heartofdakota.com

How do I decide where my kids should be in DITHOR? My older DS did level 2/3 of DITHOR when he was in 3rd grade but we stopped. He can read independently but doesn't enjoy it like he used to. He's 11 going into 6th grade. He rereads the storytime books and enjoys encyclopedia brown and concord cunningham. Can read bigger books but doesn't much.

DD will be 9 in Oct. and in 4th grade. She is a voracious reader and has read the entire Narnia series 3 times along with other larger books, but has never done DITHOR.
is there a "placement guide" for DITHOR?

Netpea,
As far as the workbook for Dithor goes, in the back of my teacher guide it says that any student new to the program should be placed in level 2/3 or 4/5. So for your son, I would probably start him in level 4/5 workbook. For your daughter I would think about how much she loves to write, and does she read well on her own. If writing is not a problem for her and she reads well (it sounds like she does), then I would start her in the level 4/5 also. My son who was 9 (when we started DITHOR) and doesnt mind writng started this level and has done very well!

Then for the level of book packs, I guess what I would do is look at the books in each and see where they would fall. It sounds to me like your son might enjoy the level 4/5 boy interest, and your daughter the level 4/5 girl interest packs... but if your son has already read some of the books in the pack, I am thinking ou can do a substitution for one a couple of the books (cant remeber for sure) HTH some

Thanks,
I have the book list so I don't have any trouble getting appropriate books, just not sure what workbooks to use. My DD does not like to write so maybe I would be better off putting her in 2/3?

I think I'd do dd in DITHOR 2/3 if she's not liking to write. She can read harder books, but do the Level 2/3. For your ds, he can do Level 4/5 but use books that fit his reading level. I was just thinking I remembered from another thread that ds might be doing CTC and dd might be doing PHFHG, but I may be wrong as my memory has been known to fade these days. If I got that right though, if ds is reading Concord Cunningham and Encyc. Brown books comfortably, you may just want to combine the two of them in PHFHG, and just use extensions for ds. Just ignore this if I'm off here though - I just wouldn't want the reading in CTC to frustrate him. Here is a link to "The Story of the Ancient World" which is one of the harder books dc will read in CTC, in case that is helpful...
http://www.nothingnewpress.com/guerber/ancient26-27.pdf
http://www.nothingnewpress.com/guerber/ancient-xxx.html

I hope something here helps!
In Christ,
Julie

Thanks Julie. DD will be doing Bigger this year and DS will be doing CTC. While he tends to like books like Concord Cunningham he has read bigger books like Trumpet of the Swan, Stuart Little, and Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe. They both desire separate programs this year and I think it's necessary too. DS needs to be challenged more, he is a bit lackadaisical. I think though that the reccomendations of DD in 2/3 and DS in 4/5 make sense. That's where I was leaning but I wasn't sure if that would be the right placement.

On a side note, I read through the different samples of Story of the Ancient World and they seemed worlds apart in their style. The first sample was straightforward but the second one seemed difficult for me to follow, . It almost felt like they were from two different books.

I think my son will do fine with it and if he is having trouble I can help him get through any rough patches. I am so thankful for this board to hash out these ideas! Thanks again for your help.