question about Bigger book sets

[zookeeperof3monkeys]

Hi Ladies!
I searched the boards and couldn't find the answer to my question so here goes. My 10 yr old ( 5th grade) son will be starting Bigger this fall. He loves to read. We are doing Beyond now and he's reading aloud the emerging readers ( so I can correct pronunciations), the boy interest for school time and the classic set AND library books for FUN. He's not ready for Preparing or CTC because we are still de public schooling him and working on basic skills he needs to catch up on like grammar and handwriting.Also, I don't think he's ready to do independent work. And my son told me to PLEASE order him Bigger...he even said he'd (gasp) CLEAN HIS ROOM if I order it He's asked me every day for 2 weeks if I've ordered "his box" yet.

For Bigger this fall HE wants me to order all of the packages except for the girl interest. This would mean ordering economy, science add on, basic,classic set, boy interest set, extension AND he wants DITHOR 4/5 boy book pack. I'm not kidding, this kid likes to read. I was thinking that I could do the economy, science, basic, classic & extension packs as school time, and put the boy interest & DITHOR sets on a book shelf for free reading time. Does this sound like a decent plan or is it to much? FYI my husband said and I quote" ORDER THEM ALL" lol It's not about not spending the money, book buying is my hobby lol I just don't want to overwhelm him. I do have two younger children so the books will be used again.

I have one other question, for vocabulary in Bigger, is it better to do the index card w/ box & tabs or a composition notebook?? I'm considering adding English from the roots up and that uses index cards.

Thanks, I appreciate any thoughts.
Blessings,
Kim

[Geo]

Kim,
Well, what are you waiting for? Order it all! Even if your son needed to lighten up a bit
down the road, that is easily done. Seeing that he is so highly motivated, that probably won't
be necessary. I am greatly encouraged by your testimony, as my 10yo 5th grader will be working
through the same schedule in Bigger next term. However, since we are new to HOD, I was going to
ease her into DITHOR after she finds her stride.

Enjoy,
Geo

[zookeeperof3monkeys]

Geo,
Well, I guess I needed reassurance that ordering 54 books for one school year wasn't completely nuts! My son is so excited to start Bigger,he's told his friends about this "really cool school work Mom found." We aren't using DITHOR This year, I'm with you we are easing into it. The Bigger plans have a mini DITHOR written in. I'm going to use those and see how it goes. Carrie has written in the storytime plans some really neat ideas.

I hope your daughter enjoys her year with Bigger. The only reason we haven't started yet is we are still doing Beyond.We are new to HOD too.
I hop you have a great weekend! Thanks for replying to me.
Kim

[gotpeace91]

zookeeperof3monkeys said,
"my husband said and I quote" ORDER THEM ALL" lol"

Sigh...Oh if only. You are so blessed to have a dh that says "order them all" and a child who loves to read.
I wound up ordering three quarters of our books through other venues in order to try to keep the cost down for dh. It was NOT worth it! 5 sellers said they no longer had the book I ordered so I had to go back and order those. One place I ordered from split my order into 3 parts and shipped the third one late. They did not charge until they shipped so I got in a little trouble with dh because he thought the payments were all done as did I. AND I still have 20 books at the library that I have to Hope are not checked out when I'm ready for them. Needless to say, I have started saving now for next year so I can order it all from HOD.

All that to say this, Count your blessings and Order Those Books! As you say, you have littler ones who will eventually need them anyway.

[zookeeperof3monkeys]

My dh is a good guy. We had a really rough 3 years and were not financially stable, things are much better now...knock on wood. Still being cautious about spending right now.I gave up a lot of things I used to do to save money, and now that we are doing better my hubby wants to make it up to me. With Beyond I only bought the economy & basic packages then I bought the 4 books out of the emerging and deluxe sets my library didn't have. This has been a hassle, the book I need being checked out, etc etc. That's the main reason he told me to just buy them all. He's tired of hearing me complain about not having a book I need. I am grateful to have a child that loves to read and a husband who understands my need to own the books. My husband is dyslexic and he's thrilled that our son reads so well.

