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Getting ready to order Bigger for starting homeschooling with my 3rd grader. She's a great reader and is above her expected reading level. So, my plan is to get DITHOR for her reading program, and I think a level 3. So as I can see it, these books are genre based with one or two books per genre, so I can order the level 3 book pack, or use my own from the suggested reading list, right? If I do this, do I need the Deluxe package of readers with Bigger? Those appear to be genre based as well. And then where does the Extension pkg fit in? My goal is to economize as much as I can!

TIA!!!

Amy,

I asked this same question when I was looking at what I'd need with my ds. Here are the answers I got... viewtopic.php?f=12&t=411

I am now in the middle of using Bigger and DITHOR with my 8 yo ds. We are loving it!! You're in for some fun! The storytime and DITHOR are both genre-based and they do cover some of the same things. The same character quality and story element are focused on while doing the genres. (For example...when you read your biography you'll focus on the character and "responsibility".) But there are ideas in each that are not covered in the other. We love doing both! The other, probably obvious, difference is that for storytime you - the parent - are reading and for DITHOR your child is reading. If you follow the plans in the guide, storytime doesn't take much time during your day. You're reading the same book for 20 days and it probably takes us 10-15 minutes per day. In the back of the Bigger guide there is a list of 4 suggestions for possible books for each genre. If you need to economize, I'd try getting your storytime books from the library. (This doesn't work for me as my library isn't real big and I can't keep interlibrary loan books for more than a week.)

If you need to economize, I'd for sure say to do Bigger as is and not try the extension pack for your 8 yo. She fits right in the middle of the target age range for it. (Although those books all look SOOO good! I had a hard time deciding not to use them. But, our day is going so well and we really don't need to add on any more time!) I bet when you actually get the guide and get started you'll be pleasantly surprised at how meaty it is.

Kathleen

Thanks Kathleen! A very helpful link!!! It's clear now. And a good reminder about not trying to jam too much into our day. My hope is to begin in January with Bigger, school through summer (somewhat) and get her started in Preparing for 4th grade next fall. That's the plan anyways...

I am lucky to have a pretty good library, although I hate to depend on books being there when I need them, so I am trying to find them where I can. We have Half Price Books, so I've found some there, and also Paperback Swap. I really want to own all of them too! And I really like some of the books in that extension pack. Who knows, we may try to find some of them just for fun!

Thanks again!!!