does for a child
- The biggest mistake in teaching Latin to kids
- What to look for in a Latin curriculum
- The main Latin curriculum options compared
- How Visual Latin is different — and why it was designed that way
- Visual Latin isn’t just a video course — it’s a Latin classroom
- Visual Latin 1 and Visual Latin 2
- Latin on your homeschool transcript
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Give your child a love for Latin
1. What Latin actually does for a child
Cicero, the most famous Roman orator, explained it clearly: “A mind without instruction can no more bear fruit than a field, however fertile, without cultivation.” Latin is that cultivation — one of the most thoroughgoing forms of it available to a homeschooling family.
The most obvious payoff is vocabulary. Latin roots underlie more than half of the English language and nearly all scientific, medical, and academic vocabulary. A student who knows the roots doesn’t memorize words — he decodes them. He encounters cardiovascular and already knows that cor means heart and vasculum means vessel. He reads benevolent and sees bene (good) and volo (I wish). The vocabulary advantage is real, and it compounds quietly over years of reading and study. If you want to go further with this — building on Latin and Greek roots to unlock hundreds of English words — our Word Up! course was designed for that purpose.
But the deeper gift of Latin is harder to name. Latin teaches students how language is structured at its foundations. When a student has to think carefully about why a word changes form depending on its role in a sentence — whether it’s the subject, the object, the possessor, or the indirect recipient — English grammar stops being mysterious. Rules stop feeling arbitrary. Things that seemed like random exceptions start making sense. One mother put it simply:
“Our English program never gave a good explanation for the difference between linking and helping verbs. Dwane’s explanation helped my kids have an ‘aha’ moment.”
Dana
And then there’s the long-term academic picture. Latin has the highest documented correlation with SAT verbal scores of any single subject. That’s not a marketing claim — it’s a research finding worth knowing. And, yes, we do think standardized tests should go away. But until they do, a higher ACT score is worth tens of thousands of dollars in scholarship money at many colleges and universities.
2. The biggest mistake in teaching Latin to kids
Most Latin programs are built for knowledge transmission, not joyful engagement.
That sounds like a small distinction. It isn’t. A program built for knowledge transmission prioritizes rigor, thoroughness, and correct grammatical sequencing — all admirable things. The problem is that this approach often front-loads so much grammar drilling and paradigm memorization before students touch real Latin text that many children lose heart along the way. They spend months learning about Latin before they get to do Latin. A discouraging number give up before they arrive.
Dwane Thomas has taught Henle Latin for years — he was asked to teach it by parents whose kids were struggling to get through the book. He knows the program well and respects what it accomplishes in the hands of the right student with the right support. From long experience, he says plainly that it is painful for many students to complete — not because they lack ability, but because the road to reading Latin is so long and unglamorous that the love gets squeezed out before the skill has a chance to grow.
A rigorous program that gets abandoned teaches nothing. The hardest thing about Latin isn’t the grammar. It’s keeping a child engaged long enough for the grammar to matter.
One family said it better than I could:
“My daughter used Henle for 3 years and hated Latin. We switched to Visual Latin this year and she has learned so much — and enjoyed it. Right from lesson one.”
Heather B.
3. What to look for in a Latin curriculum
Before comparing specific programs, it helps to have a few good questions in hand. These are the three I’d encourage every family to ask.
Will this program make my child want to come back tomorrow? This isn’t a soft question — it’s the foundational one. Engagement isn’t a nice extra; it’s the prerequisite for everything else. A student who loves her Latin lessons will learn more Latin in a year than a reluctant student will learn in three.
Do I need to know Latin to use this? Most Christian homeschool mothers never studied Latin, and there’s no shame in that. Whether a program requires a Latin-fluent parent at the table isn’t a minor logistical detail — it’s often the difference between a family that sticks with Latin and one that quietly sets it aside by November.
When does my student first read real Latin? Some programs treat reading as the reward earned after months of drilling. Others begin there. That philosophical difference reveals a great deal about what a program values — and what your student’s first year will feel like.