I know what you mean about book orders, I ordered 10 books from amazon and they split it into 4 shipments and took a month for them to all arrive.I have a love/hate relationship with online shopping. On the one hand it's great to not have to take the kids out to go to store after store, on the other hand I really hate to pay for something and then wait weeks for it to arrive.

Thanks for replying to my message. I'm going to take the big plunge after payday.

[my3sons]

Bigger Hearts is just THAT GOOD! I ordered them all too, and I got them from HOD. They use priority shipping so it always comes right away and in good condition. Plus, they help so much through email, phone, and the board that I feel it is a ministry I am giving to when I order from them. Giving back for what they give - I guess! Anyway, I think you'll love all of those great books; you'll have to hide them, maybe under lock and key, until you start, and then reveal one little gem at a time.

In Christ,
Julie

[threegreatkids]

Reading this thread makes me want to order more book sets!!! Hmmm, maybe if the budget allows I can order some for summer and take advantage of the offer for the free devotional book. I'd really like to get that!
Does anyone else hate real-life shopping (ie the mall) and adore on-line book shopping, especially HOD books?

[zookeeperof3monkeys]

I already had to hide the Bigger Guide! My son was reading it going..wow...cool. Can we start now? lol I think we have definitely hit on a good thing here!

I have the devotional book, it's great! I just want to know when the next volume of it is coming out I am going to order everything but the girl interest set. I'm still on the fence about ordering the DITHOR program even though I'm buying the book pack. My husband feels that it would be "dissecting" the books and take away John's love for reading. I'm still thinking on that one.

I LOVE online shopping, just hate waiting for my order to come. I've tried getting the HOD books at local bookstores, all they tell me is "we can order it for you" I might as well just order it all on one place! Have to add, I love the books, which is why I'm ordering so many I online shop for everything but groceries, that is available where I live but I do like to pick out my own food.Although, if we have many more kids, I might start ordering groceries too. I just ordered all of our summer clothes from old navy online..yippee. I wonder if the post man hates me??
Thanks to all of your ladies for replying to me and have a great day.
Kim

[my3sons]

I'm still on the fence about ordering the DITHR program even though I'm buying the book pack. My husband feels that it would be "dissecting" the books and take away John's love for reading. I'm still thinking on that one.

I love online shopping too - what did we do before we could online shop?!? I wanted to encourage you as you'd voiced your dh's concern about "dissecting" books and how that can discourage dc's passion for reading. Prior to using DITHR, I found many programs that did just that, and it made me sad. Then, I began using DITHR - and it was exactly the opposite of those programs I'd been discouraged with before. I posted awhile ago about why I love using DITHR (I can't remember when - I'm coming up on my 8th. year of using DITHR in some way, shape, or form! ). I thought I'd paste that post here so you can see how DITHR is refreshingly different from other reading programs, and why it still has a special place in my heart as we continue to use it each year with new books.

We have used DITHR for many years, and we're still excited about using it again next school year. It is just a joy to teach, and it really does so much to teach my dc about wonderful literature from every genre, as well as teaching them comprehension skills, story elements, and character trait skills.

We do DITHR 3 days a week, and it takes about 30 minutes a day (although I only help with about half or less of the 30 min.). Any prep. I have for this takes 5 minutes or less (usually making a copy of the workbook page, or grabbing a few items from around the house). I use the Guide and Level 2/3 of the student books. We are going through 5 of the 9 genres this year. (Last year, we did DITHR 3 days a week with Level 2/3 as well, but we did the other 4 genres.) So, in 2 years, I will have taught all 9 genres of Level 2/3. (Many moms do DITHR daily, and do all of Level 2/3 twice, just using harder books the second year of doing it. So that is an option too.) I only have one child in DITHR this year, however, I will soon have one child in Level 2/3 and one child in Level 4/5.

