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I have a few questions. I already bought the curriculum I'll use next year for 6th and 7th graders, so I can't do any switching yet. I am considering using DITHOR alongside a few of the books that they will be reading. Is this possible? We're using Sonlight's Eastern Hemisphere core. While I don't want to analyze each book we read, I do want to use more literary terms with the girls to start getting them ready for more beefy analyses in high school. Sonlight hasn't done this yet in the cores we've done, and I want some hand-holding and not just plunked down in the middle of it.

Okay, onto the next question. My currently 12-year-old daughter reads well, but is dyslexic and has to work very hard to do so. Sonlight is getting to be too much reading, and we are constantly behind. I have taken out several books each core, and I just don't want to do this. At this age, I feel confident in leaving books out, but as she grows, I don't know which ones to leave in and which to take out. Then it will mess up the flow of the curriculum and we would be off and flipping back and forth between the guide, and so on. It's just a pain and not very peaceful! I fear going further into the curriculum will just be too much and she'll spend too much time on history and literature in comparison with math and writing, etc. It just has to be more balanced with her. Does that make sense? I really like the simplicity of the Heart of Dakota guides with everything laid out and easy to see, and it seems to be more balanced. So my question: What would I do next year with her in 8th grade? I could do another SL core like G (Ancient/Medieval) or W (ancient to current history) or something else in HOD?

I will also have a 7th and 4th grader that year (2016/2017). Should I separate them if we do HOD? I'm really thinking about this now in preparation for high school coming soon, and my choices need to get ready for a world history credit, world geography credit, and American history credit. I'm so very confused, even though we've been homeschooling since oldest was in Kindergarten. And scared!

As for which guides to use for your children, the first place to start is the placement chart (http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php). Proper placement is key to having HOD work well. Once you have determined where your children are on the placement chart, come back and let us know. It probably won't be a clear cut decision on where they each place, but the helpful moms here can help!
As for getting the correct credits, that is fairly easy with HOD. If your child is ready for World Geography as a 9th grader, it is SUPER easy. Carrie has planned the last four guides to meet and exceed almost all graduation/college requirements. If your child isn't ready for World Geography, it is still fairly easy to get the required credits. Some families have used CtC through MtMM for high school. Others start somewhere in the middle of that and then use some of the "high school" guides as well. It is not uncommon at all for families to use Rev2Rev and/or MtMM for high school American History, Government, and Economics credits (used for 9th/10th grades).

Don't be scared God loves you and has equipped you to give exactly what your precious dc need. If I could say one thing about HOD, it is this...you will find peace and absolute honor of God in this curriculum. I would be tempted to return the other and jump in with HOD according to where dc place in the charts, but that is my two cents. I'm sure you will get lots of help and encouragement here. I will be praying for wisdom

Well, I can certainly tell you where she is now, but I'll have to come back to truly get a good idea of where she is next school year. Right now, she has just begun outlining, takes long dictation passages, has not used DITHOR and has not done formal literary analysis. Oh, she also can write an 8-10 sentence narration easily.

Anyone have any comments on using DITHOR with books she's going to be reading? How many books should I have her use it with?

Thank you for the kind encouragement. I really need it now! She is needing to be more independent, and I just don't know where to start with her. She gets all of her basic subjects done by herself with help here and there, but since her reading is so labor-intensive, she often needs discussions and/or lecture type times to help understand writing. I tried a program where she was to read several pages of instruction, and it was a horrible mistake. She was in tears, as she had a hard time just reading a literature selection, let alone all the instructions. Anyway, thanks for the responses!

DITHOR is shceduled 3 days a week in Preparing through MtMM. That means you will complete 5 books through the year. You can use what ever level of books is best for her. They should be books she can read fluently, as the literary analysis the the focus. It is okay if you have to start at a lower level, as DITHOR is independent of the rest of the guide. I would start with either the 2/3 or 4/5 workbook regardless of what guide you use.
As for which guide, I would look at the first weeks of RtR and Rev2Rev. See which one is a better fit for her in terms of workload, etc. HEre are the links ot the first week PDF as well as the introduction to both guides:
RtR: http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/rtr-we ... glance.pdf and http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/rtr-toc-intro.pdf
Rev2Rev: http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/Rev2Rev-first-week.pdf and http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/Rev2Re ... uction.pdf