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We will be starting this fall and I am a bit intimidated. I have been reading previous threads that say just start and it is vey doable. However, it looks like it takes so much time, especially the projects and I don't want to burn out my oldest. He loves reading right now. We are on the 2nd to last book of the ER's and he has taken off with reading in his free time. He is not a project person and while he is very capable of writing, his hand tires easily (he has CP). So, those of you that start DITHOR with 7 yr. olds, how do you do it? Do you skip and/or modify some things like a DITHOR lite? Or, do you only do 4-5 genres a yr and let them read for fun in between?

Also, do you do the same genre as your story time and if so, do you combine the kick-off? For example, when we start our Beyond Biography, the kickoff is the same as one of the choices for the DITHOR biography. Can I just do the one kickoff or do I need to pick another one for DITHOR?

I Dithor with my 7yr old. I know that her handwriting will be sloppy-ish, and her drawing will leave me guessing, but We talk it out and she get's about 90% of it I choose books just above her comfort zone to keep her challenged. You don't HAVE to do the projects, though each project does teach some great skill sets. The projects take a full week, so a nibble a day, and it really doesn't take that long. I didn't use the teachers guide for the first 4 months, and just had them do the reading to start. It helped to get them used to adding scheduled reading to their day, and being accountable to finish larger books. But once I added in the teachers guide and did the days with them, It made it so much better!! Well duh! Honestly, it doesn't take that much time, and it's only You or I that would feel frustrated because we want/need to be doing something else. But really, it's good for all around Take heart Mama! They care so much more capable than we think they are

My DD was 7 when we started. I know some people don't start DITHR right when they start for the fall, or when they start a new guide. I can see how that would make the school day seem long. So if you don't do that, then you're off with the genre's/kickoffs. We are a bit behind in DITHR than storytime in Bigger, so its interesting that a lot of the questions/activities do kind of repeat but it's good for her because otherwise she would probably have an even harder time remembering what "diligence" is.

There are different project options (you've already looked it over obviously). So if a presentation and crafty project isn't your son's cup of tea, maybe the character project, or I think there's even a 3rd option though that one seems to be a group project and right now I only have 1 doing DITHR so I would do it with her. I was saving group projects for when I have more than one doing it!

I do a lot of the workbook pages orally with my DD instead of having her write them without my help. Two reasons. First, she wasn't really capable at first of thinking through the stories/questions the way she should be. It took some prodding. Now she is much better and she also understands the story elements - character, setting, etc. Also handwriting was hard for her and I was trying to lighten that load. Now she can probably do the writing, her handwriting is much smaller and neater than it was, but she likes that I help her with it. We've had some good discussions. Sometimes the book suggests discussing and writing on the white board, so that the discussion isn't hampered by your child having to write, and then they can copy it on the worksheet in the book. Anyway, it's not as difficult or overwhelming as it seems, I know I was a little intimidated by it but once I got going it is easy to use, just like the other HOD programs.

When I first did DITHOR with my oldest I'm pretty sure she was 7... maybe a young 8. Either way I wrote down a large portion of the answers for her at first, then after a few genres I wrote them on another paper for her to copy. Then she started writing her own. DD2 has started DITHOR now and is writing all her answers on her own as a young 8. Different children.

My oldest also wasn't a strong reader, still isn't, so I had her do it half pace for a while. I split the reading sections into 30 sections instead of 15 and just did the workbook every other day. I don't have to do that with my second. My oldest also is reading level 3 readers right now and doing DITHOR 4/5 work. It works better for her that way.

The way I do it now is different. For ME it's just too much in one day to add in two DITHOR lessons and it was just being dropped. So the way I do it now, since we school year round anyway, is I do about 5-6 weeks of their regular guides (CTC and Bigger) and then three weeks of DITHOR with English and Math (along with Greek and AWANA). It works really well for us, gives us a slight break every once in a while, and it actually gets done. I do have them do the project week during their regular guides because that's not really much work each day.

Thanks ladies for the responses. Since ds is on his last ER book, I think we will go ahead and move on to DITHOR as soon as he is finished, even though we are still in the last few weeks of LHFHG. I think what Melissa pointed out about how starting Beyond and DITHOR at the same time can appear overwhelming is exactly how I am feeling. So, hopefully staggering the start of the two guides will ease the transition for both ds and myself . Thanks again!

bethelmommy wrote:...staggering the start of the two guides will ease the transition for both ds and myself

We did this and really enjoyed fully devoting ourselves to each 'start!' It was fun! I think you have made a great decision here. As far as the writing goes, we too started with me doing the writing, then with ds copying a portion of the writing from a markerboard I wrote on and me writing the rest, and then with ds doing the writing, with me next to him with a markerboard to help with spelling as he asked for help. The books HOD picks are really top-notch. They drew my kids in and have kept their passion for reading alive all the way through 8th grade! That's a tall order. I really appreciate the book choices the most at the upper levels, as the great book choices - that align with our values - get fewer and farther between. Enjoy DITHOR! You have lots of great memories to make ahead of you.

In Christ,
Julie