I also tutored for 3 years using DITHR with multiple children in multiple levels as well, prior to homeschooling my own children. I had 45 min. sessions, and covered several levels during that time. We'd begin by filling out the reading pace sheet with each child. Each "level" of reader read a different book that fit their reading level, but we all did the same genre. The guide lists which level needs the teacher and when. Usually, I started with either Level 2/3 or 4/5, depending what the guide said. The 2/3 level always read out loud to me, and the 4/5 read a page or two to me and read the rest silently. The 6/7/8 only read a paragraph or not at all out loud to me and read silently. Then I gave directions for independent work in their different levels of workbooks, and also did the discussions at that point.

On the "all together" days, which are noted in the guide, we all did the lesson together, each child bringing his own book for the lesson. These "all together" lessons come up once every 5 days of plans or so, except for at the end of each genre when 5 days can be done all together if the group project is chosen. We always chose the group project when I had children in all 3 levels - it was fun and easy to do together!

As far as grading, we don't give grades for it. I do expect my ds to do his very best work on his student book pages and his projects - and he is not finished until his best work is shown. I use the Appendix's tips to help him become a good oral reader.

As far as what I love about DITHR.... Ahhh, where to begin?!? Well, I realized when I began using DITHR that I was missing entire genres from my home collection of books. I guess I was buying genres I loved. I have all boys, so you can imagine the genres I love are not typically the genres my boys love! That was a big realization for me. The balance of reading from every genre consistently was a huge bonus for me. I also like to choose what my children will read and the pace we are going to read at. It is important to me that my children continue to LOVE reading.

Through tutoring, I realized that many children start out loving reading, and begin to almost hate it over time if it is taught in a way that makes them do TOO much with a book (i.e. if they had to do their spelling, vocabulary, worksheet after worksheet, questions upon questions, creative writing, book reports... overload!). DITHR is NOT like that. The questions are well-chosen (according to Bloom's Taxonomy, I believe), but they are short and do not take forever to discuss. The worksheets are more like graphic organizers, and they are always different (you know how some curriculums reuse their workbook pages over and over - kids get tired of that just like we do!).

The kickoff and the wrap-up projects are an awesome way to keep the love of reading flowing too. They require little or no real preparation, and the amount of days planned for them is more than adequate. Plus, they're just plain fun (and this is coming from a gal who doesn't really love projects all that much)! I had 6th. grade boys that I tutored that had begun to hate reading that grew to love it again because of DITHR and the kickoffs and wrap-ups! The character trait is another thing I love. I like linking everything I can to Biblical training, and DITHR already does that for me in a very natural, meaningful way. It gives us a plan for talking about book characters who make wrong choices.

I love the book packages that HOD carries as well. Sometimes I've used them completely, or subbed in books for the ones we'd already read; and other times I've used the Sample Book Ideas list HOD carries to choose books.

Finally, I enjoy teaching reading in a way that almost feels like how I'd talk to my best friend about a great book I was reading. It's conversational... sort of like a book club... only with all of the parts of the story, genres, etc. taught and woven into it.

In Christ,
Julie

[zookeeperof3monkeys]

Julie,
Wow, you made me want to buy it.It sounds great and better than what we are doing now .Which is check out books that he's interested in from the library, then he tells me what he liked or didn't like about the book. The program does sound good...it even sounds fun! and would help us to pick out more than books about sea creatures ( son's phase for the last 8 yrs). I never thought about choosing books by genre, we just pick what we like...boy, that sounds like we are in a rut! I will be showing your post to my dh and see what he thinks. He generally lets me do what I want but he informed me just yesterday that he did NOT like the italic script and he would appreciate it if I'd teach regular cursive. (big sigh here we have been working hard on italic). I will be seeking his okay to add that to my list...which is now quite long...since I now have to bu a cursive program too.

Thank you so much for explaining it to me. It really sounds great.I'll start begging tomorrow
Blessings,
Kim

[my3sons]

I will pray for you as you speak to dh about this! May the Lord guide you to the decision that is best for you and your family. I will say that DITHOR is the single best thing we have done to take our dc's reading to the next level. There comes a point when dc read so well, that they can read almost anything you put in front of them. As parents, we are left asking, "Now what?", wondering what comes next. DITHOR is what comes next, and it gives dc skills to improve their reading by leaps and bounds. I was just looking at high school lit. programs, looking ahead for what we need to prepare our dc to do. It's tough stuff! I kept feeling a sense of peace though, because I could see DITHOR is more than adequately preparing my dc for what is to come. I just wanted to share that with you, and with other families reading the board, so when our dc are older we can just enjoy our teaching knowing they are prepared for the rigor of upper level learning.

