Bigger DITHOR and Storytime?

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sted
Posts: 197
Joined: Thu Mar 12, 2009 6:19 pm

Bigger DITHOR and Storytime?

Post by sted » Fri May 07, 2010 4:55 pm

If I were to do Bigger with my 7 and 9 year old next year, (both just finished Emerging Readers this year) would it be more important to use 2/3 DITHOR or the Bigger Storytime box? I don't think I have the time to do both and they seem a bit of an overlap. Any opinons?

Thanks,
Shannon
dd, age 14
dd, age 12
dd, age 10
ds, age 8
dd, age 5
dd, age 1

jjcmehl
Posts: 78
Joined: Wed Mar 03, 2010 8:53 pm

Re: Bigger DITHOR and Storytime?

Post by jjcmehl » Fri May 07, 2010 9:04 pm

You are reading aloud to some of your younger children, correct? Have the older children listen in to this storytime. (I know that is a common recommendation for mother's with multiple children in varying HOD guides.)

I can't recommend skipping DITHOR (or another reading program) or Storytime---I think that these two things are just too vital! We start our day with read aloud and then DITHOR! :wink:
Christine
wife to DH for 11 years
DD 10.5 (5th) Preparing w/ Ext, French, Logic
DS 9 (4th) Preparing, French
DS 5 (K) Bible, story, & 3 R's
Adding: Suzuki piano; nature, composer, & picture studies
DS 2.5 Tot School
DS 6 mo. Starting to crawl

8arrows
Posts: 965
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 4:49 pm

Re: Bigger DITHOR and Storytime?

Post by 8arrows » Fri May 07, 2010 11:49 pm

I had to make that call. I picked storytime.
Melissa, wife to Jim for 28 years
3 graduated, 2 using US 2, 8th grade dd using Missions to Marvels
Isaiah 40:11 ...He gently leads those that have young.

Busymomma1
Posts: 231
Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2007 1:57 pm
Location: Ohio

Re: Bigger DITHOR and Storytime?

Post by Busymomma1 » Tue May 11, 2010 10:08 am

Maybe alternate days? One day do a read-aloud, and one day to DITHOR? Both work on such important, but different, skills. Or, shift your Storytime to evenings and use as a bedtime story? If your DH is willing, perhaps he could do the storytime reading?

Just a thought...
Tricia
Married for 14 great years!
Mom to DD (10)
DS #1 (9)
DS #2 (6)

Kathleen
Posts: 1980
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2008 3:23 pm
Location: NE Kansas

Re: Bigger DITHOR and Storytime?

Post by Kathleen » Tue May 11, 2010 6:05 pm

I agree with Tricia. They definitely work on totally different skills and are both important (and fun :D ). For storytime you're reading aloud to them, so they're working on listening and responding with narration, character analysis, other literary things...and then for DITHOR they're working on their own reading skills which are so important to keep improving. DITHOR can be used 3 days a week, so you could spread it out a little like that. (This is the way Preparing does it once you get there.) You could do all 3 of your kids on the same genre and do DITHOR "together" using different books at their levels but moving through the plans together. Then with the younger ones in 2/3 you could alternate the days they read aloud to you, or have one start by reading 3 pages to you and then finish silently and let the other start silently and read the last 3 pages to you and the lesson for them would be totally together. I know there are some days with DITHOR that it says all levels together, too, if you're hitting the same days. I don't know if that's helpful or not, but thought I'd throw those ideas out there.

I like the idea of putting storytime as a bedtime story, too. This never worked here because we never knew if Dad was going to happen to get home before bedtime or not, and the kids love a little play time with him if he pops in. (And since I'm it all day with them, I wear out by bedtime and it would NOT ease my schedule to have that in the evening!) But, if my husband did come home between 5 and 7, I could see this working really well because there would be a team going into nighttime. :wink:

:D Kathleen
Homeschooling mom to 6:
Grant - 19 Kansas State University
Allison - 15 World Geography
Garret - 13 Res2Ref
Asa - 8 Bigger
Quinn - 7 Bigger

Halle - 4 LHTH

my3sons
Posts: 10702
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2007 7:08 pm
Location: South Dakota

Re: Bigger DITHOR and Storytime?

Post by my3sons » Wed May 12, 2010 8:43 am

I agree about them covering different skills, and both sets of skills are important. I wouldn't want to skip either, and if I was having difficulty getting them both in, I'd pick very short books for each of them and still get the skills in that way. However, if the short books idea doesn't gel with you, I like the idea of rotating the 2 as well. Storytime one day, DITHOR the next, and so on. You'd only need half of the Storytime titles, and half of the DITHOR titles then. Your DITHOR days would be a tad longer than your Storytime days, but you could put them in any order you wanted. :wink: Yet another idea would be to get audio books for the Storytime, and listen to them over lunch. Then, you could just finish up with the box's discussion together after that, which would take just a few minutes. :D

I think it is important to recognize what we can get done in the day to day, make room for the most important things, and then make decisions about how best to go about prioritizing those things. So, this is just an idea! :D It is important for each of us to do that, as only we can know what fits our families best. :wink: Also, only we as moms have the panoramic view of things in our minds. For example, not getting to Storytime or DITHOR ever is not good, but not getting to one of them for one very busy difficult year knowing you'll be getting to it another year is quite different. HTH as you weigh what's best for your family.

In Christ,
Julie
Enjoyed LHTH to USII
Currently using USI
Wife to Rich for 28 years
Mother to 3 sons, ages 23, 20, and 16
Sister to Carrie

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