Roman Roads Media publishes classical, Christian curriculum that is high quality, affordable, and flexible for Christian homeschoolers. We have used several products that they sell and have been impressed with all of them. When I saw Picta Dicta advertised on their Facebook page, I thought it looked like a great product and was excited when we were given an opportunity to review it.
Picta Dicta teaches elementary aged students over 400 English and Latin nouns in the Natural World. Students see a picture of the word along with the written word, hear the word pronounced and repeat the pronunciation aloud, and read something about the topic they are learning about. Picta Dicta can be used on PC, Mac, iOs, and Android. The program tracks the users progress and customizes quizzes and reviews. Some of the topics include:
Basic Animals
Fruit, Berries, Nuts,
Anatomy
Land Forms and Terrain
Small Animals
Parts of Trees and Plants
Water
Birds
Growing Things
Sky and Weather
Animal Anatomy
Sea Life
Trees
Constellations
Exotic Animals
Flowers and Herbs
Vegetables and Legumes
Insects, Arachnids, and Worms
Sign and Habitat
Light and Fire
Metals and Stones
Ground Cover and Vegetation
There are different levels depending on age/ability. Once you purchase a license for Picta Dicta,you have the ability to change the level you are working in if you need to. Levels include:
Natural World Basic- Learn English and Latin names no reading or spelling required
Natural World English- teaches English to young children who cannot yet read
Natural World Reader I-For children already comfortable with reading English. Students will recognize English and Latin words, read short descriptions on them, and spell English and Latin words.
Natural World Reader II- For children in upper elementary of junior high. Students will read stories from history and literature related to the words they are learning in Latin. They also recognize and spell words in Latin and English.
Natural World Express- For older students or adults who want to move through quickly with no English assignments or review.
We have been using Reader I and II in our home. I have an account for Reader II and my 9 year old daughter has an account for Reader I. We have used it both on a PC and on my iPhone 7. I liked having the option to play Picta Dicta on the go, even though the screen was a bit small. On my iPhone it would cut off the bottom of some of the pictures, or put the last letter of the word underneath the word. But I still could figure out what I needed to choose.
Under each category in Reader I you have the following games:
Learn English
Article I
Learn Latin
Latin-Picture
Choose English
Spell English
Choose Latin
Spell Latin
Review
In Reader II you have the following games:
Learn Latin II
Latin Picture II
Article II
English II
Spell Latin II
Review
The articles in Reader II are much longer and give a lot more information then the ones in Reader I. If you are trying to decide between Reader I and Reader II, I would start with Reader I unless it is a child that is around junior high age. You are asked questions about the articles. You can change your levels whenever you need to.
We have enjoyed using Picta Dicta and have learned a lot of Latin and even some information in English that we didn't already know. Did you know that a female cat is called a Molly? I think the format of seeing the picture, hearing the word, seeing the word, and reading about it really helps you learn and remember the word. I cannot believe how many words we have already learned over a short period of time. The illustrations are very well done. The spelling was the most challenging for me. My iPhone kept auto correcting my Latin words when I was trying to spell them and then I would get them wrong, but if you just hit done as soon as you finish spelling without putting a space then it didn't auto correct. I love all of the built in review. If you get an answer wrong, you are shown the correct answer and then asked the question again later on.
I did see a few glitches as I was using the program. It asked me what animal is raised for meat and eggs and I chose chicken and it said I was wrong. Then it asked me again later and it was correct.
Picta Dicta Natural World is an excellent resource for students of all ages and abilities to increase their knowledge of Latin and English!
Members of The Crew reviewed Picta Dicta Natural World, Picta Dicta Vocabulary Builder, and Fitting Words. To see what my Crew Mates had to say, stop by the Crew Blog!
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