Learn Latin With Picta Dicta From Roman Roads Media {Curriculum Review}

For the last few weeks, my family and I have had so much fun learning Latin! While we technically only had a subscription for just two of us to review Picta Dicta Natural World from Roman Roads Media, everyone in the house couldn’t help but get in on the fun. This was a brand new experience for us all as this was the first time we formally introduced any foreign language in our homeschool.

What Is Picta Dicta Natural World?

Picta Dicta Natural World is a digital resource for elementary-aged students to begin learning Latin. While this program does not teach the full language it aims to build a strong foundation. The program introduces your younger students to 400 nouns, items they are most likely already familiar with, and is great for both visual and auditory learners. Users log in and are shown an image, both the English and the Latin word, and most importantly, they can hear the word. Through this program you see, hear, and say both Latin and English words building connections and starting your younger learners out with success.

How We Used Picta Dicta

The program itself was easy to set up and start. After logging into our account we could simply resume our progress. Picta Dicta offers various levels from early readers all the way up through advanced. I actually started at a higher level then eased back a little.

I started this program before my son did. He’s in the third grade and this was new to him. I wanted to have an idea of how the program worked and how to use it before I set him up. The first night I started with basic animals. I was introduced to the Latin word for animals such as pig, donkey, horse, cow, bull, sheep, and a few more. Along with the animals, many of them had a story or short explanation about them. Not all English words translate to Latin 100%, and vice versa, so these extra pieces of information help give the learner a better idea of the context of the word.

I sat down thinking this was going to be super easy. The first round of words only contained six or so, and by the end of the first lesson I was up to 15. I had also earned just one star and successfully failed my first lesson.

Continuing On

Immediately I was reminded of struggling through those first few weeks of high school Spanish many years ago. After that first lesson, I realized that this was going to be much harder than I thought.

The following day I set out to retry the lesson. I had no interest in moving on to a new set of words. I wasn’t looking for perfect, but certainly knew I could do better. Determined, I tried it again and again earned just one star.  At this point, my oldest son, who was not technically participating in this review was quite interested. What was this product that had Mommy so stumped??

Intrigued, he watched me the following day as I again went through the first lesson. That younger brain is well-suited to learning new things and with his help, I earned all five stars (the best you can earn). Granted, I would not have actually earned the five starts on my own, but I was slowly learning through the repetition. Through seeing the images, hearing the words, and saying them I was grasping this more and more with each try.

Time To Start A New Learner

After having a few days to work with the program, and seeing how easy it was to both use and navigate, I decided it was time to get my third grader going. I honestly had no idea how he was going to do with this program, but he was excited to start. His first lesson was the same as mine, although slightly easier because he was at a lower level. However, he was learning all the same words as I was.

Surprisingly he did quite well and was pretty proud of himself for that achievement! I quickly realized that a slight competition was brewing in my household – all the kids were out to beat me whether they were officially on this review or not.

What Are We Learning With Picta Dicta?

Picta Dicta Natural World is all about the nouns. With this program, you are learning items you are most likely pretty familiar with. The program starts with animals, followed by fruits, berries, and nuts, and continues with anatomy, landforms and terrain, and more. Included are built in reviews that give the learners the opportunity to test their memory and retention.

More importantly, though, we are building that foundation for learning a foreign language. Exposing our children to a new and different skill. And, of course, teaching our children that you are never too old to learn something new!

What Did We Think?

Personally, we loved Picta Dicta! This program was fun, easy to use, and engaging. Even struggling to actually remember the words, or finding myself more confused at the end of a lesson than I was at the beginning, it was a great experience. At no point did I feel that this program was too hard for my children, who repeatedly performed better than I did. The ability to redo the lessons until you are ready to move on, combined with multiple reviews give you ample opportunity to truly learn the material. And the ability to customize the learner’s level makes sure that young learners can be successful.

If you are looking to add foreign languages studies in your homeschool, I think Picta Dicta from Roman Roads Media is a great way to go!

Ready To Try Roman Roads?

To check out the full Picta Dicta Natural World program, or learn more, visit the Roman Roads Media website. You can also find them on social media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RomanRoadsMedia
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/romanroadsmedia/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/romanroadsmedia
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/romanroadsmedia