Tiffanie,
I'm not one to talk people into using any HOD program, however I will answer the questions that you raised about DITHR.
DITHR does cover each of the areas you mentioned in your post. Inferences, making conclusions, determining cause-and-effect, using context clues to define vocabulary, etc. are all formally taught in DITHR, along with many other story elements. In fact, the Level 6/7/8 has such a thorough coverage of these areas that it can be used for high school literature credit when combined with the reading of high school level book selections.
Level 2/3 and 4/5 also cover all the story elements in a lower key fashion.
So, coverage of literary terms and application of these terms to reading is not lacking.
The character lessons occur 3 days out of 15 days, and the basic comprehension days are also 3 days out of 15 days. The other days are focused on learning about the genre, learning about the story elements and applying them, applying various vocabulary strategies, and discussing the story on a deeper level.
These links will help you get a better idea of what I am saying. Link:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/drawn-into.php
Link:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/drawn- ... -intro.pdf
As far as standardized testing, we have had our own oldest 3 children score at the 99th percentile in the core area of reading all throughout their years thus far. Literary analysis and deeper thinking seem to come naturally now to our boys from what they have done in this area school-wise.
But more than that, we also routinely have families tell us what a change has taken place in their own kiddos test scores in this area after using DITHR for a year.
Test scores are just one possible indication of how a child is doing reading-wise, so don't let that be the end-all in your decision process. We always take scores with a grain of salt here! However, I will encourage you that using real books for learning to think deeply and with moral discernment is a better stratey than using passages or blips from books to learn these skills. This is because ultimately, we want our kiddos to read deeply and with discernment long after they have left their school years behind! We are looking to hone skills that matter life-long in this area.
Since DITHR has been around 11 years now, we do run into families who think that DITHR is not a fit for their families. To shed a little more light on this area, I'll share that when this is the case we typically find it is because of one of the following reasons:
1. They actually have never used the program and are judging it on looks alone.
2. They did not really use the program for any length of time, but only tried one unit or tried it for several days and stopped. Usually they stopped due to one of the reasons below.
3. They did not purchase the Teacher's Guide and instead used the program like a workbook program with Student Book only, missing all of the discussions that come from the Teacher's Guide.
4. They wanted a program with specific answers to the questions, rather than desiring to dialogue with their kiddos about their books in a discussion format. In essence, they were looking for questions with one right answer, which is not the type of questioning or thinking we pursue through DITHR. The type of questions in DITHR do take some getting used to, but also result in terrific discussions!
5. They preferred to just have their kiddos read books and did not want to formally teach critical/deeper thinking through literature. This works part of the time, but at some point deeper thinking and moral discernment do need to be taught through literature study, so kiddos can apply these skills life-long to what they read. We prefer not to wait until high school to do this, but rather to pursue it as soon as our kiddos start reading books faster than we can preview them!
6. They feel the program with its student books has a schoolish feel, which easily can be a first impression prior to really using the program for any length of time.
Since I spent 11 years in the public school system as a classroom teacher, though, I can assure you that nothing is further from the truth in the long haul. The programs we did in my classroom were workbook saturated, required little discussion, used snippets of stories rather than real books, and ended up with most children having similar responses to questions, with all children reading the same books. In contrast, DITHR uses graphic organizers throughout its Student Books, is filled with discussion and dialogue, focuses on getting kiddos to think deeply about what they read (resulting in many different answers to questions), uses the Bible as the moral compass (which leads to a different level of weighing character's behaviors and actions), and includes much variety in each unit (applying to all types of learners).
7. They did not have the time to devote to teaching a literature program at this point in their lives. This happens to all of us, as our plates get very full. When this is the case, we typically encourage families to look at using the program at some point in the future as preparation for high school level literature study.
As with all programs, DITHR takes some getting used to using! If you do choose to use it, I would encourage you to give it a full year to see the benefits before judging it.
Once you are comfortable with using it, DITHR becomes an easy and looked forward to part of the day.
In closing, I will share that my oldest son (who is now finishing his sophomore year at home), used DITHR all the way up to grade 6. Then, I felt I'd give him a break and allow him to do something else for literature. He did Literary Lessons from Lord of the Rings, which he enjoyed very much in grade 7.
However, as he finished up his year, and we headed back into DITHR for grade 8, I couldn't believe how difficult he found DITHR to do at the 6/7/8 Level. It was as if he wasn't sure what the "right" answer was to put in the Student Book, and he had such a hard time sharing any personal connections from his own life (which he had done easily before his year with Literary Lessons). It was as if he had lost the skill of making connections and thinking deeply beneath the surface of what he was reading. This can be the way students feel when first coming to DITHR. It is as if they need time to get comfortable with the program and to shift their thinking to understand what the guide is asking them to do.
In contrast, during that same time, my second son was making connections easily with no issues at all through DITHR. He had DITHR for literature study all the way through and was very comfortable with the guide's focus. The contrast between my two boys and their thinking was startling to me that year, because my oldest son had always been such a natural in this area. By year end in DITHR, my oldest son was back to the way he had been prior to our year of Literary Lessons, but it took time. I also discovered a huge unexpected blessing for me through our return to DITHR, as I gained a glimpse into my son's mind and heart as he read and shared (which I realized I had missed as he went through Literary Lessons the year before).
I share this to say that programs like DITHR can take some time to draw out a child and to really get beneath the surface of what was read, but they are well worth the effort. Getting kiddos to really "think" takes time and does not happen easily in programs focused on "one right answer". But more than that... getting to kiddo's hearts does not happen in those types of programs much either.
My goal for my children is to produce life-long readers who can think deeply about what they read and can read with moral discernment based on truths found in God's Word.
I also deeply desire to "connect" with my boys through what they read and to connect with their hearts as they weigh the written word. If this is your goal too, then DITHR may be for you.
Blessings,
Carrie
Thank-you for giving the time to thoroughly address the OP's questions and concerns. Your post has challenged me to think more carefully about the place DITHR has in our school.