DITHOR - way behind, and need to catch up

[Tabitha]

We are severely behind in DITHOR. We were into the first genre, and I dropped it. Same for the storytimes.

My reasons...we had a 3 month house guest from Germany who made our house crazy. My oldest is in BHFHG (one using DITHOR), 6 yo in LHFHG and a 3yo. My 6 yo has been sick with immune system issues for over a year. We found out in the fall that she is gluten and casein intolerant...and just last week I found out she needs to be off corn too. So, all my time is devoted to keeping up with her diet and detoxing her...and just covering the basics with homeschooling (which is everything but reading).

I just have no energy and no time for the reading, esp. the ones I need to read aloud.

We are in week 17 in BHFHG...I want to catch us up in DITHOR.

Here is what I'd like to do:

I am going to let my dd just read, read, read. I'll stop her every so often and we'll discuss the questions and do a few sheets at a time in the DITHOR manual. Then at night, she can read one of the extra readers for that genre that we have. She is a reading nut, and can easily have a book done in just a few nights.

Since she loves to read so much, we can work through this at a good (don't want to say fast) pace.

Then once my time constraints are lifted, I can pick up doing the read-alouds at night or sometime in the afternoon when (if) we get some downtime.

Is there anything wrong with letting my dd just read her heart out at her own pace, and working DITHOR around that?

Thx!

[Samuel'sMommy]

I don't have any advice for you since we won't be using DITHOR for a few more years. But, it sounds like you have been very busy and I will be praying for things to calm down and for you to get a routine going soon!

[Mommamo]

Personally, I don't think I'd rush to try to catch up with DITHOR. I haven't used it yet, but from what I've heard about it, I don't think it's something to rush. If it were me, I think I would just start back into it and try to be consistent. Maybe you could keep going with DITHOR through the summer if you normally take a summer break? On top of that, I'd have her just read a bunch for fun, but not necessarily for DITHOR. I'd also try to work in the story time, maybe at the end of the day or during lunch?

I'm so sorry that you've had such a hard time recently. I know how difficult things can get when everything seems to happen at once. But personally I wouldn't add to that stress by playing catch up. But sometimes I think I'm too laid back in that regard, and my oldest is only 5, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

[8arrows]

I would just pick up where you left off with DITHOR also. I also agree that lunch or bedtime would be a great time to restart the read alouds.

[Carrie]

Tabitha,

You have had a crazy year! First of all, I wouldn't worry about rushing DITHR to catch up. I would agree with the ladies to just begin where you are and move forward. Many moms don't even begin to use DITHR until the upper elementary years or even middle school years, and they recover just fine.

DITHR is one of those programs that can flex well with you. If you've had a tough year getting it in, then perhaps next year it becomes more of a priority. To finish out the year, I'd work on getting to it 3 days a week if possible. Then, you can still have your daughter read her heart out at bedtime. That's what my boys do. For your DITHR time though, I'd use a short reading (usually one chapter or so) for her to do her DITHR assignment. Using a short reading session keeps the reading short and the assignment shorter and to the point. Keep the book she's reading for DITHR held back and let her loose on the rest.

If you can't work DITHR in this year, then you may be better off just doing the Storytime assignments with the follow-up lessons. This will give you a mini-DITHR session each day and will really help with literature study next year. Reading aloud at lunch is a good time to do it around here, as mouths are full and minds are open!

I'd set a realistic goal about adding either DITHR or Storytime to your day for this year, and then work to be consistent with that to finish the year. You'll get another chance next year with Bigger to be more consistent with DITHR and Storytime. Feel good about what you ARE getting done. Some years are just busier and crazier than others!

Anyway, just some food for thought.

Blessings,
Carrie

[my3sons]

Hi Tabitha! I am sorry you have had such a busy year, and I have prayed that it will now slow down and hit an even pace for you. I think you've gotten some good advice here. We are doing DITHR 3 x a week and using short reading segments. It is going very well - and keeping it to 3 x a week and shorter reading assignments has made it easier to do. I have avid readers too - and they read like crazy in their free time. I like that our DITHOR books have been different than their usual kind of reading. Doing the DITHOR books more slowly has had good results at our house. When I ask what are their favorite all-time books, they almost always give me the titles of books they read for DITHOR. I think that's an indication that they secretly enjoy the slower pace of DITHOR - unbeknown to them of course! With Storytime, I read VERY short chapters one crazy year we had. Once I gave up on the idea of trying to catch up on them by reading endless pages - I found I really could get short chapters read during lunch or at bedtime, and even though we weren't getting through a ton of books, we were getting in the great discussions, the genre learning, and bite-sized reading times together - which was better in the long run.

In Christ,
Julie

[Tabitha]

Thanks everyone for the advice.

We are now enduring the stomach flu going through our family, hence my delay in replying. Just once more thing to enjoy (or not) at the moment!

Okay, picking up where we left off with DITHOR...I'll work on that. At night she can let loose on all the extra books. And, getting the storytime done in our afternoon down time. I think I have a great way to work that around the kids taking turns on the computer in the afternoon as well.

We just put together the new horseshoe table in the school room, so the girls have lots of space to spread out their books (and me too!). It'll make my time more efficient with them since I won't be hoping from one desk to the other...and perhaps all that wasted time from before can be put to some good reading sessions!