Need some advice about DITHOR reading level

[bethelmommy]

Ds(7.5) finished the ER's last spring and started level 2 books in DITHOR this fall. Over the summer, he took off with reading finishing several books in a day on his own time. Last week he read The Hobbit and is almost finished with The Fellowship of the Ring which he started 3 days ago. I picked out various difficult passages in the book to check his pronunciation and comprehension - no problems there. So, do you think I should move him up to level 3 books in DITHOR? We just finished Stone Fox and Dolphin Adventure in level 2 and I think I maybe corrected one word. His comprehension is fine and vocabulary is easy. I am thinking the level 3 books will offer a bit more challenge but not too much. I can then have him finish the level 2 books on his own time. What do you think? Am I messing up our DITHOR book levels if I just move up one level?

Thanks,
Alicia

[mom23]

You wouldn't be messing anything up-DITHOR really works with any level reading you plug into it. The only reason to consider keeping him at level 2 is that sometimes with DITHOR (especially beginning it) it is good to have reading that is easy and not too challenging because the DITHOR activities themselves are pretty challenging and that can get overwhelming to a child when just beginning the program.

*ETA-I like keeping the easier reading with DITHOR and adding in more challening reading during free time.

[my3sons]

Mom23 makes some good points to consider. I think from what you've shared, I'd move him to Level 3 and watch for signs of it being too much of a challenge, as mom23 mentioned. If it seems too challenging, you can always shelve the books for the next year and go back to finishing out the Level 2 books. However, it sounds like he may be ready for the challenge! HOORAY! Way to go, ds, way to go, mom!

In Christ,
Julie

[MelInKansas]

My DD is a very strong reader now, she is now 8.5 and we are 2 genres from finishing our first round of DITHR. She has done mostly level 2 books, but a few of the level 3 books, I did a mix of them, picking out ones I thought she would like. They do get harder throughout the list, and I second what mom23 said, sometimes it is good to have easy reading for DITHR because of the analysis they have to do and how much thought that requires. My DD often (especially in those first few books) would read without any errors, but again, now they are harder and she is especially learning about reading names.

But I am thinking about skipping to level 4 books for the next time through, though we are still going to do 2/3 level in DITHR (just with higher reading level books) because I would like her to be able to write most of the assignments on her own as it says in the student book, which she really couldn't do this last year.

[bethelmommy]

Thank you Becky, Julie, and Melissa for your input. Your thoughts are so appreciated. I am thinking we will try level 3 and see how it goes. I do like Melissa's idea of mixing the two levels if needed. We did have a bit of a learning curve starting DITHOR, but the last genre went very smoothly. My ds has not said so, but I sense he is feeling unchallenged with the books we are reading. The stories are very good, but the short readings are hard for him when he can easily read 3-4 of the same type of stories in a 1 hour quiet time and the analysis has been very straight forward. He is also finding the work in the Beyond guide much easier than I expected, so it is nice to challenge him a little bit in other areas. What a difference a year can make ! When we started the Beginner's Bible last year, I had to break up the assigned daily reading into 2 days the first few weeks because he found it so taxing to read!

Thanks,
Alicia

[MelInKansas]

It sounds like he is doing great, and the great thing about DITHR is you can customize it and use any books. I changed the nonfiction selection too, I am using one book from another list and one that I had from my childhood. I hope it goes really well for him!

Also I would encourage you, yes the readings for DITHR are short, and I usually prefer allowing her to finish a chapter if possible so there is less frustration. But part of what they are learning is how to take small pieces of a book at a time and look at it on a deeper level. My DD races through the books she reads in her own time, and even though she would really like to read more in her DITHR books each day, the shorter readings help her digest it better. It also builds good comprehension/retention skills. I was admittedly very weak in this as a child, I would read really quickly through books and remember very little of what I read. When I got into higher level English with literature study I didn't do nearly as well as my reading skills would have seemed to indicate I could do.

[bethelmommy]

Also I would encourage you, yes the readings for DITHR are short, and I usually prefer allowing her to finish a chapter if possible so there is less frustration. But part of what they are learning is how to take small pieces of a book at a time and look at it on a deeper level. My DD races through the books she reads in her own time, and even though she would really like to read more in her DITHR books each day, the shorter readings help her digest it better. It also builds good comprehension/retention skills. I was admittedly very weak in this as a child, I would read really quickly through books and remember very little of what I read. When I got into higher level English with literature study I didn't do nearly as well as my reading skills would have seemed to indicate I could do.

Thank you Melissa for the encouragement. I do have ds stick to the daily assigned readings even though he wants to keep going . I really like the Charlotte Mason style of short readings. I would just like to find a happy medium for ds's school reading so there is not such a discrepancy between his school and personal reading level. Hopefully bumping him up a level will do the trick .