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I have a question about our upcoming year. I have a 10 yr. old that will be doing CTC and DITHR at level 4/5. I also have two younger kids (8 and 6.5) that will be doing Beyond together. The older of those two, will also be doing DITHR at level 2/3. He will be in third grade, a little older for that guide, and I know he will benefit from the DITHR program. I had originally thought they could do the DITHR together with me during the same half hour time slot in our schedule. It just dawned on me recently, that the oldest will only be doing DITHR three days a week and only going through five genres this year. I thought I would have my third grader do all of the books in the level 2 book pack with his DITHR this coming year. How do I schedule these two children to do DITHR together, if they are accomplishing two totally different schedules for it? One is going half speed and the other full speed.

I really need this to work into the same half hour spot for the rest of my schedule to work out well. (This may make me sound particular or fussy, but I'm not! ) Generally speaking, our schedule will be more of a routine than anything. Not so, "minute-by-minute" based. But I still need to know how to make our time work for this program. I had originally thought we would just do it all together. The older one could do his silent reading, while the younger one would read to me. Then when he was done, the older could read the last portion of his aloud to me. And then on the All Together days, we would work together. But if they are in different genres, how do I do it?

I appreciate any help!

In Christ,

Lisa

You could switch it up so that they are in the same genre at the same time.You don't have to go through the book in order. This won't take care of the full-speed/half-speed difference but it will help at least some of the time. Just a thought.

Lisa,

The only way I can see to keep them in the same time slot would be to have the younger one match the pacing of the older. Otherwise, they won't ever fall together. And, that half hour will be used for other things besides DITHOR for the older one doing CTC that you'll have to help teach.

Maybe you could pick some good books that your 8 yo reads for fun and listen to that child read aloud to you on the off days of DITHOR? Or...maybe you could add DITHOR as a "Friday activity" so that you'd be doing it 4 days per week and only have one off. This would let you get through a few more genres during the year - maybe 7?

Kathleen

I have actually scheduled my boys to have DITHR and Dictation time during that half hour. That is all. Each of them have R&S English that will be taught at a different time in the morning. So there isn't anything else within that half hour to be accomplished-only the DITHR and dictation for the older . I thought I could get the older one started and then work with the younger son, and finishing with the older son and his dictation.

CTC has DITHR scheduled three times weekly for a good reason, and I don't want to change that and make his workload more by doing it an extra day each week. However, I do need to keep working on reading advancement with the younger son, as he really needs work in this area. I really feel he is ready for the beginning levels of DITHR. It's a great program and will promote him to grow in many ways. I just need some help in figuring how to do this.

In Christ,

Lisa

Lisa,

I was probably confusing in my post. What I was meaning is that Carrie plans the boxes to be a consistent time each day. So...the LA box in CTC will have dictation, DITHOR, English, & Write With the Best scheduled in an alternating way (and none used every day) so that the time needed for that box evens out to be about the same all week.
On Day 1 you'll do dictation, DITHOR & English
Day 2 DITHOR & WWTB
Day 3 Dictation & WWTB
Day 4 Dictation, DITHOR & English

My suggestion about adding a day of DITHOR was only to use if you're using CTC the 4 days a week it's planned. (I know that some moms do 5 day weeks by moving on to the next day in the plans. If that's what you're planning to do, then that idea wouldn't work.) But, if you're planning to use CTC 4 days per week, I know that we use the extra day to add in other academic things that we'd like to get to but don't put on our normal HOD days. So, adding in DITHOR on this extra day wouldn't seem like too much at all. Carrie left it free for families to decide what to do with every year.

Kathleen

You've already gotten some good ideas here! The ladies are so helpful on this board. Kathleen already shared one of them - doing DITHOR the scheduled 3 days a week, and then adding a fourth time on the fifth day, as CTC only has a 4 day plan and Beyond has a 5 day plan. This would be a happy medium for your 2 dc, as CTC has it scheduled 3 times, and Beyond 5 times, so 4 times seems like a nice in the middle way to go about doing it.

Another option would be to do it 3 days a week with the 2 of them, and just have your Beyond child reading on the other 2 days of the week. We actually did this to ease my ds into DITHOR, and it worked well. You would only get through half of the genres this way, but that's just fine.

Still another option would be to do it 5 days a week with the 2 of them, and just have your CTC child do it more often. I'm thinking this could make the writing more heavy than it needs to be though, as CTC has a nice balance in place for reading/writing requirements each day.

A final option would be just to do them separately, with your CTC child doing DITHOR 3 x a week getting through 1/2 the genres, and with your Beyond child doing DITHOR 5 x a week getting through all the genres. Sometimes it's nice to do a year like this to put focus on the younger child's reading.

DITHOR is super flexible this way, so any of these options would work well. We have enjoyed DITHOR for many, many years, and I know you will too! HTH as you ponder what's the right pacing for you and your dc

In Christ,
Julie

Thanks Kathleen, and Julie for helping me with this decision. I have two of those options in mind as real possibilities. I'll have to think on it some more before I know for sure which one will work the best for my boys. I really appreciate your willingness to help!

My younger son is reading well, but could use the daily practice and using the DITHR program will undoubtedly help him in comprehension and godly character training. I am leaning in the direction of doing DITHR five days a week. If we did it this way (because CTC only schedules 4 days), on the fifth day my oldest son would only have DITHR and his math to do, and I don't think that will be any problem at all. So really, for him it would only be one extra day of DITHR than he would normally have scheduled (other than day 5). I'll have to check out that day and make sure that it won't be too much reading/writing for him. If it is, I'll have to go with another plan. He is very mature for his age and has always excelled in his schoolwork. Another option would be to do it four days/week. The fourth day being day 5 and then it wouldn't really disrupt his normal CTC schedule. I can see either plan working for us. In time, I'll get it figured out!

I am so looking forward to starting with HOD. Since finding this curriculum, I have been blessed beyond belief. The way God has completely worked out the circumstances surrounding returning previously bought curriculums, and leading us to HOD. I love this curriculum. It's so complete and well thought out. Thank you HOD!!!

In Christ,

Lisa

Lisa,

The ladies have done a great job of helping you talk through some options, each with benefits. I'm so glad that you'll get a chance to use HOD this upcoming year and pray the Lord will bless you richly as you journey.

Blessings,
Carrie