heartofdakota.com

Hello everyone,

A few months ago I introduced myself in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=6747

Since then (only a few months ago), my kids have come a long way! My ds who is 7 in a few weeks has started reading really well and he is taking off in maths etc as well. He has started dictation and spelling of sentences like: "Dad has a lot of dogs and he keeps them in the car" and he gets this all correct. He has a look over the sentence once and then I read it out to him and he gets it first time. I know this is not hard, but I am just letting you know where he is at and that he comprehends dictation. He is nearly finished the alpha book in MUS. He will be on Book C for Getty & Dubay in a few months. After looking closely at the placement chart I think he firmly places in Beyond using the Emerging Readers set. I think he is also ready for R&S 2. I think he is ready for a gentle introduction to grammar. He listens in to his sister's lessons and sometimes answers her questions. Does the appendix have how to use R&S 2 with Beyond? Or would I have to buy the Bigger manual? Or do you think R&S 2 is too much for a 7 year old?

My dd who will be 9 when we start this (beginning of Australian school year in January) I think could do Preparing. She is a strong reader and speller and after looking through the first week of Preparing online, I think she would handle this. She will be on Gamma & Delta in MUS, she has got a fairly good grasp of grammar (nouns, adjectives, adverbs, verbs, word endings, apostrophes etc), she is good at memorising poems etc. I have looked through R&S 2 and I think the majority of it would be revision for her. (I think she could do R&S 3). This is one of the main reasons for me thinking I could go straight to Preparing rather than start with Bigger for her. She can do very thorough narrations of 1 page stories and she is good with dictation. I am also hesitant to do Beyond and Bigger because that would mean that I am always doing each program 2 years in a row and it would be nice to have a break in the middle ...I think. I know she could do Bigger and enjoy it (as it would be our first CM style year) and she could cement a lot of CM skills, but can Preparing do the same? That is, build the skills for future guides? Or does it expect that all the CM skills are solid? Also, if she does do Preparing, what does the reading level numbers stand for? (ie. when picking book packs and it says the right reading level is 3.1-4.5 etc etc) My dd will be in 4th grade (which in Oz is the 5th year of school.) I think she should start in DITHOR 2/3 though as I think 4/5 would be pushing her too far as she is strong in comprehending, but not so much in communicating her thoughts back.

How does this all sound? What else should I be considering? Does my reasoning sound logical?

Thanks soooo much for reading this long post! I am getting very excited about using HOD. My kids are starting to finish up on a lot of their current workbooks and we may start HOD before our next year starts up.

Thanks so much for your thoughts in advance....

Corrie

I can't answer you questions about preparing but I wanted to chime in and say that my 7 year old dd sounds a lot like your son. I bought R&S grammar 2 for my 8 year old but right away started using it for my 7 year old also. She was always jumping in and answering questions etc. I do not have the bigger guide I just do one lesson per day. Each lesson is a two page spread so it's pretty clearly defined. Still, your going to need the Bigger guide next year anyway so if you felt more comfortable having the schedule done for you, you could buy that too. HTH

I can't answer your question about Preparing versus Bigger, but I wanted to say that you can easily do R&S2 with Beyond without a schedule. We did it last year because we had already done the grammar in Beyond. R&S2 is basically scheduled as 1 lesson per day in Bigger. Though you could get the guide for that I don't think it would be necessary. I don't think the R&S2 is too much for a 7 year old, but you might want to just use the gentle grammar lesson that is scheduled once per week in Beyond. It is a very gentle, low-key approach. It does sound like your ds might be ready for dictation and if that is the route you want to go, then for that you might want the Bigger manual for dictation though I think that same dictation list can be found in Preparing so you might end up having the first dictation list anyway. Beyond just contains the spelling lists.

