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If you could share your experience with me I'd really appreciate it, as I am at a loss on which to order for my ds. He will be 9 in the fall, and the plan is to do CTC with DITHOR and the Level 4/5 Boy Interest Book Pack. And as far as the student book goes, I was planning on ordering the Level 4/5 one, because I'm not sure but I think the Level 2/3 would be too easy for him next year. But the only problem is, I don't know if the 4/5 will be too much handwriting for him. Gradewise, in public school he would only be in 3rd next year, and while every subject seems to come easy to him, the handwriting most definitely does not! He's your typical 8 year old boy, (if there is such a thing!) on that front, meaning that he can write neatly if he takes his time-lots of time-otherwise it's pretty sloppy at this point. And if he has too much writing to do at once, it starts hurting his hand.
So if anyone has any advice for me, I'd greatly appreciate it. Should I go with the 4/5, and hope that's not too much handwriting, or should I re-do the 2/3 and hope he's not bored with it? Thank you in advance to anyone who can help.

Has he already done the 2/3 level? If not, I would personallly start there. My 9 year old son loved reading those books, most of them anyway. Or I guess you could choose the level 4/5 books to read and just get the level 2/3 guide to go with it. That might work, as it would be less writing intensive for him. Just some thoughts.

i think that if he does not love to write and it is frustrating to him, then i would do the 2/3 level. It is very good and lots of thought provoking work... but at the same time lots less writing for youger boys especially. I am doing 2/3 and 4/5 currently, with a son that just turned 8 and one that just turned 10 a couple of weeks ago. The 2/3 level had been a perfect fit for my younger son, as he looves to read but is not ready for a lot of writing

I think I'd lean toward the Level 2/3 Student Book, as there will be plenty of writing within CTC and balance will be very important. Then, I'd just use the 4/5 Boy Pack with DITHR to raise the reading level (without raising the writing level too much).

Blessings,
Carrie

Your 9 yo will be busy aplenty with writing neat things in CTC! We did the 2/3 Student Book twice, and just used harder books the second time through. We have also used the 4/5 Student Book twice, and again just used harder books the second time. My ds has thrived! DITHOR is not like other reading programs where the runoffs repeat in a rotation - they are new every day, so doing a level 2 years in a row will mean a child did the same page twice in 2 years. With writing physically not being ds's thing, I'd choose the 2/3 Student Book, and do the 4/5 books - and then, I'd focus on helping him do well with the rest of the awesome writing assignments within CTC! HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Last year with my 9 yo, we did the 4/5 boy books and the 2/3 student book. It was a great fit! This year he's using the 4/5 student book and is definitely ready for it. Either way, you'll be learning a lot with DITHOR. For level 2/3 he just gets to answer more orally to you & discuss his book with fewer days he has a page to fill out in the student book.

We love DITHOR!
Kathleen