Preparing and DITHOR questions

[TXmommy]

Good afternoon! We are planning to begin HOD curriculum this fall with our three kiddos, so we are completely new.

My first question: My son (9, will turn 10 soon after beginning HOD) is a very strong reader, however he is not strong with writing. We are planning on starting him in Preparing and doing Drawn Into the Heart of Reading with him. I do not want to frustrate him with writing... Would starting him in the DITHOR 2/3 workbook be a good idea? And can I use either level 3 or level 4/5 books? Any suggestions would be appreciated, thank you!

Second question: My daughter (will be eight when starting HOD) is also a very strong reader, not overwhelmed by very long chapter books and reads A LOT! We will be combining her with her older brother and doing Preparing with both of them. I want to go ahead and do DITHOR 2/3 workbook with her, but would like suggestions on whether to go with level 2 or 3 books. She will technically be in 3rd grade.

Thank you so much!

[StephanieU]

So, what I do know is that you can use any books with the DITHOR workbooks. So, if you think writing will be an issue with the older one, doing the lower level workbook is fine. And the books they read should be "easy" for them because the focus is on the analysis of the book not on the actual reading. So, you don't want to push too high in the reading level, making them focus too much on actually reading the words and not on the content. Often libraries have many of the books on the DITHOR list, so you could check out a few from each level and see which level would work best. Or you can often read the first few pages on places like Amazon to give you an idea of how hard the book really is.

[Gwenny]

Welcome to HOD! I know you will love it.

I wonder if you've checked out the placement chart on the main Heart of Dakota website. It's a good place to start just to make sure you are making a greats placement. That is something that can make your year enjoyable and successful. Reading level is just one of the many areas to look at for placement, and not necessarily the most important one.
You have a good plan for starting DITHR and using the 2/3 workbook for both of them. You can use higher level books with that, but pick a level that they are very comfortable reading, this isn't to challenge reading skills but to work with the book and do some analysis.

[sahervey]

Carrie recommends that if your child has not done DITHOR before, to begin with the first book. So level 2-3 workbook is the one you would want. You can use whatever level of books your child reads at. If your daughter reads at a 4th grade level, by all means, get her those books.

[TXmommy]

You all have helped tremendously! Thank you so much for your input