As far as reading levels, the numbers correspond to the grade and month in school. So a 4.3 would be fourth grade, third month. Here in the states that would be the fifth year of school as well since most children go to kindergarten first. Here is a place where you can do a quick reading assessment to see your child's reading level: http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/articles/060899.htm As far as that level being listed with the book, that would refer to the reading level of the book. So if your dd is reading at a 5th grade level then she should be able to read the books in the 4/5 pack. If you are talking about DITHOR specifically, you can do the more advanced books and use the level 2/3 activities if you want. Those activities tend to be a bit simpler with less writing. That is what I am doing for my dd this year. She is a strong reader and has excellent comprehension, but her writing is still more at her grade level which is third. So we are reading books in the 4/5 pack but doing the activities at the 2/3 level. I hope I didn't just confuse you thoroughly!

I hope that answers a few questions and bumps your post up so you can get more answers.

Thank you both so much for your answers.....that helps me a lot!It sounds like I could do R&S 2 with Beyond but I might give it a few weeks with the Beyond grammar and then step it up if I feel he needs more.

With the emerging readers, is there much difference between the 2 bibles? Which one is best?

Thanks pjdbro for the reading info....I think my dd does sound like yours....that is a great suggestion doing the 4/5 readers but with the DITHOR 2/3 activities....thanks.

You're welcome. I'm glad you found it helpful and not confusing.

We used both Bibles here. My ds used the Early Reader's Bible and my dd used the Beginner's Bible. I think the Beginner's Bible is at a slightly higher reading level. The layout is different also. The Early Reader's Bible has a picture on one page and then text on the opposite page whereas the Beginner Bible has pictures and text on the same page. The discussion for the questions for the Early Reader's Bible is in the text and for the Beginner's Bible, you use Carrie's questions in the guide. There are more stories in the Beginner's Bible than in the Early Reader's Bible. They are both great, but I liked the Beginner's Bible better because it had more stories in it and I like Carrie's questions better than the questions in the text of the Early Reader's Bible. You can't go wrong with either!

About Preparing: Your reasoning seems right on track. I would think your dd would do great in Preparing. Last year was our first year using HOD. I jumped into Preparing (I was schooling a 9yo & 10yo), although we had already been following the CM style with the 10 yo. OH, but I continued using Math U See. That being said, I found that Preparing does a GREAT job of training child in the necessary skills for the next guide.

Reading questions: I think that the way DITHOR is set up, your dd would do fine in level 4/5, although may benefit from having an easier reading program (DITHOR 2/3) while learning all the CM narration, dictation, etc. skills. (Although from your thorough description, I almost think she already has a lot of the necessary CM skills). We did what you are describing last year, beginning with DITHOR 2/3, but by mid-year I felt it necessary to move to DITHOR 4/5. The way the program is laid out, it helped my struggling reader reach grade level. Your child is already at grade level, so I am thinking either way would work for her. The reading levels 3.1-4.0 or whatever, represent reading material that is appropriate for those grade levels. The great thing about DITHOR is that even if you use DITHOR 2/3 you can pick books at your dc's reading level. So, if she is in 4th grade and reading at grade level then you can buy one of the reading packs for level 4/5 (or any books you deem appropriate) and use with DITHOR 2/3 or 4/5. We did that last year.

Sorry this is so "long-winded."

Oh no, not long winded at all! That is great! I did the reading level tests with my daughter this morning and she is at about 4.8 so I definitley need to go the level 4/5 books but I think I will start with DITHOR 2/3 and as suggested, I can move her up if needed when I feel her skills have improved! It is great to hear you started at Preparing and have had no troubles adapting to the skills required. I love that HOD is so flexible and able to work with each child's needs so well!

Thank you pjdobro for your bibles description....that is exactly what I was looking for in re to information....thank you!

I have ordered! Very excited! My daughter is squealing in anticipation as just the covers of the books on the website were enough to get her going!!

Love it! It is so fun to see our children excited to start school. Praying you have a great school year. We loved Preparing! Hope you enjoy it, too.

Yeah! I am really excited for you!

cirons,

The ladies did such a great job of helping you talk through your options! I just wanted to pop-in and share in your excitement over ordering! We pray your year will be a blessed one and that you will get your books soon!

Blessings,
Carrie