4. The main Latin curriculum options compared
There are several serious Latin programs available to homeschooling families. Here’s an honest look at each one in relationship to Visual Latin — what each program does well, where it differs, and which kind of student and family it serves best.
Memoria Press (Prima Latina → Latina Christiana → First Form → Henle)
What it is: Memoria Press offers the most complete Latin pathway in the homeschool market, spanning from early elementary through high school. The sequence moves from Prima Latina (grades 1–2) through Latina Christiana and First Form Latin, and eventually into Henle for the high school years. First Form is widely considered the most parent-friendly program in the series — structured and incremental, with built-in review at every stage. Henle Latin has been a standard in classical and Catholic schools for decades and is the required text for Classical Conversations Challenge families.
The approach throughout is grammar-first. Students master declensions, conjugations, and grammatical forms in a carefully sequenced progression before they encounter extended authentic Latin text. The program assumes that rigorous command of the grammar must come before real reading can begin.
How it compares to Visual Latin: The core difference is philosophical. Memoria Press believes students earn the right to read Latin by mastering the grammar first. Visual Latin believes students fall in love with Latin by reading it from the beginning. Neither position is unreasonable — they reflect genuinely different views of how language learning works.
In practical terms: Memoria Press requires a parent who is either Latin-literate or willing to learn ahead of the student. It rewards families who thrive in structured, sequential, teacher-led instruction. Visual Latin is fully self-directed; the video instruction is complete, and parents need no Latin background whatsoever.
Choose Memoria Press if: Your family is deeply committed to the classical grammar-translation tradition, you are enrolled in Classical Conversations and need Henle alignment, or you have a parent who knows Latin and wants to teach it directly.
Choose Visual Latin if: You are starting Latin fresh in middle or high school, you want your student to work independently, or your primary goal is to give your child a love for Latin before drilling the full grammar sequence.
Latin for Children (Classical Academic Press)
What it is: Latin for Children is a video-assisted program for upper elementary through middle school students, typically grades 3–6. Known for its catchy chants, colorful workbooks, and engaging presentation, it uses a grammar-based approach with strong emphasis on memorization through song and repetition. The series transitions into Latin Alive! for middle and high school students.
How it compares to Visual Latin: Both programs use video instruction and emphasize engagement, but they differ in age range, structure, and reading philosophy. Latin for Children is designed for younger students and relies on parent facilitation; Visual Latin is designed for students ages 10 and up and is fully self-directed. Latin for Children builds toward reading through grammar mastery; Visual Latin puts students in front of real Latin text from lesson one.
Choose Latin for Children if: You have a student in 3rd through 5th grade beginning Latin early, or you are already using Classical Academic Press materials and want curriculum continuity.
Choose Visual Latin if: Your student is 10 or older, you want a fully independent program, or you want her translating real Latin from the very first lesson.
Henle Latin / Classical Conversations
What it is: Henle Latin is a rigorous, grammar-translation textbook written by Father Robert Henle, S.J., first published in 1945. It is the standard Latin text for Classical Conversations Challenge A and B. Henle First Year covers all major Latin grammar systematically, moving students through extensive translation exercises drawn from classical and ecclesiastical Latin sources. The program assumes significant parent involvement — either from a Latin-literate parent or from the CC community structure, where students work through the material with a trained tutor.
How it compares to Visual Latin: Henle and Visual Latin represent opposite ends of the Latin pedagogy spectrum. Henle prioritizes grammatical completeness and rigorous translation discipline. Students who finish Henle First Year have a thorough command of Latin grammar — but the road to that point is long and, for many students, deeply discouraging. Dwane Thomas taught Henle for years. He respects what it accomplishes. He also says plainly that it is painful for many students to complete.
Visual Latin prioritizes early success and sustained engagement. Students read and translate real Latin from lesson one, building confidence before the full grammar weight arrives. The tradeoff is that Visual Latin is less grammatically exhaustive than Henle in the short term. The payoff is that students finish — and finish loving Latin.
