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ok ladies....is there an easy way to know what level my 9yo ds is reading on? He has made HUGE improvements over the past year but I am still not sure what grade level he is on. I need to know this so I can determine better which level of HOD he might fit into.

Debbie

I don't know the answer but I'm wondering the same thing...

Here is a website that offers a couple of different ways to assess reading level: http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/articles/060899.htm I don't know how accurate it is, but hopefully that will help give you a general idea

Hmm...well, I just looked at the titles of the reading books suggested for those levels, and since I was familiar with a lot of them, gauged by that. My daughter is reading, she is in the Pathway Readers #2 (Days Go By), so I think that was similar to Amelia Bedelia, Frog and Toads, and Early Reader's Bible. She definitely wouldn't be ready for the next level up.

If you want to say what your children are reading now, maybe we can help....

Hi Debbie! The easiest and most accurate way to determine the reading level of your child for an HOD program is to check out the "reading" row of the placement chart. The placement chart's reading levels were chosen based upon the HOD guides. However, all of the HOD programs have several levels of reading in each of the guides as well, so that's why one of the number one considerations in choosing placement is still the "age" of your child. The multiple reading levels do give some nice "wiggle" room within program selection as well though. Here's a link to that placement chart:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

A simple way to determine whether your child is at the emerging reader's stage is to look at the Emerging Reader's Set books. If you own some of them, or if your library owns some of them, you can have your child read a few pages from some of them out loud to you to see if that would fit well. The Emerging Reader's Set begins easier and gets progressively harder. The order they are shown in on this PDF I'm going to link you to, is the order that they are read in, in the HOD guides:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/emerging-reader.php

If the very first book of the set is too hard and going to be a frustration to your child to try to read, then spending more time on phonics is a good idea. If the very first book of the set is too easy, but the middle section of the Emerging Reader's Set is about right, then just start in the middle. If the very last book (which is "The Courage of Sarah Noble") is quite easy for your child, and if your child can easily answer some comprehension questions based upon what he/she has read to you, then, your child is ready for "Drawn into the Heart of Reading" Level 2/3. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie