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We are currently doing DITHOR with my ds who is in 3rd grade. I was wondering about doing it with my dd next year. She will be in second grade. Has anyone done DITHOR with a second grader? She's a great little reader and has done wonderfully with the ERS and guess I'm just a little worried that maybe I should give her another year before starting DITHOR. Some of the questions seem more open-ended and not so black and white, so I thought maybe holding off a year will allow her to mature some and be ready for DITHOR more. I could just be worried for nothing and she'd be perfectly fine.

So anyone else use DITHOR for 2nd? Any reason why I should or shouldn't be concerned about using it in 2nd?

Oh, ds used 2/3 this year and I really considered keeping him in 2/3 for 4th grade. Not sure if that's the right or wrong thing to do. How do you decide when to move up. Seems like I've read that we should give them 2 years in each level.

If ds stays in 2/3 then it seems like it's going to be pretty teacher intensive to have 2 dc in level 2/3. Am I off in this thinking as well?

I'd love any feedback on my gobs of questions.

I tried to find where I read this, but could not... I am pretty sure that somewhere I read that when they finish the emerging readers set that they go into DITHOR. Anyway I would definately say that if your chil is reading well in the ER set then she would do fine in DITHOR. I started it with my 2nd grade son(7years old at the time) after the ER set. He is a very good reader and also has good comprehension. He does not write well yet ( being a boy), but I really feel there is not to much writing in DITHOR 2/3. He is doing great and we are loving it. Yes some of the questions are pretty "open ended" but I feel for us this has really got their little minds to turning and thinking on their own!! I also feel like the questions are not to much for him. The youngest age in the guide says 7 so if you think she is ready, go for it... it has been wonderful for us!! As for your son, if he is reading well to you and has good comprehension I would think he could do 4/5 on his own (they still read to you 3-4 pages periodically)?? In this level they do a little more independent work in their workbook. You could maybe look at the samples for 4/5 and get an idea if he is ready. Ifyou feel he really is not ready to do it yet, then I do not think it would hurt to have him doing 2/3 again. And yes this would take a little more time, as they are required to read to you and work with you for most of their time in DITHOR on this level. This is just my opinion. I am always in a rush so I hope that it makes since

From what I have seen many people just have their dc read the level 2 books, and not actually do DITHOR if they feel they are too young. You can then begin DITHOR with the level 3 books. My ds is at the end of 2nd grade and we will be starting DITHOR with the level 2 books next week.

We transitioned my ds7 from the ER to DITHOR this year in 2nd grade. We started with the easier books, including some that are suggested in the list at the end of the ERs. By January, he was starting Bigger and our days were getting longer, so we changed the schedule to reading everyday but doing DITHOR M/W/F. I think Julie did something similar but did the manual every other day - I just wanted to keep a set schedule every week.
I think the manual does a good job of not focusing on the writing part, but encouraging the teacher to write answers a dry erase board for students to copy so the focus is on their answers, not spelling/handwriting. Some parts we have also done orally. I used the vocabulary days to ease the transition to Bigger, so I am glad we did go ahead a start DITHOR this fall. And if some of the open-ended questions didn't particularly pertain to his book or he didn't have a lot to say, I just added what I could and moved on.
I think whether to move your ds up to the next level depends on your time limits. My oldest is in 5th this year and it does require much less of my time. She started 4/5 last year and I can't recall any problems with the difficulty level. Between the manual and the sample pages online you should be able to get a pretty clear idea of if he is ready. I don't think it is necessary to have 2 years in the level before moving on.
HTH

Kathy

Thanks, ladies, you've been very helpful. I forgot that there were samples online of the next level of the DITHOR workbook. Thanks so much for the reminder. Pondering and praying over what you've said.

Edwena,

If your little honey is finishing the Emerging Reader's reading well and is at least 7 years old (or heading into 2nd grade), then I'd move her into DITHR Level 2/3. My3son's and other ladies who posted about reading through the Level 2 set before easing into DITHR were talking about their kiddos who were not yet 7 when finishing the Emerging Reader's Set, which is definitely a different situation. If a child is 7, we'd advise easing into DITHR in some form. Doing it three to four times weekly is possible too.

Just make sure that as you head into Level 2/3, you are doing a lot of hand holding. Currently with my own 2nd grade son, we are writing his answers on the markerboard for him to copy on his DITHR pages. We're keeping the answers short and sweet! He is really gaining so much though already from the discussions!

For your son, if he is in 4th grade, you can either go another year with Level 2/3 and just up the level of the books he's reading, or you can bump him up to Level 4/5 Student Book instead. If he is stressed by too much writing, I'd advise waiting one more year before shifting him up to Level 4/5. Hope that helps!

Blessings,
Carrie

Carrie,
Thanks for the extra info. I think I'll definitely keep ds in level 2/3 as the worksheets aren't his favorites. He does however love the books and the discussions we have.