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HI. I have not yet ordered HOD because I am researching everything first..If someone could please help I would appreciate it:)
Do you need to order either the basic or deluxe readers as well as the DITHR? It seems like I could order either, but not need both??? Help with that please?
Oh and we are planning to order Preparing Hearts. I have a just turned 8 and just turned 10 yr. old(3rd and 5th grades next year) But plan on starting this summer.
WE have so many books at home, could I just use those for DITHR and then order the teachers guide and student text only..Would I need anything else w/ DITHR?
Thanks so much, Wendy and my 3 boys:)

I'm not going to answer to your question because I'm new to HOD and have only been using LHTH, but I did want to let you know that question threads like this need to go in the Main Board so that people will see them. These topical boards are for sharing your personal experience with using the guides, not asking quesiton about them, and don't get very much traffic. Hopefully an admin will see your thread and move it to the Main Board, or you could just repost this one there as well. You will get plenty of responses there!

Welcome to the HOD Boards! We're glad to have you here. Abvprincess did a great job of pointing you toward the Main Board, so I'll just move this post over there, so more moms will see it! All new posts begin on the Main Board.

Blessings,
Carrie

Hi wensuetay! Welcome to HOD! The DITHR program is an excellent literature program that is intended for use in addition to the basic or deluxe pkg. It is so wonderful and really gets my kids to dig deep into the books they're reading. You can buy just the teacher and student workbooks if you like. Just make sure you are choosing books from different genres like biography, adventure, folk tales etc. One thing you may want to also buy is the Book List. I have found this to be an invaluable tool when choosing which books my children read. Here is a link to a great thread about DITHR. viewtopic.php?t=193
Hope this helps!

ETA: On the DITHR package page the book list is called the Sample Book Ideas List. It looks very unassuming but it is a a great resource. It lists books by level and genre so all you have to do is decide what level your student is in and look in each genre section to choose a book.

wensuetay wrote:HI. I have not yet ordered HOD because I am researching everything first..If someone could please help I would appreciate it:)
Do you need to order either the basic or deluxe readers as well as the DITHR? It seems like I could order either, but not need both??? Help with that please?
Oh and we are planning to order Preparing Hearts. I have a just turned 8 and just turned 10 yr. old(3rd and 5th grades next year) But plan on starting this summer.
WE have so many books at home, could I just use those for DITHR and then order the teachers guide and student text only..Would I need anything else w/ DITHR?
Thanks so much, Wendy and my 3 boys:)

If you look on this page of the website http://www.heartofdakota.com/preparing- ... ckages.php right next to where it says Preparing Hearts for His Glory: Packages there is a little light bulb icon that says "Helpful Tips on How to Order" next to it-click the light bulb, and it opens a box in the upper left of your screen that explains what you need to order DITHOR is the literature program, which goes through 9 different genres of books for your students to read independently-you can get the teacher's guide and the 2/3 workbook for the younger and 4/5 for the older-you can use your own books as long as you have age-appropriate books in each genre-the Sample Book Ideas List is inexpensive but a great place to look to see if you have any of the recommended books or similar at home. The Economy Package is the teacher's guide and all the main history books and is necessary. The Science Adder is all the books used for science if you don't have your own science. The Basic Package is books for you to read aloud to your students for Storytime, and in Preparing they correlate with the history being studied-optional, but they are so rich!-my daughter loved these books. The Self-Study Deluxe Package is books for your children to read independently and to use for assignments in the Independent History Study box of the daily plans-also optional but if you are able to buy them, I highly recommend them! They are also great books, and the Independent History Study box does so much toward training the children toward the indepedence they will need for the higher guides.
Have you seen the Preparing sample pages? Here they are, so you can see how these packages fit in the day: http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/PHFHG-sample-week.pdf
and here is the introduction to Preparing, which gives a better feel for how it all works together: http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/PHFHG-intro.pdf

Welcome to the HOD Board, and I think you'd really love PHFHG! We did that guide a few years back and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is the start of so many wonderful things... creative writing with classical poetry, beginning written narration skills, meshing of Biblical and world history to find God's hand in it all, dc enjoying reading a very narrative portion of the history on their own, dc becoming scientists and doing their own science box of plans and experiments independently, research of interesting history topics, completion of history projects step-by-step, independent history study box with neat follow-up assignments planned like "Draw and Write Through History", beginning of 2 days a week Bible quiet time paired 2 days a week parent led Bible study time - many, many, many meaningful and enjoyable days of learning lie ahead of you with PHFHG! As far as ordering goes, just click on the little light bulb pp mentioned, and you'll be walked through ordering.

In general, you...
*order the Economy Package
*order the Science Package
*order DITHOR (probably level 2/3 Package if dc haven't done it before)
*either order a DITHOR Book Pack for each of your dc or use the Sample Book Ideas list provided in your 2/3 Package to choose your own books for each of your dc
*order math and grammar levels appropriate to your dc

*CHOICES: Choose whether to order these resources...
Lead Me to the Rock CD (music CD that aids in memorizing the Scripture)
Basic Package (books read aloud by the parent for Storytime that further enhance the historical time period)
Deluxe Package (books read independently by student for history and for doing Independent History Box)
Extension Package (books to extend the history for older dc doing PHFHG, ages 11 and 12 yo)

Of the choices, I got them all but the extensions and loved each and every one of them. They were all incredible resources, and each taught different skills. I think skill-wise, the Deluxe Package was most important to do, as they prepared my dc for CTC well. They help dc learn to read a portion of their history independently. My ds loved these books, and they helped him learn to do a portion of his history reading with great success. HTH, and have fun with PHFHG - it is truly a joy to teach!

In Christ,
Julie

Thanks to all you ladies that so thoroughly answered my questions and more een when I wasn't suppossed to post my question there:) I appreciate it! Thanks so much, Wendy