Are my kids ready for Drawn into the Heart of Reading?

[Tanya]

I just finished Beyond with my 6 and 8 year old boys and we all loved every day of it!! So, our next step is to Bigger with Drawn into the Heart of Reading - level 2/3. I have spent many hours looking over it, and trying to get us all ready for our first day of our new "year". And what I am noticing is that there seems to be a pretty big jump from Beyond to Bigger as far as the writing goes. With Beyond, spelling and copy work were pretty much it for writing, and with Bigger there is much more (I ordered Preparing to Build - English 2, too). It looks like most of it is copying, so that shouldn't be too bad, and I am excited that it seems like they will be a perfect way to stretch my boys, yet not overwhelm them. The part that I am most worried about is the writing in the Drawn into the heart of reading. Both my boys are excellent readers. They love to read, and comprehend very well, so on that level they are ready for "drawn". I followed the Beyond plans almost to a T, so they are ready for the concepts in Drawn too, which I noticed were all touched on in Beyond. However, I am afraid that the writing in "drawn" plus all the new writing in Bigger will overwhelm them. They are good writers, too, as long as they can copy something, but have never really had to write any original compositions. I notice in Drawn, there is quite a bit of that.

I guess my question is, should I wait on the Drawn, and just have them read the Level 2 book set that I got with Drawn or should we do Drawn, and modify it (maybe by writing things for them or have them copy what I write on a board). I am not in a rush to start Drawn, and wondering if we would get more out of it if we waited a year when they have practiced writing a little more and then use the Level 3 book set of Drawn when we start Preparing next year. I am also starting Little Hearts with my 5 year this year, and this will be the first time I do two levels, so I am trying to set us up for success by trying to simplify.

Thanks for any advice!

Tanya

[Kathleen]

Tanya,

It sounds like your boys are doing great with reading. To me it sounds like they're ready for DITHOR, and I think it would be a great way to keep building their reading skills!

We did what you mentioned, and I helped out by doing the writing for DITHOR occasionally at the beginning. The teacher's manual for that level actually tells you to usually write their answers on a white board to be copied later so that they can focus on the discussion not correct spelling, etc. We did this, too. Quite a few of the pages in the 2/3 student book involve drawing, not just writing. My ds loved this! And, you'll only be doing a page out of the student book 2, maybe 3 days out of the 5 days in the week. We're doing the 4/5 reading pack this year for Grant, but I chose to keep him in the 2/3 student book because writing can overwhelm him, too. I can see that he's grown SO much from last year though!

You could choose to only do DITHOR 3 or 4 times a week, too. In Preparing it's actually scheduled that way. If you do that, you'd probably only have 1 or 2 days where your child has to write in the studnent book. Just another idea. We did it most days last year with Bigger and made it through 7 of the 9 genres. Then, we just started with those genres this year.

I'm sure that others will have ideas for you, too. But, I think you should give it a try and just slow it down or give your kids time to grow into the writing. We have LOVED DITHOR, and I know it's helped my son a lot with his reading (especially reading with discernment and reading aloud with expression).

Kathleen

[mariaw]

We are doing Preparing, and the writing was a bit much for dd. I have pared it down by doing some of the writing for her, writing on the board and letting her copy, and doing some of the R&S book orally. Also, I purchased the corresponding workbook for R&S (it was like, $3.50 or something), and some days I let her do the worksheet instead of the book work. There is much less writing in those assignments because you don't have to copy as much.

I would say keep going as long as your ds is comfortable with the skills, and just modify how much HE has to write.

[pjdobro]

One thing you might consider doing is most of the R&S grammar orally instead of writing it out. I've been doing that because it's just too much writing for my dc at this point. As an example, instead of having them copy the sentences that are sentences out of a group of sentences and phrases, I read the phrases and sentences then have them stand up for a sentence (because a sentence can stand on it's own ) and sit down for the phrases. When the exercise is copying the sentences and filling in a blank, I write the sentences on the white board and have them fill in the blank from the list of words. It's been working well for us doing most of the exercises orally or with minimal writing on the white board. If you cut back on the writing in R&S that might help you feel better about introducing DITHOR. We haven't started DITHOR yet but intend to by the first of the year. I'm hopeful we can manage it so I'll look forward to reading all the suggestions others have for you

[momto3girls]

I completely agree with Patty about cutting back on the writing with Rod and Staff. I am going through it for the 2nd time with my 2nd daughter and we are doing most of it orally, also. I did this the first time also. There is so much review that that concepts are really solidified. Instead of using a whiteboard, I would type up and print the sentences.

The other thing you could do to reduce the writing in Bigger is to type up the science sheets. For example, a lesson will say, "Copy Genesis 1:1 at the top of the page and then...." (My book is downstairs but you probably have to copy a drawing or something.) I would type up Genesis 1:1 for them. I also type up the experiment sheets with question, guess, procedure, conclusion and have them fill in the information.

[my3sons]

Welcome to the HOD Board, Tanya! Congrats on completing Beyond, and I agree your dc sound ready for DITHOR. We started DITHOR with me writing the answers in the Student Book as my ds orally said them. After a bit (like 1 genre), I wrote 1/2 of the answers in the Student Book and the other half on the marker board for him to copy that 1/2 in his Student Book. Then, we moved to me writing it all on the markerboard and him copying it in the Student Book. Finally, about halfway through the year, he did it all on his own, and I just helped him with spelling as needed (writing difficult words on the marker board for him to copy so it didn't get in the way of him using good vocabulary in his writing). I think you should definitely start DITHOR, as your dc are ready for it comprehension and reading ability-wise, and that is the next step in improving reading. If you begin by writing it for them, and progressively moving them toward independence through the year, I think it should go great!

In Christ,
Julie

[kiloyd]

"The other thing you could do to reduce the writing in Bigger is to type up the science sheets. For example, a lesson will say, "Copy Genesis 1:1 at the top of the page and then...." (My book is downstairs but you probably have to copy a drawing or something.) I would type up Genesis 1:1 for them. I also type up the experiment sheets with question, guess, procedure, conclusion and have them fill in the information."

Thank you so much for that idea!

Katherine
ds8 Bigger
dd 4 LHTH
dd2