Classical Academic Press Self-Paced

Classical Academic Press Self-Paced is the video-on-demand delivery of CAP's flagship Latin, logic, writing, and Spanish curricula. Where the print editions of Latin for Children and Writing and Rhetoric assume a teaching parent, the self-paced track replaces the parent with Dr. Christopher Perrin on video, and solves, for many families, the single largest operational problem with classical elementary education.

Last updated: 2026-04-24 · Every Homeschool Editorial Team

At a glance

Method	Classical, streaming video, self-paced
Worldview	Christian-ecumenical (broadly orthodox Christian; nondenominational)
Grades	3-12 (elementary Latin through high school logic and rhetoric)
Formats	Streaming video, digital student text, auto-graded quizzes
Cost tier	Standard
Parent intensity	2 (parent supervises; video delivers instruction)
ESA-common	Yes (generally approved where CAP print is approved)
Accredited	No
Established	Classical Academic Press founded 2000; self-paced video line mid-2010s
Website	classicalacademicpress.com

Our scoreboard (1-5)

Criterion	Score	One-line reason
Academic rigor	4	The underlying print programs are strong; video adds pacing and accountability.
Ease of teaching	5	Parent does no teaching; Dr. Perrin and CAP instructors carry the lessons.
Content quality	5	The flagship CAP curricula are among the best in the classical segment.
Flexibility	4	Self-paced timing; fits into any home schedule; no live class dependency.
Value for money	4	$87-$150 per video course, lifetime access for homeschool purchasers.
Worldview scope	4	Broadly Christian but rarely doctrinally specific; widely used across Christian traditions.
Visual/design	4	Clean video production; modern digital portal.
Support resources	3	Auto-graded quizzes and parent progress tracking; community forum is light.

Who the publisher is

Classical Academic Press (CAP) was founded in 2000 by Dr. Christopher Perrin and Dr. Christopher Schlect to publish classical curriculum materials for the revival of classical education in Christian schools and homeschools. The house's early hit, Latin for Children Primer A (with its chant-based memory instruction and accessible grammar sequence), established the brand. Over the following two decades CAP expanded into logic (The Art of Argument, The Discovery of Deduction, The Argument Builder), writing (Writing and Rhetoric progymnasmata series), rhetoric (Everyday Debate, Rhetoric Alive!), Spanish, and teacher training. By April 2026 the catalog is the largest integrated classical-curriculum line in the Christian homeschool market.

CAP Self-Paced is the streaming-video arm of the publisher, distinct from CAP Accelerator, which offers live synchronous classes, and from ClassicalU, the teacher-training platform. The self-paced line hosts on-demand video courses for most of the CAP flagship titles: Latin for Children Primers A, B, and C (taught by Dr. Christopher Perrin), Latin Alive Books 1 through 3, the Writing and Rhetoric sequence, The Art of Argument, The Discovery of Deduction, and Spanish for Children. Video instructors are the curriculum authors themselves. Dr. Perrin for most Latin, Paul Kortepeter and others for Writing and Rhetoric, which is uncommon among video homeschool products.

The positioning is specific and self-aware. CAP Self-Paced is designed for the homeschool family that wants CAP curriculum delivered without the parent having to teach Latin grammar or guide a progymnasmata exercise. The print editions remain the standard product; the video is a premium layer for families who know they need it.

The core pedagogy

The self-paced video courses follow the structure of the corresponding print books chapter by chapter. A Latin for Children Primer A video lesson runs twenty to twenty-five minutes per chapter per the product page. Dr. Perrin presents the new grammar concept, leads the chant for the week (declension endings, verb conjugations), walks through the translation exercises, and works the practice questions. The student watches, pauses when needed, completes the workbook, and submits answers to the auto-graded quiz in the digital portal. The parent's role is supervision, check that the quiz was completed, review feedback, move the student to the next lesson.

The scope and sequence depends on the course. Latin for Children runs across three primers, typically grades three through five. Latin Alive picks up at middle school and extends through high school Latin II or III. Writing and Rhetoric runs across twelve books from Fable through Thesis Part II, roughly a grade-three-through-ten sequence in classical writing. The Art of Argument and The Discovery of Deduction cover informal and formal logic respectively, typically middle school through early high school. Spanish for Children mirrors the Latin for Children structure in Spanish.

Signature mechanics are three. (1) Author-taught video. The instructors are the curriculum authors, not employed presenters. When Dr. Perrin introduces a chant or explains a construction, he is teaching his own book. (2) Chant-and-song vocabulary. Particularly in Latin for Children, vocabulary and grammar paradigms are taught through memorable songs and chants, an unusual but durable pedagogical choice. (3) Auto-graded quizzes with parent dashboard. The digital portal removes the grading burden on Latin and logic, which are the subjects where the grading burden is most painful for a non-specialist parent.

A day in the life

A fourth-grader using Latin for Children Primer A Video & Audio spends approximately thirty to thirty-five minutes on Latin, four or five days a week. Monday opens a new chapter, the student watches Dr. Perrin's twenty-minute video lesson, pausing to rewind as needed, then begins the workbook exercises. Tuesday and Wednesday complete the workbook pages and practice the chant (verb conjugations, noun declensions) using the song. Thursday works the Flash Dash vocabulary game on the portal. Friday takes the chapter quiz, which auto-grades, and reviews anything missed. The parent checks in at the end of each week, reviews the quiz results on the parent dashboard, and decides whether to re-do anything. The parent does not need to know any Latin.

