Reading curriculum choice HOD or BJU

[Johnhazle]

I have a question about reading...2 years ago my son did Bob Jones reading 4 and this past year he did heart of Dakota reading with the workbook 2/3 and did great in both of them. I have Bob Jones reading 5 as well as Heart of Dakota 4/5 workbook... his reading is awesome and can read middle school chapter books no problem, comprehension is great, he is 8, and I was wondering if anyone else has used heart of Dakota and Bob Jones and which one they thought was better to use down the road?

[Gwenny]

I'm pretty sure that everybody on here will recommend going with HOD! DITHR is a great program and the other beauty with using it is that Carrie has the guides planned with using DITHR in mind. The subjects and times are balanced each day in the HOD guide. Any time you use a different program for a subject (which of course you can do!) it can change the balance of time and skills.

[LynnH]

I like DITHOR because you can pick the books that you think your child will enjoy the most. It also uses entire books instead of snippets like BJU. My son isn't a fan of anthologies like BJU. He wants to get to know the characters and relate to them. He can't do that in a 10 page excerpt of a longer book. He also really enjoyed the fun projects at the end of each DITHOR genre.

[sarah_smile07]

Our family used Bob Jones Reading up through 5th grade, & began using DITHOR in 6th grade when we discovered Heart of Dakota. I can see why you are asking this question! Both are such quality programs, yet are definitely different. Bob Jones focuses on specific worksheet questions tailored to each story the child has read, while DITHOR gives a broader overview of general ideas from genres so that the program can be used with a variety of books. My family loved the Bob Jones reading program!! We did, however, choose to use Heart of Dakota & DITHOR as written, for the same reason as one of the parents above had stated - I didn't want to substitute too much & change the dynamic of the program. Am I glad we chose to use DITHOR? YES!! Do I sometimes feel nostalgic when I hear someone say 'Bob Jones Reading? I do.

[Nealewill]

Now that I have used DITHOR, I will never use anything else. I have used other programs prior to finding HOD and they seemed like there was a lot of extra work that I felt like didn't yield as much learning as could be done. I am personally not a fan of "worksheets" for the sake of filling something out to show I read it. So anything where they are asking comprehension questions from reading is out for me. I also like DITHOR much more because it can be used with any book! We own most of the book packs at my house with the exception of a few higher level ones and there are times when my kids do books outside of the ones listed in the pack. We also have the $5 book list and that has been very helpful. I think after discovering the CM philosophy a few years ago and seeing how well it works in my house, that is what we strive for. I know HOD doesn't line up perfectly in every area of CM but it is fairly close. So ....... HOD has basically done the work for me in that sense and I just use what they recommend for each subject.

In addition, because HOD has the kids read so much other stuff - like science and history - I can't imagine adding on a heavy literature load! That is the other blessing of DITHOR. I typically choose the books my kids will read based on the volume they are reading in other subjects. I also flex it with my kids when they start guides. For example, I try not to have my kids doing DITHOR for the first month or so of our school year. I do this because I want to give them an easier first few weeks. We also don't do dictation or math usually the first week to two either. But then come summer time, I will do one genre over the summer - along with some math and a few days of dictation - mainly to fend off boredom. So we still get our 5 books in each year but I can flex the workload easily. I also like, that with DITHOR, I can choose how hard the books are based on the volume of reading they are doing in each subject. So, for example, my oldest starts RtR next week. This is quite a step up in reading volume when compared with the end of the CTC guide. She won't be doing DITHOR for the first 7 weeks or so of this guide and once we do start it back, I have selected the book Freedom Crossing because it is a lower reading level (4.5), she won't need to read more than 10 pages a day, and the print isn't tiny. However, the book she just finished for DITHOR that was paired up the final readings in CTC was The Black Stallion Mystery. This book is longer, the reading level is 6.1, readings are around 15 pages a day and print is teeny tiny. She LOVES the book but I can't imagine her reading this book when pared with the beginning of the RtR guide. My kids aren't those kids who just love to sit and read. They are very sensitive to how much I make them read. I am able to flex DITHOR to make everyone happy all while covering literature in a very balanced approach.

For me - we won't ever be switching. It is definitely my preference. I have looked at other companies as well for lit study prior to finding this and we would never complete them because I felt like there was too much fluff in the other programs. I have 3 kids similar in age and for a long time, I just spent a ton of time investing in their abilities to be able to read. I don't have any time for fluff items! Also - with DITHOR - we all do the same genre and this is one subject I can teach together. My kids love it! On the day we share our projects, my kids crack me up and I think are so cute. They always stand up and speak to the crowd, starting out by saying something like, "Hi, my name is Josie and I read this book. Blah, blah, blah." But I love it because they all have to present to the family together and because the projects at the end of the books really make the kids think about their books one final time in a different light. Plus, I feel like DITHOR is schedule in a balanced way. We only work on the projects for 20 minutes or so at a time. We can take 5 days to complete them. I never feel rushed or behind. I just love it. Never switching LOL!