heartofdakota.com

Hello,

I am in the beginning stages of researching HOD. It looks so wonderful but I would like to have some of my questions answered.

I have been homeschooling for 11 years and will have two teens and two younger children. I am looking at Preparing for my younger two boys. They will be in 4th and 5th grade in the fall. Does that seem like a good place to start for them? They aren't particularly strong readers but they really enjoy reading and love being read to. I am definitely going to purchase the level 2 book pack for my younger son and the level 4/5 boy interest book pack for my older son. My question is whether or not the DIHOR guide and student books are necessary. They look wonderful but I am concerned about the workload for me. My oldest two will have demanding schedules for school next year and I do not want to be burdened with a lot of extras for my boys. Would it be ok not to use the DIHOR guide and student books or will I really be shortchanging the boys by only having them read the books?

I am really looking forward to using HOD next year. It seems to combine all that I have been looking for over the years.

God Bless,
Elise in NC

Anyone???

Well, the DITHOR guide and workbook teach the kids to really think about what they are reading. It's not just questions about the book or even narrations....

Thank you so much for the info. I have read a lot of really good reviews about DIHOR but I was just wondering if it was essential or can it be something we use later on when I have more time. Time is really precious right now in our homeschool and I'm looking for ways to cut a little here and there to get some breathing room.

God Bless,
Elise in NC

DITHR is the reading program for your dc, but HOD is very flexible and you can use whatever reading program that you would like. Just having your dc read the books wouldn't be the same as reading the books and doing the teaching and activities that go with DITHR, but it's your call. DITHR does only take about 25 to 30 minutes per day, but I understand that you are very busy. It will help you work on reading fluency with your dc and also literature analysis. It works on learning story elements as well as godly character development. It is well worth the time, but when you are first starting out with a new curriculum, I know it can be overwhelming getting everything going. I think it might be a good idea for you to get started with all of the other areas in the guide and get comfortable with that before adding in DITHR. The books in those book packs are wonderful whether they are read just for fun or used in DITHR. Your dc will enjoy them either way.

Thank you so much for the great info. I like the idea of getting used to HOD for a while and then adding DITHOR once I am used to how it will all work. I am adding a lot of new things to our schedule for next year I don't want to become overwhelmed. I've done that too many times to myself and it never works! I am planning on buying the reader packs regardless, they look fabulous.

Are the readers scheduled in the main guide or in DITHOR?

God Bless,
Elise in NC

speedmom4 wrote:Thank you so much for the great info. I like the idea of getting used to HOD for a while and then adding DITHOR once I am used to how it will all work. I am adding a lot of new things to our schedule for next year I don't want to become overwhelmed. I've done that too many times to myself and it never works! I am planning on buying the reader packs regardless, they look fabulous.

Are the readers scheduled in the main guide or in DITHOR?

God Bless,
Elise in NC

It depends on which readers to which you are referring. Preparing has books that you read aloud to your dc for storytime those are called the History read alouds in the Preparing package. The self-study extension package also has books that your dc read themselves. Both of these sets are scheduled in the main plans of the Preparing teacher's guide. It will tell you what to read when, what to discuss, etc. The DITHR book packages aren't scheduled in the Preparing guide per se. There is a Language Arts box that will instruct you to do one lesson in DITHR, then you would use the DITHR teacher's guide along with the student's books from the DITHR book packs and student workbooks to complete that lesson. I hope I explained that ok.

Ok, that makes more sense. I was refering to the book packs that coordinate with DITHR. Will those "readers" be scheduled in the DITHR guide? For example, will it have the book The Sign of the Beaver listed with which pages to read that day? Are there sample pages of DITHR on the website? I think I saw them but they weren't specific to a level.

I really appreciate taking your time to answer my questions. I have just recently discovered HOD and I'm just hoping to understand it to the best of my ability before I present it to my husband this weekend! Hopefully he will love it as much as I do.

God Bless,
Elise in NC

speedmom4 wrote:Ok, that makes more sense. I was refering to the book packs that coordinate with DITHR. Will those "readers" be scheduled in the DITHR guide? For example, will it have the book The Sign of the Beaver listed with which pages to read that day? Are there sample pages of DITHR on the website? I think I saw them but they weren't specific to a level.

I really appreciate taking your time to answer my questions. I have just recently discovered HOD and I'm just hoping to understand it to the best of my ability before I present it to my husband this weekend! Hopefully he will love it as much as I do.

God Bless,
Elise in NC

No, DITHR is not for specific books. It is made to be able to use with any book in that genre either from the book packs or one of your own choosing. You will figure out the length of the book and divide the reading by 15 days and fill in the reading calendar in the workbook for the student. Here is a link to the teacher's guide for DITHR: http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/d1.pdf Here is the link to the level 2/3 student book: http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/d2.pdf and the level 4/5 student book: http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/d3.pdf One of the wonderful things about DITHR is that you can use it many times using different books each time. You can even repeat the level with different books so it is a great value. If you have any more questions, please ask and I or one of the other ladies will try to help.