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I'm currently in Beyond with 3 kids and I'm trying to plan our future studies a bit.

I am planning on doing Bigger next, with the extension packs, but I'm not clear on how to use the extensions. Are these added RA's to be done in addition to the other readers, or are they for your oldest child to read. Also, in Bigger, a few books were in the extension pack and in the regular packs, which confused me even further.

And if these extension packs are to be read by the student, do you then use these same books for the DITHOR program?

Thank you for any help,
Alison in KY

I'm curious too

I believe the extension packs in Bigger are independent supplemental reading for older children. Of course, you can always read them aloud if you wish. I just rechecked the packages list and didn't see any books that are in both packs, so I'm not sure what you meant by that - perhaps you could list specific titles that you think are in both and we could look at that. I know Pedro's Journal is also listed in Preparing.
I suppose the extension books could be used w/ DITHOR, but they do not cover all the genres - most of them are historical fiction or nonfiction.
HTH

Kathy

We are using Bigger with the extensions and DITHOR in the fall. My older ds will read the extension books in his reading time. The books read for DITHOR...even though I could choose the same ones as the read alouds, I am not going to. I want DITHOR to be its own program and have its own elements. I don't want EVERYTHING to be history. If it helps any, we are sticking with mostly "classics" for the read alouds and then more of the "boy books" for DITHOR. We are not following the exact book sets offered here (because I had some of the other books suggested and my older had read some of the books on the list), but in general, we are taking a classics approach to read alouds and a boy book approach to DITHOR this year. The extension pack, again, is just his extras that he will read on his own during his reading time which will take him further in depth with the history and science studies already scheduled in Bigger.

HTH

ETA:

I think she was referring to the books suggested for read alouds vs the books chosen for DITHOR. Some of them do overlap a bit...and they overlap between the programs. My older can read some of the books suggested for DITHOR.. what my younger is having read to him in Beyond, etc. For instance, Cricket in Times Square is a read aloud for beyond, but it is also a suggested read for 4/5 in DITHOR. Same thing with Mr. Poppers Penguins, and a couple others.

Okay, I just confused myself . I had written that the books in the Bigger packages overlap, but that's not what I meant. For example, Pedro's Journal is in the extension package in Bigger and it's in Preparingas as an independent reader in the deluxe package. I was thinking they were in the same package, but one was extension and the other was a reg. reader. I was just messed up on that.

In regards to the above, if you are in preparing and order the deluxe package and the extension package...your child would just do alot more independent reading then?

Correct me if I"m wrong, but wouldn't you need to look ahead on DITHOR to make sure you don't do a RA and then plan having your child read that same book...or does it matter if they've heard it before.

So the idea is that the extension pack is to be read by the student...plus they will be reading Dithor? Is this easily doable by kids (especially in the preparing with extension packs plus the self study plans) and who has recently fell in like with the Hardy Boys books?

IF they are already reading something else, like Hardy boys..is that their fun reading and the other their school reading? I have to tell my son to go read no matter what, so I don't want to overwhelm him with too many stories at one time.

Any ideas?

Alison in KY

Now I'm the one confused - I thought you were planning on using Bigger but your last post asks about the extensions in Preparing. The extensions in the two guides work differently. In Bigger, the extensions are independent reading for older students, or read alouds with youngers if desired. In Preparing, the extension package would be substituted for the deluxe package, which is independent history study, aka the self study plans. You would not order the extensions and the deluxe package unless you were ordering for older and younger students. The Bigger deluxe package is used in the storytime box, just like in Beyond. Any books you may prefer can be used in the storytime box as an alternative to ordering the package. The storytime box in Bigger is like Beyond's, introducing the genres and story elements, so some people wait and start DITHOR full time with Preparing, where the storytime is connected to the history readings, not genre studies and story elements. If you feel like the extension readings plus DITHOR would be too much for your child, you might consider waiting as well.
Clear as mud?

Kathy

Okay, I just confused myself . I had written that the books in the Bigger packages overlap, but that's not what I meant. For example, Pedro's Journal is in the extension package in Bigger and it's in Preparingas as an independent reader in the deluxe package. I was thinking they were in the same package, but one was extension and the other was a reg. reader. I was just messed up on that.

Yes, I was initially asking about Bigger, but I guess what i'm really trying to do is plan ahead to see what will be possible with my 3. I plan on going with Bigger next, using the deluxe package as RA's, the using the extension package for my oldest. This will be for two younger and one older child (7,9, 11 yrs). Then after that I would go with Preparing (at 8,10,12 yrs)...but I didn't understand quite who uses the self study deluxe package and the extension package. And what I was trying to say above is that it looks like if I use the extension packages then some of the books could overlap?


So in the future, with the extension package and IF I chose to do DITHOR...will I then be having a child read the extension books plus the dithor books, and if so, how do you schedule in their other favorite books? Is there a reading schedule for the extension books? Is it light enough so that a child who doesn't love reading, could handle a DITHOR book, an extension book, and possibly something else (like the Hardy boys) or would it be best to stick with the extension books and save the Hardy boy mysteries for summer reading?

Also, an add on question, in DITHOR levels, do you spend one year on level 2/3...so does that mean that the first several months of school are spent reading the level 2 books, then the end of school is doing the level 3...or do you pick one level for the entire year? So you would do level 2 books in one year and level 3 books the next. I didn't know if this was a two year program, or really what the intent behind the 2 levels was.

Thank you for any other advice anyone can give.

Alison in KY

Alison,

The only overlap of books actually scheduled within our guides is within Pedro's Journal (and even that book is scheduled in two different packages in two different years, one for a younger reader and one for an older so that a child would never fit in both categories in both years and wouldn't read it twice).

We do recommend a few other titles more than once, but they are not specifically scheduled in our guide, so it is easy to make an alternate choice from those we have listed if the child has already read that particular title. So, don't worry about overlap.

Next, you may either use our book packs for DITHR or choose your own books, or a combination of both. At our house, we typically lean toward having our kiddos read more classic type titles for DITHR, and then reading Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew type books for fun in the evenings.

The various packages serve different purposes within different guides, which is why you're getting more confused when talking about two different programs. Suffice it to say that you can easily use Bigger Hearts with your kiddos and then move into Preparing Hearts the following year. Within Bigger Hearts, your older child should be able to read the Extension Pack just fine, if he/she is able to read the Hardy Boys series.

Once you get to Preparing Hearts, your younger kiddos would use the Deluxe Package, and your older student would use the Extension Package.

Blessings,
Carrie

Okay, that really helped, thank you Carrie.

I have a couple more questions please. So when we get into Bigger and are doing the extension package with my oldest, is there enough time to also do DITHOR? IF you wanted to give your kids time to read their other fun books how would you schedule that?

Would you just pick the DITHOR level that your child's reading level is...so a 4th grader could use level 3? Also, if you did the level 2/3, are you actually doing level 2 in one year and level 3 in another..or is it working on the level 2 books then the level 3 books...or is it picking 9 books out of the entire package.

If it helps to answer my questions, I would probably be buying your packages instead of doing my own books.

TIA,
Alison in KY