A ninth-grader using The Art of Argument runs a similar rhythm adjusted for age. The video instruction is somewhat less central, high school logic students work through a significant amount of text and example-identification independently, but the chapter videos supply the conceptual explanation and the clarification. Across a full school year of logic, the student completes approximately twenty-six chapters; the video carries the instruction for roughly a third of that, with the text and exercises doing the rest.

What they do exceptionally well

Latin-for-non-Latin parents. Our editorial view is that the Latin for Children video line is the single largest enabler of elementary Latin in the homeschool market. Before the video option existed, a parent wanting to teach Latin for Children Primer A either had to learn Latin alongside the student (the ambitious path) or hope a co-op tutor would cover it (the lucky path). The video removes the dependency. A parent who has never taken Latin can run Primer A through C with the video and have a fifth-grader who reads Latin for Children Primer C translations and chants her declensions correctly. This is a real outcome our reading of community reports supports.

Author-taught quality. Dr. Christopher Perrin teaches Latin for Children on video because he wrote Latin for Children. The explanations align with the book because the author wrote both. This sounds trivial and is not, most video homeschool products use employed presenters reading someone else's script, and the seams show.

Lifetime access model for homeschool purchasers. Per the Latin for Children Primer A Video & Audio product page, homeschool buyers receive lifetime streaming access rather than a time-limited subscription. A family with three children separated by multiple years can buy once and use the video for each child in succession. Schools pay differently; homeschool families benefit meaningfully.

What they do poorly

Not a live-class substitute. Self-paced video lacks the accountability, pacing, and discussion of live instruction. A student who falls behind on a print curriculum will also fall behind on the video version, and there is no instructor expecting submissions. Families who know their student needs external accountability should consider CAP Accelerator live classes or another live-class provider rather than self-paced.

Pricing requires a per-course investment. Each self-paced course requires a separate purchase, Latin for Children Primer A Video & Audio at $86.95 as of April 2026, Latin for Children Primer B and C at similar prices, Writing and Rhetoric videos per book, The Art of Argument video separately. A family running Latin, Logic, and Writing on video across elementary through middle school can easily spend $500-$800 on video access over several years, in addition to the print books. There is no bundle subscription across the catalog.

Light community and instructor support. The self-paced portal offers auto-graded quizzes and progress tracking. It does not offer a live instructor's feedback on written work, discussion with peers, or office-hours-equivalent help. Families wanting richer feedback on writing-and-rhetoric essays in particular often need a co-op tutor or paid reader in addition.

Who it fits / who it doesn't

• Pick CAP Self-Paced if: you want to teach Latin, logic, or classical writing and do not feel qualified to present the material; you want author-taught video that matches the textbook exactly; you value self-pacing and hate fixed class schedules; you have multiple children who will use the same course over several years and can amortize the purchase; you are a classical or classical-adjacent family building a Christian-ecumenical curriculum.

• Skip CAP Self-Paced if: you want live-class accountability and peer discussion (consider CAP Accelerator instead); you want one subscription covering the whole catalog rather than per-course purchases; you need a secular curriculum (CAP is broadly Christian); you want a curriculum with a different method. Memoria Press grammar-first Latin, for example, or a progymnasmata different from CAP's Writing and Rhetoric; your student self-teaches from text alone and does not need video.

Cost honest assessment

Per the CAP product pages in April 2026, Latin for Children Primer A Video & Audio runs $86.95 with lifetime streaming access. Primer B and C Video & Audio are similarly priced. Latin Alive Book 1 Streaming runs approximately $120. Writing and Rhetoric video per book runs $60-$80. The Art of Argument video runs approximately $100. Spanish for Children videos run $87-$120. These prices are in addition to the corresponding print student books (roughly $28-$40 each) and teacher editions (optional; $30-$40 each).

A family running Latin for Children Primers A and B with video across fourth and fifth grade invests approximately $200 in video plus $60-$80 in print, for roughly $260-$280 across two years of Latin. Compared to Lukeion live-class Latin (approximately $500-$700 per year) and Visual Latin DVD ($75-$110 per level), CAP Self-Paced sits in the middle, above single-medium DVDs, below live instruction. The value is strongest for families who will use the video across multiple children.

ESA eligibility notes

CAP Self-Paced streaming products are commonly approved on state ESA marketplaces that fund CAP print materials, including Arizona ESA (ClassWallet), Florida Step Up, Utah Fits All, and Iowa Student First. CAP does not operate its own ESA vendor portal; families purchase through classicalacademicpress.com and submit invoices. Some states that restrict "digital subscriptions" specifically may treat lifetime-access video differently from monthly subscriptions; families in programs with strict technology-category rules should confirm before ordering.

Alternatives

• Memoria Press Online Academy (live), a family would choose Memoria Press Online Academy over CAP Self-Paced for live synchronous Latin, logic, and literature in the Henle-based grammar-first tradition, with a more rigorous academic feel.
• Visual Latin (Dwane Thomas), a family would choose Visual Latin over CAP Self-Paced for a lower-cost DVD-and-download Latin option with a genuinely engaging presenter and a less chant-heavy approach.
• CAP Accelerator (live classes), a family would choose CAP Accelerator over Self-Paced when the student needs the accountability of a live instructor and peer cohort, typically at higher tuition per course.

How we verified this

Our editorial team reviewed the Classical Academic Press catalog, the Latin for Children Primer A Video & Audio product page, the self-paced portal sample lessons, and the difference between Self-Paced and Accelerator lines. We cross-referenced against Cathy Duffy Reviews, community comparisons with Memoria Press and Visual Latin, and the published faculty pages for CAP. Prices and program details verified April 2026.