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As I was looking into what I will need next year to do BHFHG with my ds, I'm a little confused about the story time and DITHOR. It looks like those parts of the day are almost identical. Do you do both of them? If you're using DITHOR, do you need to do the same genre in storytime or a different one? I was also getting a little confused with the book packs as to which ones are for me to read and which ones are for him. If I'm reading those book packs for story time, is it going to duplicate what he should read in a year or 2 for DITHOR?

And...what comes with the BHFHG packages? The storytime books or DITHOR books? Or is there an option to get everything?

Kathleen

I'm also curious about DITHOR too and looking forward to a response here. My question is one of whether or not the parent has to read each book also along with the child in order to be able to guide their children through each assignment. I'm just thinking that if we're already reading a read aloud for each genre with the main program, I don't think I'd have enough time to keep up with the details of each of their independent reading books as well. I don't mind assigning them to read the DITHOR books, but I'm wondering how I'll be able to "check" their work if I have not read the book myself. I need them to have something fairly independent for reading as much as possible (especially for my older dc). I'm typing with interruptions, so I hope this made sense.

Looking forward to hearing more about the nature of this reading program. I'm not a very project oriented sort of person. I like practical and to the point.

Nancy

Ladies,

I only have a minute here, so I don't have the time to completely answer your questions now, but I will direct you to an older thread that did a great job of answering some of the questions. Here's that link:
viewtopic.php?t=193

I'll pop back in later to check on the rest of your questions!

Blessings,
Carrie

Thanks for the post about DITHR, Carrie.  That was very helpful!  I definitely want to use it with my son.  I may even start it soon, rather that waiting until we start BHFHG in the fall.  (Just so you know, I a SO excited that you re going to be in Kansas City!!!  My dh and I were thinking we'd have to go to Des Moines to their conference to look at your material.  We're looking forward to getting our hands on some of it soon!)

I guess my main question still is if you're using DITHR (which I plan to), do you still do the storytime...with the discussion about the diferent genres?  Or is that overkill?  I love to read to my kids and they love to listen.  I would say that having my ds home this year and having time to read with him and his 3 yr old sister before her naptime every day is my favorite time of day.  (It's something we didn't have time for when he was gone at school from 8-4:30!)  If you're doing DITHR, would our storytime be listening to ds #1 read?  Or do you do both?

I'll be looking forward to hearing how some of you do this in your day.

Kathleen

well, you could still come to Des Moines and see me, too!

Alright ladies, I think I have a little time here to answer a few of these questions. The main difference between the storytime part of the plans and DITHR is that you read aloud the books for the storytime section to your child and your child reads to you the books for DITHR. There is some overlap in "Beyond..." or "Bigger..." in the Storytime section and DITHR. The reason is that until your kiddos are reading independently enough to start DITHR, we want to make sure that the area of literature study is covered through read-alouds instead.

Once kiddos are past the emerging reader stage and are ready for DITHR, we will switch the storytime box of our guides to take a different tack. This will be true for "Preparing Hearts..." where the storytime box will be aligned with the history instead (and not be a study in the various genres anymore). The genre study than moves completely to DITHR.

We do advise doing both the Storytime section of the plans and DITHR if your kiddo is ready for it. There is no reason to stay on the same genre, however. There is also no reason to pre-read any of the books your child is reading for DITHR (if you are using our book choices or recommendations). We have done the pre-reading for you and checked for appropriate content.

Also, at the 2/3 level the kiddos read-aloud to you every day, so you hear all of the book that way. At the 4/5 level they read aloud to you a few pages every other day and that is enough to get the gist of the story. I skim the rest as needed during our lessons. At Level 6/7/8, I just have the book in hand as we discuss to refer to as needed. Whenever I am holding the book and paging through it during a discussion for DITHR, my sons are much more careful with their responses!

You also should know that DITHR varies greatly from other literature programs in that we are not looking for kiddos to come up with THE one right answer for their assignment questions. DITHR is a dialogue-type curriculum where we work with the students to think more carefully about what they have read. We are prompting them to watch for certain things and guiding them to think more deeply as they are reading. So, instead of you having to frantically page through the book to see if your kiddo has the "right" answer, you'll be probing to help them reach conclusions on their own. We're working to develop life-long discernment about what they read and also develop reading skills that will serve them into their adult years.

The Deluxe Package selections are for you to read-aloud to your child. The DITHR Book Packs are for your child to read. The Deluxe Package and DITHR Book Packs need to be added to the Economy and/or Basic Packages for "Bigger..." (if you wish to utilize our book packs). With our Storytime part of the plans or DITHR, you are also welcome to use your own book selections instead.

Our packages are set up so that you start with the Economy Package for any of our programs (which include the Teacher's Guide). Next, you add any star item choices you need. Then, you add the Basic Package items you need. Last you look at any additional package items you desire to add on (Extension Package, Deluxe Package, DITHR Book Packs).

Let me know if this isn't clear enough! I'm sure the other moms will chime in with comments about DITHR or how it fits with the storytime plans.

Blessings,
Carrie

Thank you! It's much more clear to me now.

I would like one more piece of advice... My ds will be 8 next fall while we are doing BHFHG. He is a very good reader, quite a deep thinker, aspiring inventor, and doesn't seem to forget anything. My biggest challenge is getting him to STOP talking and asking questions so I don't go crazy! Anyway...my question is, what would you reccommend for our storytime, the "9 genre pack" or the "extension pack" with things for history? We are going to do DITHR, so we'll cover the literature. I'm not looking to add any time to our school day. (I tend to try to do too much and then feel like I have to finish it even though we should have more free time. I'm working on that. ) Are the extension books anything we'll cover later? Has anyone used them for storytime with an 8 yr old?

Thanks for all your help!
Kathleen

Hi-I don't know if this will answer your question, but the Extension Pack is intended for 3rd and 4th graders who are very strong readers, to give them additional history and science to read independently to "beef up" those subjects for a strong reader (in addition to the history and science that are already covered in the Bigger Hearts manual with the books in the Economy and Science packages).

These Extension Pack books range in reading level from 4.5 to 6.7. The reading schedule for these is in the appendix of the Bigger Hearts manual. So, it's optional, and totally up to you as to whether your child is ready to tackle those.

The Storytime books are scheduled daily in the Bigger manual for you to read to your child, so you would need those. They are at the bottom of the Bigger packages web page under the heading "Deluxe Package"-you would choose either Boy interest or Classic interest, but not both.

So, you would need for Bigger Hearts:
Economy Package
Science Package
Your choice of one Deluxe Package for storytime
Basic Package, if you plan to use Carrie's choices for English and Math
Cheerful Cursive, if you plan to teach your child cursive for the first time (if he will still be printing, then just omit this book)

For DITHOR:
Teacher's manual
Level 2/3 student book
Level 2 or Level 3 Book pack (depending on his reading ability)
Optional-Project Book-adds hands-on projects that would be done for each genre

I hope this helps

I'm sure once you have the books in your hands, you will see how simple it really is to follow! I'm a "Betty" through and through, and I understand completely your need to talk things over and be totally sure before deciding

By the way, I am using Bigger with an 8 year old, and I am using the Deluxe Pack books in our storytime-I am getting them from the library because I had to economize, but I wish I owned them all