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I am leaning strongly toward HOD CTC next year. I am trying to figure out where to put my 9yo, 4th grade son in DITHOR (I'll go with 4/5 for my 5th grade dd). He tends to get a little overwhelmed by overly involved instructions, so I'm thinking I should ease him into DITHOR by going with 2/3 instead of 4/5. However, I had the kids tested this spring, and in reading he tests way above grade level in comprehension (7.0). So, should I indeed put him in 2/3? And then what book pack to go with - Level 3, or 4/5 Boys' Interest. Can you use the 2/3 book with a higher level of reader's packs? Thanks again so much for any help.

This is what I'm planning to do with my ds. He tests very high in vocab and comprehension but his physical writing skills are way behind. I'm planning to use the 2/3 student book with him and the 4/5 readers. I will glance at the 4/5 activities and discussion questions and throw in anything I think appropriate but his writing needs to catch up and I want him to feel successful with DITHOR. My goal is to get him to love reading. He still much prefers audio books which are fine but he needs work on reading fluency. Right now he reads a page, then I read a page. I will be thrilled when we get to the point I can send him off with a book and say "read 10 pages" and he will do it. We're getting there, but slooowly.

Tracey,

Last year for "4th grade", we used the 2/3 plans/student book for DITHOR and the 4/5 boy interest pack of books. Our reason for sticking with the 2/3 student book was to keep the writing down. We still had great discussions about the books! Grant really enjoyed them! This kept it enjoyable for us as it gave us that area of school where we were giving his writing time to catch up with his brain (and mouth ).

Kathleen

I agree that doing the 2/3 Student Book for a year, along with the 4/5 Boy Interest Book Pack, would be a great way to start DITHOR, especially if a child's writing skills aren't quite where his reading skills are. The following year, you can do the 4/5 Student Book and plans, and your ds will have had a good foundation upon which to build. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Thanks for everyone's replies. This is what I'm leaning towards doing (what most of you have said), and it's nice to know I can challenge him with his reading, without overwhelming him with analysis and writing. I really appreciate everyone's help!