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Hi all,
I've been home schooling with A Beka videos for 5 years but switching to HOD this year. I have a 7 year old son going into 2nd grade. He is reading pretty well on his own but doesn't love it yet. My 10 year old son, going into 5th grade, is an avid reader who devours books. We will be doing BLHFHG for my 2nd grader and Res to Ref for our 5th grader. Is DITHOR something I have to do in addition to the regular curriculum? I think it might be really good for my 10 year old since he loves to read, but not sure for my 7 year old. Home school last year was a battle for him to get his work done and I don't want to add something right off the bat that might overwhelm him. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!!

For the 10yo, you would need something for literature, and DITHOR would be the logical choice. I would probably start with the 2/3 workbook if you haven't done a literature study before. Then pick the level of book that is just before his reading level, as you want the books to be easy to read so he can focus on the analysis.
For the 7yo, I would look at the emerging reader books. That is what most 7yos use, as it is mostly 2nd grade reading level books. The questions and pacing for the books are in the appendix of both the Beyond and Bigger guides.

It sounds like your 7 yr old is about the same level as my 9 year old....he is doing 2nd grade level this year and is using the ERs listed in BLHFHG. So far he loves them and they are so much easier for him then the Rod & Staff reader with workbook from last year. Once he is done with the ERs (we are doing all of them except for the Bible one), I will see if he is ready for DITHOR.

My 14 year old will be doing HOD this year and will be doing Res to Rev like your son. She has never done DITHOR and I plan to start her with the 2/3 level. She also has some learning disabilities (comprehension issues.....Expressive-Receptive Language Disorder).

Thanks so much, Ladies! We have settled on Emerging Reader for our 7 year old and DITHOR 4/5 for our 10 year old based on a recommendation from Julie at HOD. This will be new to all of us so we'll give it a whirl!