It is also worth noting that Visual Latin leads directly into Henle. Many families use Visual Latin 1 and 2 as the on-ramp that makes Henle manageable. Students who have spent two years reading and translating Vulgate Latin arrive at Henle with the confidence and foundation to handle its demands. Dwane has written a scope and sequence that links Visual Latin directly to Henle, mapping exactly where students are in the Latin grammar when they finish Visual Latin 2 and how to step into Henle from there. Compass Classroom provides it free to any family making that transition.
Choose Henle / CC if: Your student is already enrolled in Classical Conversations Challenge, you have a CC community for accountability and tutoring support, or your student has already built a strong Latin foundation and is ready for graduate-level rigor.
Choose Visual Latin if: Your student is beginning Latin without a CC community, you want two years of credit-bearing Latin that builds genuine love for the language, or you plan to use Visual Latin as the foundation before moving into Henle at the high school level.
5. How Visual Latin is different — and why it was designed that way
Most Latin programs treat reading as a destination — something students earn. After the declension tables are memorized, after the verb conjugations are drilled, after months of carefully sequenced grammar instruction, then students finally get to read real Latin. The reading waits at the end of a long road.
Visual Latin was built on a different premise: a child who loves Latin will learn far more of it than one who merely tolerates it. Enjoyment isn’t the reward for getting through the hard parts. It’s the engine that makes the whole thing run.
Dwane Thomas spent years watching students struggle through programs that treated engagement as something pleasant but not essential. Visual Latin is his considered, deliberate response to what he saw.
Now, Dwane happens to be genuinely funny — not “curriculum funny,” where a teacher smiles warmly at a grammar table, but funny in the real sense. The kind of funny where students rewatch lessons because they want to hear the joke again, where vocabulary sticks because it arrived attached to something that made them laugh. Families regularly report that Latin becomes the favorite subject of the school day. Mary Poppins had the right instinct: a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. In Visual Latin, it’s closer to the whole cup — and the medicine, it turns out, is quite good.
“After watching just a few videos, my son went from complaining about having to learn Latin to Latin being his favorite subject. He thinks Dwane is a ‘funny guy’ and that learning Latin is fun.”
Lori
Three videos. Three worksheets. One complete lesson.
Every lesson in Visual Latin follows the same six-part structure. The sequencing is intentional — and different from anything else in the homeschool market.
Video A — Grammar. Dwane introduces one grammar concept, explained clearly and with humor woven throughout. Not a table full of new material — one concept, approached so that students understand it rather than merely survive it.
Worksheet A. The student practices that concept on paper immediately, while it’s still fresh. Not next week, and not after a month of drilling — right now, in the same sitting, before the lesson moves on.
Video B — Sentences. The same grammar concept reappears, this time in practice sentences. Students see the grammar working in real language before moving forward.
Worksheet B. Written sentence practice reinforcing what they’ve just watched.
Video C — Reading. This is where Visual Latin parts ways most clearly with every other Latin program available to homeschoolers. From lesson one, students watch Dwane read from a simplified version of the Latin Vulgate — Old Testament Scripture in Latin — and then translate it themselves. Real text. Real Latin. Lesson one.
Worksheet C — Translation. The student translates the same passage in writing, completing the work begun in the video.
The lesson moves constantly — grammar, immediate practice, sentences, written reinforcement, real reading, translation — with no single segment long enough to lose a middle schooler’s attention. Every lesson ends with a student having translated actual Latin Scripture. That experience of early, genuine success is not incidental to the design. It is the design.
After thirty days of this structure, one family shared what their student was able to translate:
“Est dies septimus. Caeli et terra sunt perfecti. Opus Dei est completus. Deus est laetus…”
Compare this to what was being translated after nearly a year with a different program — simple sentences about Lavinia on the farm.
That’s not a small difference. It’s the difference between a student still trudging toward Latin and one who is already doing it.
Why the Old Testament?
The choice to use simplified Vulgate text is intentional on two levels.
