heartofdakota.com

Hi! I'm Laura and we had our box day today! Larissa has been trying to get me here for two yrs, but with my oldest childs delays I needed time for her to mature. She's grown a lot in the last yr and I feel like she's ready for more.

My girls both place solidly in Bigger and they are excited to start. After I placed them according to the chart, I left the catalog on the couch. My girls are way too curious to leave anything by me alone and asked to look through it. I told them they could, but I would make the final decision. They each poured over it for over an hour separately and each asked to do Bigger.

My question is about choosing reading books for my girls. I gave them each an online reading test today. Christine scored at a 4.5 level. Shes 9 1/2, but Im thrilled as shes been so globally delayed since birth. She suffered birth injuries and has been in therapy since infancy. I think I'll be able to find books for her, but any recommendations for a 9 yr old who isn't a confident reader would be great!

My second girl, Nicole, is very advanced. She thrived on all the early intervention, therapy and me trying eveything I could for my oldest. She scored at an 8.2 reading level. She can pick up "anything" and read it fluently. She reads scripture beautifully and understands it! I could use some advise for her. She is barely 8 and picks out begining reader books with cartoon characters from the library. She talks very maturely, but likes little girl things with princess themes. I had her read Hannah and that was just right for her length wise at a chapter a day. I'd like to expand her this yr gently. She's starting to really enjoy science books and is really into US history. Especially the Revolutionary War! She has no trouble with her Apologia Botany text we are studying this Summer. Keeps taking it to bed with her. She reads so well, but at barely 8 doesn't have the maturity for lengthy reading yet. I need to gently expand her reading length. She doesn't have any concentration issues, but shorter reading periods are preferred by her. She is just starting to find the love for reading beyond cartoon character books and I'd like to nurture that! I got the DITHOR set and would like to start collecting books for them for this year.

If you haven't ordered yet, there is a Sample Booklist you can purchase from HOD to help you select books for DITHOR. The list is $5 and you only need one, I put mine in page protectors and into a binder. It has book suggestions for all three levels of DITHOR and for all nine genres.

I'm curious, where did you find an online reading assessment. That might be good to do with my own kids.

I found the test (link removed by moderator per board rules) it was easy to quickly assess. I'm sure there are more accurate tests, but this one is fast!

I did get the list of book ideas. I thought I'd ask for some recommendations before starting in on researching from the list. I'm finding book selection to be quite intimidating for some reason. I want them to love to read as much as I do! Not like my DH that was an early reader. He lost his love for reading when a teacher made him read a biography with over 300 pages because he could read it. Just because a young child can read well doesn't mean they should be bogged down at an early age. Up until now I've been cautious with my girls. I don't want to turn reading into a chore, but I feel like they are ready for more now!

Hi Laura! Larissa has good taste - I'm so glad she brought you on over to the HOD family! Thank you for sharing about each of your dd. They are going to have such a good year with Bigger Hearts! We have 5 weeks left of Bigger Hearts we'll finish out at the start of next school year, and then we'll be on to PHFHG. Our time in BHFHG has been really special. My ds has grown so much during his time within BHFHG. It is a key teaching year, one to instill many good habits and skills in our dc before they move to some more independence in some areas. It is also an inspiring year - such amazing people to read about and marvel at, and yet always pointing back to God's hand in all of it.

We have done DITHOR for many, many years now, and I went from choosing my own books, to using the Sample Book Ideas List, to now just using the book packs. HOD is so flexible that all of these options worked well, but my favorite of the 3 has honestly been just to use the book packs. The books are so carefully selected, and they are simply the best IMO. They are the ones I want to own because they get read again and again, and that's a good thing, because they are excellent.

I am celebrating with you Christine's gains all around! You must feel so good about that. I think it is important that when dc begin DITHOR we don't choose too challenging of a reading level for them, as DITHOR has so many important formal literature study skills that need to be learned, and that will present challenges enough. I think Christine should probably use either DITHOR Book Pack Level 2 or 3, depending which she would read comfortably enough to enjoy fully. If you enjoy the thought of choosing your own books, then you could certainly do that as well, but just choose similar books as far as reading level and length.

Your Nicole sounds like my Riley. Some dc just take off with their reading earlier, it's just their thing and it clicks. However, just because they can read at an 8th grade level, that doesn't mean they will enjoy reading at that level, or that it is even in their best interests to do so. I can read at the college level, I don't often do so though. The many reading skills taught in DITHOR along with the writing skills required will be challenge enough. You'd mentioned she loved reading "Hannah" - I think the Level 2 Book Pack would be just right for Nicole! It has some wonderful books in it, and she'll enjoy her year so much, being able to put her energy into learning the reading and writing skills within DITHOR, while reading books she can navigate well.

Here are links to the Level 2 and the Level 3 Book Packs..
http://www.heartofdakota.com/drawn-into-optional.php

You can click on each book to read more about them. I have loved that the days are noted at this link. It makes filling out the reading calendar a snap. It also helps remind me to slow things down in DITHOR as far as the reading pace goes. Dc learn to savor books, and truly remember them this way. I have finally learned the beauty of this CM way of doing things. I think you'll enjoy DITHOR and BHFHG so much. Does this help you out? Keep asking questions until you have a plan in place. We're glad to help on this board!

In Christ,
Julie

Thank you so much! The book sets do look great! They have read some of the level 2 and I'd like new reading material for DITHOR. I think I might combine the 2 and 3 lists a bit. Some of the 3 list will really interest my oldest and not be above her. I'm thinking of having them read the same books when 2 are listed by genre and giving them different books when only 1 is listed.

I think I'm starting to figure out my goals more for my girls. Christine still needs to work on fluency in reading and comprehension. She's just starting to be able to narrate a little which has been huge for her! Nicole just needs to work on gradually lengthen the length of her reading. She can read picture books for over an hour to her brother. She needs to transition to chapter books.

I hope they both find joy in DITHOR this yr and grow a lot this yr.