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I'm 99% sure we're going to be ordering "Bigger" in the very near future, but I hadn't planned on using DITHOR because I have something else here we can use for Reading. Plus, the Reading programs we've tried in the past are either boring or difficult to implement (or both), so I just didn't want to bother with trying yet another one. But now, in looking at the sample lessons for DITHOR, it sounds really FUN! I was looking over the "Prior to Day 1" ideas, and all kinds of ideas popped into my head. We're going to Florida in May to get my 82yo widowed mother and move her up here by us, and I'm thinking she'd really enjoy doing the activities with us. For example, one of the field trip ideas is to visit the home of someone no longer living. Well, the home of a former president is here in our area, which I've been intending to visit sometime but haven't got around to it yet. That would be perfect to take my mom along with us, especially since it's a president she liked! And studying biographies and "real" history is something she sort of "does" or discusses with me on the phone even now, so....

I'll have to ponder this some more, but I think I might do that... get DITHOR to begin after my mom is here so she can do it with us.

I'm really starting to look forward to a life that includes HOD!

How wonderful that you will be able to move your Mom there with you! Mine lives so far away, but I keep in touch with her daily, and I'm always sharing some little nugget of our daily journey with Beyond.

I agree about DITHOR. I'm looking at it too and brainstorming how I'd like to work with it. I'm wondering if we should go ahead and try starting out with it, even though we're only in Beyond. I'd like to get my 7 y/o reading more, as he's really a good reader already.

Please share with us your ideas for starting the week. I know I'd love to hear about how you'd be using it!

I for one can't say enough good things aobut DITHOR! We've used it for a long time, and we love it. I wish I could change my 3rd son's learning style so he would be able to use it, too! (he's my workbook learner)

My boys at first were not so interested in it, but after using it for just a few weeks they started to ask for it. Now my 8th grader asked if I could make it work for his high school curriculum next year!

6timeboymom wrote:I for one can't say enough good things aobut DITHOR! We've used it for a long time, and we love it.

Me too! I still love DITHOR and have used it for quite awhile (even in tutoring before homeschooling). I really like so many parts about it, but like Darci mentioned, the kickoff ideas and the wrap-up ideas are so great. In fact, today we are preparing for the re-enactment of my ds's favorite portion of his book. He's so excited! He even made a tiny part for our baby (a turtle that crawls around). Anyway, I think it's neat to still do things that celebrate reading, and it really helps the genre stick in their minds. Even my 5 yo recognizes the folk tale genre now, just from being part of the re-enactment. It's a one-of-a-kind program. I've done it 5 days a week, and I've done it 3 days a week. I've done half the genres one year, and all the genres another. It's very flexible! I think it's important not to skip things, but as far as the pace and the book selection, there's a ton of flexibility.

Thanks for the encouragement, ladies!

Vicki, I don't know that I have many ideas of my own just from looking at the samples, but looking through the beginning section of it, I saw some really practical ways to make Carrie's ideas work for us. The visit to a deceased person's home, for example, to introduce "biographies"... I wouldn't have even thought of that! And knowing that my mom's coming and that we can visit the home of a former president she personally liked is exciting to me. It makes an academic subject very "real" to us.

Just having the list of ideas laid out in front of me is what I'm excited about!