The first reason is theological. The Latin Vulgate is the Bible of the Western Church — Jerome’s 4th-century translation that shaped Western civilization’s language, liturgy, and literature for over a thousand years. When students translate it, they’re not merely practicing Latin. They’re entering a living tradition, reading the very text the Western Church has prayed, sung, and studied across sixteen centuries.
The second reason is pedagogical, and equally important: the students already know these stories.
Genesis, the Psalms, the early narratives of Scripture — your children have been hearing these at church and at home since they were small. That prior knowledge is a genuine learning accelerator. When a student already knows the story, he can use context to decode the Latin faster, confirm guesses more confidently, and experience real comprehension rather than mechanical guessing. He isn’t just translating. He’s recognizing — and recognition builds confidence in a way that drilling abstract paradigms cannot. Confidence, over time, builds love.
Early success was the design. All of it — the structure, the humor, the Vulgate text — was designed to produce that moment when a student realizes she can do this.
6. Visual Latin isn’t just a video course — it’s a Latin classroom
Most Latin curricula hand you a book, a set of DVDs, and a teacher’s guide. Visual Latin is built differently.
When a student enrolls, she enters a complete online learning environment in Compass Classroom’s learning management system. Each lesson includes the three instructional videos, interactive Tashcard flashcard sets for vocabulary practice, repeatable quizzes reinforcing what students have just learned, PDF worksheets and answer keys, and an audio pronunciation resource — all in one place, in sequence, ready when your student is. There’s no hunting for materials, no managing separate files. The student opens the next lesson and everything she needs is there.
Before you spend a dollar, try it. Compass Classroom offers four complete free sample lessons — more than 12 videos — inside the actual learning platform, exactly as enrolled students experience it. Not a YouTube clip, but the real course in the real environment. That’s the best answer to the question every parent is asking: will my child love this?
And then there’s the community, which is worth describing because it’s genuinely unusual.
Every enrolled student receives free access to the Visual Latin 1 and Visual Latin 2 student groups on My Compass Classroom — an active online community where students ask questions, work through tricky passages together, and discuss the Latin they’re encountering in their Vulgate readings. The groups are facilitated by experienced Latin students who know the language and love it.
One student, on lesson 13, wrote this in the community forum:
“Yesterday I read Genesis 1 in the Vulgate. My vocabulary isn’t quite good enough yet, but I can get the gist now. I’m really benefiting from the class.”
John Hayden, Visual Latin 1 student community
Another family shared something that captures the spirit of what Visual Latin is trying to produce:
“My daughter woke up early and translated Psalm 19 into Latin just for fun. My 5-year-old now asks if the dog is good — in Latin. They’re using the language outside of school, just for kicks.”
Tamara T.
That is what a love of language looks like in a home. That’s the young linguist.
7. Visual Latin 1 and Visual Latin 2
Visual Latin 1 covers lessons 1 through 30. Students ages 10 and up earn one full high school foreign language credit. Each lesson includes three short instructional videos, a 252-page PDF workbook, weekly quizzes, Quizlet flashcard sets, interactive Tashcard vocabulary practice, and 18 months of streaming access from the date of purchase.
Visual Latin 2 picks up at lesson 31 and continues through lesson 60, following the same six-part structure. Together, Visual Latin 1 and 2 provide two full high school foreign language credits — the standard expectation for college admissions. Both courses are self-paced. A student beginning in 6th grade can complete both credits before 9th grade, freeing up the high school years for additional languages or advanced coursework.
For students who want to continue further — reading Caesar, Cicero, or Virgil in the original — Visual Latin 2 leads naturally into Henle Latin. Compass Classroom provides a free Visual Latin/Lingua Latina Teaching Guide for that transition.
“Children are able to complete lessons on their own and require very little support on my end.”
Abihake
Who is Dwane Thomas?
Dwane Thomas grew up in Europe, surrounded by German and languages that weren’t his own. He has been teaching Latin in classrooms and online for nearly 30 years — and he speaks six languages, which is itself the most honest credential he could offer. His method combines the best of the natural and grammar-translation approaches, which means students learn to read Latin rather than simply conjugate it.
