Curriculum Overview
Elementa offers schools and homeschool families the opportunity to incorporate Latin into literacy instruction in the classroom. The curriculum is flexible as a supplement to current English classes or as an independent and robust Latin program building the foundations for exploring both modern and ancient world languages.
Elementa teaches the basics of Latin grammar and vocabulary in a way that provides students with the tools to improve their mastery of English and Spanish–and other languages! An equally crucial goal of the curriculum is to expose students to Roman history, culture and mythology and inspire their curiosity for the ancient world at large.
Through beautiful print textbooks and workbooks, students explore the basics of the Latin language with interactive and engaging lessons. Our teacher’s manual and materials features classroom activities with Latin vocabulary and grammar as well as Roman history and mythology. In addition, our online courses provide access to a rich and immersive online media experience, including professionally produced videos, animations, presentations, and audio recordings.
Elementa: Foundations for Latin Textbook
3rd Edition Now Available!
A student textbook emphasizing the basics of English grammar and Latin vocabulary in such a way that provides students with tools to improve their language skills. An equally crucial goal of the textbook is to expose students to Roman culture and mythology, inspiring their curiosity for the ancient world.
The third edition offers a range of improvements in lessons, graphics, and new sections for common Latin phrases.
$30 paperback (ISBN: 978-1-7374006-3-9)
$40 hardback (ISBN: 978-1-7374006-8-4)
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Elementa: Foundations for Latin Workbook (NEW)
The Elementa: Foundations for Latin Student Workbook is a new spiral-bound companion to the 3rd edition of the Elementa: Foundations for Latin Textbook. (Unlike previous editions, which were consumable textbooks, this is a separate workbook.) It includes guided notes, additional exercises, space for textbook answers, review activities, and vocabulary organizers.
$25 spiral-bound (ISBN: 979-8-9952790-1-3)
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Elementa: Next Steps in Latin Textbook
Elementa: Next Steps in Latin is the sequel to the first book in the series, Elementa: Foundations for Latin. While the first book focuses on basic building blocks of language and Roman mythology, this sequel progresses with lessons focused on more intermediate Latin grammar and historical figures in Roman history. It also features a comic in Latin, following characters from ancient Ostia. With a built-in review for each lesson from Foundations, it is possible for students to start with Next Steps.
$30 paperback (ISBN: 979-8-9889071-7-6)
$40 hardback (ISBN: 979-8-9889071-8-3)
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Elementa: Next Steps in Latin Workbook (NEW)
The Elementa: Next Steps in Latin Workbook is a spiral-bound companion to the 2nd edition of the Elementa: Next Steps in Latin Textbook. Designed to support and reinforce learning, the workbook provides guided notes and additional practice for grammar lessons, along with dedicated space for reading comprehension responses, Mens Sana short essays, story translations, and other activities. The appendix also includes primary source texts presented in an accessible, student-friendly format.
$25 spiral-bound (ISBN: 979-8-9952790-0-6)
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Support For Teachers
Elementa was written for teachers, by teachers, with the goal that any teacher, whether or not they are trained in Latin, can use the curriculum in their classroom. Daily support for instruction with Elementa includes the print Teacher’s Manual, the Elementa Teacher’s Materials kit, and additional digital resources designed to seamlessly complement the print textbooks.
The Paideia Institute is also happy to provide pedagogical training seminars for teachers or homeschool parents seeking additional guidance on the Elementa curriculum, foreign language instruction, and introducing Latin to younger learners. Training sessions are designed on a case-by-case basis to meet the specific needs of every teacher, student group, and learning environment. If you are interested in scheduling a teacher training seminar, you can get in touch with us at [email protected].
Foundations for Latin Teacher's Manual
The Teacher’s Manual contains 150+ entirely scripted lessons, instructions for creative games, and conversational activities. Whether it’s your first year teaching or your 25th, the Teacher’s Manual is designed to save teachers time and increase efficiency through pre-designed lessons and activities. For example, every lesson has a bell-ringer and exit question, suggested activities, and even strategies for how to adjust for different class sizes or material availability. The theme of the teacher’s manual is flexibility. Lesson plans are organized in a “choose your own adventure” itinerary. If you teach Latin just once per week, you can rely on the 34 core lesson plans. But if your Latin classes meet more frequently, you can expand with relevant content using any of the 136 extension lesson plans! $75 (ISBN: 978-1-7374006-6-0)
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Next Steps in Latin Teacher's Manual
The Elementa II Teacher’s Manual is an essential component of the Elementa Curriculum. The Teacher’s Manual facilitates your role by providing you with structured, scripted lesson plans for each unit and recommending activities and games to play with the students. The Teacher’s Manual strives to accomplish four crucial goals: efficiency, flexibility, interactivity, and literacy enrichment. $75 (ISBN 979-8-9889071-2-1)
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Foundations for Latin Teacher's Materials
A collection of Materials to accompany the Teacher’s Manual lessons. The Materials include pre-made cards and visuals for engaging activities, student handouts, interactive worksheets, graphic organizers, and assessments. $90 (ISBN: 978-1-7374006-7-7)
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Next Steps in Latin Teacher's Materials
Our separate and accompanying volume of Elementa II Teacher’s Materials provides cards, patterns for games, student handouts, visuals, assessments, and more to go along with activities and lessons. $90 (ISBN: 979-8-9889071-3-8)
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Elementa Supplemental Digital Resources for the Print Curriculum
The supplemental digital resources include optional audio-visual presentations to accompany each of the 150+ core and extension lessons outlined in the Elementa Teacher’s Manual. Presentations include slides for each incipit and exit question (saving you time from writing these on the board each day), visuals, and bullet points for presenting lesson content. In addition, short 3-5 minute videos present mythological and historical narratives with a fun, animated cast of characters. Here's an example: an animated retelling of the myth of Atalanta, in Latin! ($200/year subscription)
What Teachers Are Saying
“Having used several different Latin curricula, I have to say that my experience teaching Elementa to students has been wonderful both for myself and my students! It was clear to us from day one that students connected instantly with the Elementa curriculum in a way that was unusual for many Latin textbooks. What especially stood out to us about Elementa, especially compared to another new textbook that is on the market, was the intentional pacing and introduction of grammar concepts alongside new vocabulary as well as cultural and history lessons. The comprehensible input method of the comic-book-style Spoken Latin Supplement brought the Latin language and young people’s daily life in ancient Rome to life for my students in a way that kept them on the edge of their seats!”
- Maddie Palden, Boys' Latin School of Philadelphia
"Implementing Elementa into my classroom has engrossed my students into learning Latin through a new lens. This curriculum is jam-packed with engaging, fun activities for middle school students. It is nice to have something that helps my students become efficient in their grammatical studies in both Latin and English. It is a refreshing teaching experience and Elementa has beautifully woven a way to enhance the Latin learning experience for younger, curious students."
- Joseph Starnes, Washington Latin Public School
I LOVE Elementa! I used it as a guide for a sixth-grade Introduction to Latin course. It worked so well with my teaching style! And I used some of the activities when I taught a section of Intro French!
- Chelsea Brewer, Christ Church Episcopal School