In Christ,
Julie

[Kathleen]

I have one other question, for vocabulary in Bigger, is it better to do the index card w/ box & tabs or a composition notebook?? I'm considering adding English from the roots up and that uses index cards.

We used index cards and a file box last year for our vocabulary. That worked great for us! I liked that Grant had to alphabetize the words as he put them away. (We actually couldn't find any of the alphabet tabs to put in our box, and it still worked well. Wal-Mart just got some now though, so I snatched them up to use this next year when we do Preparing. )

We were 1st time DITHOR users last year, too. It was a wonderful experience for us! Grant and I both loved it! I know if you decide to give it a try you'll be pleased (and your little reader will too).

Kathleen

[my3sons]

I have one other question, for vocabulary in Bigger, is it better to do the index card w/ box & tabs or a composition notebook?? I'm considering adding English from the roots up and that uses index cards.

We used index cards and a file box last year for our vocabulary. That worked great for us! I liked that Grant had to alphabetize the words as he put them away. (We actually couldn't find any of the alphabet tabs to put in our box, and it still worked well. Wal-Mart just got some now though, so I snatched them up to use this next year when we do Preparing. )

We were 1st time DITHOR users last year, too. It was a wonderful experience for us! Grant and I both loved it! I know if you decide to give it a try you'll be pleased (and your little reader will too).

Kathleen

In my zeal for DITHOR, I forgot to respond to your question about vocabulary cards. We also used index cards and a file box for vocabulary (in both Bigger Hearts and PHFHG). We bought the alphabet tabs at Walmart too, along with the index cards and recipe box. It worked very well, and my ds has alphabetizing down pat now.

In Christ,
Julie

[zookeeperof3monkeys]

Kathleen and Julie,
Thank you ladies! I thought the file box would work better but we put everything into binders,so I was considering it. It's a very good point about being able to alphabetize while using the file boxes. They just went on my list!
I'm going to take the plunge and get DITHOR. My husband told me to do what I want since I'm the teacher. My last question is which level should I start him at? He does read on a 5th grade level (he's in 4th) but since we've never done a formal reading program I'm leaning towards starting with the level 2/3 book. I *think* I'd rather start him out at a lower level to get a feel for the program. Can I use the 4/5 book pack with the level 2/3 student book? I'm so excited about starting Bigger & DITHOR this year!! I had to hide the catalog, my son was reading it, wanting me to order books from the other packages! Thank you Ladies for giving me advice. I appreciate it.
Kim

[Kathleen]

My last question is which level should I start him at? He does read on a 5th grade level (he's in 4th) but since we've never done a formal reading program I'm leaning towards starting with the level 2/3 book. I *think* I'd rather start him out at a lower level to get a feel for the program. Can I use the 4/5 book pack with the level 2/3 student book? I'm so excited about starting Bigger & DITHOR this year!! I had to hide the catalog, my son was reading it, wanting me to order books from the other packages!

Kim,

I think you're right on to start with the 2/3 level of DITHOR with him. And, I'm going to be doing exactly what you are...using the 4/5 book pack with the 2/3 student book this year. The 2/3 student book has less writing involved than the 4/5 student book. I looked it over at the convention I went to, and Grant isn't quite ready for more writing there. I think your plan sounds perfect!

I love that you had to hide the catalog from him so he didn't ask for more books! My son hasn't swiped my HOD catalog...but he loves to browse Cabela's big dictionary size catalog that we have.

Happy ordering!
Kathleen

By the way, did you see that there are DITHOR packages? You can order the teacher's guide (that you'll only have to buy once, forever), student book, and suggested book list in a package and save a little. They're on the DITHOR page.