a few ?'s (DITHOR, Science, and schedule)

[clmartz01]

I got my catalog yesterday (yay!) and as I was looking it over it brought up a few questions for me...

1) If I do DITHOR with my daughter with Beyond (her "2nd grade" year) and I use level 2/3, do I use level 2/3 again next year (her "3rd grade" year) and just use the level 3 books, or would I move her up to 4/5? Would 4/5 be okay for an 8 y.o.? I'm wondering if I should just use the emerging readers with Beyond and save DITHOR for next year (if you can only use it one year).

2) It looks like there is no science for LHFHG or Beyond? So if I want them to do a science I can just pick whatever I want to use?

3) How closely does the daily plan/schedule need to be followed. Does the day build on itself? I'm asking because I was planning a daily schedule for us and I believe it would be best to do LHFHG with my son first and let my daughter play with the youngest one. Then at nap time I figured it would be best if we got the harder stuff (math) and the time consuming stuff (science experiments/projects) out of the way while my lo was sleeping. I thought that left side stuff could be more easily accomplished after lunch/playtime and bible stuff could be done at night. But would that make the day scattered?

I think that's it for now.

[holyhart]

I can't speak much about Beyond as I don't have it but we are doing LHFHG. But both do have science. In LHFHG it is The World God made. In Beyond (from what I can tell) it is God's Wonderful Works (for 2nd grade).

I can't answer anything about the DITHOR, but I'm sure one of the other wonderful ladies will step in on that.

As for the schedule, I think you can do it anyway that fits your family. I'm not sure it matters. But again, I'm sure the other ladies will be better equiped to answer that than I am.

HTH.

[inHistiming]

DITHOR is a reading program for grades 2-8, but you can start later if you want or need to. We are just beginning next year with dd 3rd grade and ds 5th grade. It is meant to be used each year, only purchasing a new student book each year. The TM is a one-time purchase. I think the student book is meant to be used for 2 years. And Carrie has given permission to copy the pages, if needed, for use within your own family.

My suggestion would be to start with level 2/3 with your dd unless she is a very advanced reader. It was suggested, on the boards somewhere, that students my son's age (10) begin with level 4/5 when just beginning. My son is an advanced reader, but since we've never used the program, I will be using level 4/5 for him so we can ease into it without too much difficulty. It does depend on your child's strength in reading, though. It is also an option to just use the emergent reader's schedule if you want to. My dd really enjoyed the books on the list, and the questions that are included in the appendix are great for getting them thinking! It's good preparation for beginning DITHOR, but not absolutely necessary.

As far as the schedule goes, the manuals were created in such a way that each box can be completed in short time increments. I think it's a personal preference as far as order goes, but sometimes the Bible portion does refer to the History reading...so you'd need to check that if it matters to you. HOD is very easy to adjust to fit your needs!

Others will be along to offer their advice. I'm sure you'll glean some valuable information from their posts. Enjoy Beyond...it's wonderful!

[Carrie]

Crystal,

The ladies are right that the science experiments and science text are included twice each week in both LHFGH and Beyond. The science in the guides is written to cover the state science standards for those grade levels, so you'd only add additional science if you wanted to extend or enrich your kiddos learning further in that area.

DITHR is written to spend 2 years on each Student Book, which you can do in a variety of ways. You could do DITHR 3 times a week, covering half of the genres one year and half the next. You could do it 4 or 5 days a week, getting through almost all the genres one year and repeating them the next with new books. You could do DITHR one month on and one month off, covering half the genres one year and half the next.

You could also do the Emerging Reader set this year and then do DITHR the next year, or you could do the last 1/2 of the Emerging Reader set first and then move into DITHR for the last half of the year (after you've finished the Emerging Reader Set).

It all depends on what your goals are for your kiddos reading-wise and where your kiddos are at as far as reading levels go.

Blessings,
Carrie

[clmartz01]

Thanks! In looking at the sample daily lesson plans for Beyond, I didn't see science listed so that's why I wasn't sure. I did find the list in the front of the catalog today that shows what is covered for history and science for each. Ooops!

Thanks for the info on DITHOR and scheduling as well. You guys are great!