Visual Latin uses ecclesiastical pronunciation throughout — the pronunciation of the Western Church, the tradition students enter when they open the Vulgate. A brief explanatory video on the course page walks families through the difference between ecclesiastical and classical pronunciation.
“My son’s SAT verbal score went up 100 points in a few months. The only change we made was some Visual Latin — and we hadn’t gone far, either.”
Visual Latin parent
8. Latin on your homeschool transcript
A few practical notes for families thinking about credits and college preparation.
Visual Latin 1 earns one full high school foreign language credit; Visual Latin 1 and 2 together earn two — the standard college admissions expectation. Most colleges want to see two years of a single language, and VL1 and VL2 fulfill that clearly. Students beginning in 5th or 6th grade can finish both credits before high school begins, freeing the transcript for additional languages or more advanced work.
9. Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to know Latin to teach Visual Latin?
No — and this is one of the things families appreciate most. The video instruction is complete; Dwane is the teacher. Your role is light oversight, not instruction in a language you never studied. Many families find that moms learn Latin alongside their students, which turns out to be one of the unexpected pleasures of the program.
What age can students start?
Ages 10 and up. The course works well for upper elementary, middle school, and high school students. Most homeschool families begin in 5th through 7th grade.
How does Visual Latin handle pronunciation?
Dwane uses ecclesiastical pronunciation — the pronunciation of the Western Church and the Latin liturgical tradition. A brief video on the course page explains the difference between ecclesiastical and classical pronunciation and why Visual Latin uses the former.
Does Visual Latin count for high school credit?
Yes. Visual Latin 1 earns one high school foreign language credit; Visual Latin 1 and 2 together earn two. Some families supplement with Lingua Latina for additional contact hours; Compass provides a free guide for doing so.
How does Visual Latin compare to Memoria Press for a student starting in middle school?
Both are solid programs. Memoria Press follows a rigorous grammar-first sequence that has served many families well, particularly those in Classical Conversations who benefit from built-in community and curriculum alignment. Visual Latin gets students reading real Latin text from lesson one, requires no Latin background from the parent, and is built around engagement as a foundational priority. For most middle school families starting Latin fresh, Visual Latin is the more accessible and sustainable on-ramp — with a clear path to Henle for students who want to continue.
Can Visual Latin be used in a co-op?
Yes, with group licensing. Each family or student needs a copy; contact Compass Classroom for group licensing options.
What is included in the free sample lessons?
Four complete lessons — more than 12 videos — inside the actual Compass Classroom learning platform. This includes the instructional videos, vocabulary practice, and quizzes. It is the real course, not a highlight reel.
What is the student community, and is it included with purchase?
Every enrolled student receives free access to the Visual Latin 1 or Visual Latin 2 student group on My Compass Classroom — an active online community with experienced facilitators who know Latin and love it. It’s included at no additional cost.
10. Give your child a love for Latin
The families who stick with Latin — whose children translate Psalms on Saturday mornings because they want to, whose younger siblings wander in asking how to say things in Latin — aren’t necessarily those who found the most complete program. They’re the ones who found a teacher their children genuinely wanted to return to.
That is what Dwane Thomas has spent thirty years building, one lesson at a time.
If you’d like to see it for yourself, we invite you to try four free lessons inside our learning platform. You’ll get a real sense of the course, of Dwane’s teaching, and of whether it’s the right fit for your family — before spending a penny.
→ Try Free Lessons — Visual Latin 1
→ See the Visual Latin 1 + 2 Bundle
And if building your student’s English vocabulary alongside Latin sounds appealing — which, after a few lessons with Dwane, it very likely will — take a look at Word Up!, our Latin and Greek roots vocabulary course. Same teacher, same philosophy, a natural companion to everything Visual Latin begins.
Latin is one of God’s great gifts to education. We hope your children learn to love it as much as we do.
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