Help me understand DITHOR

[Michaeljenn]

I am trying to figure out how to schedule DITHOR! I will be using this with my 10yo daughter, and we will be using Preparing. It is scheduled 3x a week in Preparing. The DITHOR guide says to have them finish the book in 5 days. So if I understand this correctly, they read the book for that genre in a week.. Then we are doing the worksheets, beginning with the week they are reading the book 3x a week. So then we continue doing the worksheets for the unit 3x a week until they are finished, and they are not actually reading a book for those remaining weeks. Is this correct?

So... Dithor 4/5 The Captive Princess
Week 1 - Schedule book to be completely read AND complete worksheets for Day 1, 2, 3.
Week 2 - Book is completed, so no reading AND complete worksheets for Day 4, 5, 6.
Week 3- Start new book to be completed in a week, complete worksheets for Day 7, 8, 9.
Week 4- no reading, complete worksheet for Day 10, 11, 12
Week 5- no reading, complete worksheet for 13, 14, 15
Week 6- should we give this week to finish their book project?

Week 7 Begin a new book.

Now, I realize that we can choose not to read another book starting Day 6, so that would mean no more reading until Week 7. Right?

Any advice would be very helpful!

Thanks,
Jennifer

[StephanieU]

So, you need reading for 15 days for DITHOR. You can do 1-3 books per genre. The books shoudl take between 5 and 15 days to read each, with the total of the 1-3 books being 15 days. So, for each of the 15 days you do DITHOR, you will have reading. Then there are 5 DITHOR days of project a tthe end of each genre.

Here is the level 4/5 book pack. If you look under each title, you will see how many days Carrie says to spend on reading the book. http://www.heartofdakota.com/drawn-into-optional4-5.php

[Rice]

I am trying to figure out how to schedule DITHOR! I will be using this with my 10yo daughter, and we will be using Preparing. It is scheduled 3x a week in Preparing. The DITHOR guide says to have them finish the book in 5 days. So if I understand this correctly, they read the book for that genre in a week.. Then we are doing the worksheets, beginning with the week they are reading the book 3x a week. So then we continue doing the worksheets for the unit 3x a week until they are finished, and they are not actually reading a book for those remaining weeks. Is this correct?
Any advice would be very helpful!
Thanks,
Jennifer

I am starting Preparing with my 10yo DD (and 9yo DS), too, but I understood it to work out differently. I understood that if it is scheduled 3x/week, then we would do 3 days worth of reading along with the first 3 worksheets:
Day 1: do first reading section and worksheet 1
Day 2: no DITHOR
Day 3: do second reading and worksheet 2
Day 4: do third reading and worksheet 3
Then, the next week:
Day 1: do fourth reading and worksheet 4
Day 2: no DITHOR
Day 3: do fifth reading and worksheet 5
Day 4: do sixth reading and worksheet 6 - this may be the beginning of a new book, if first book was only scheduled for 5 days.
Week three continue doing one reading and one worksheet each time DITHOR is scheduled.

The books shoudl take between 5 and 15 days to read each, with the total of the 1-3 books being 15 days. So, for each of the 15 days you do DITHOR, you will have reading. Then there are 5 DITHOR days of project a the end of each genre.

So, does this mean that (Wk1:DITHOR1-3, Wk2:4-6, Wk3:7-9, Wk4:10-12, Wk5:13-15) in Week 6 we assign the 5-day project? If so, do they do that 5 day project over 5 calendar days or 5 scheduled DITHOR days? (The reason I'm slightly confused about this part is that, although it makes sense to work on it on DITHOR days, I've done the Biography unit with my kids last year and the project was one about diligence, picking something to be diligent with and doing that over 5 days and keeping track - it would seem that that kind of project would be less effective if done only on DITHOR days instead of 5 consecutive calendar days. . .)

Can someone help us newbies sort this out?

Blessings,

[StephanieU]

So, does this mean that (Wk1:DITHOR1-3, Wk2:4-6, Wk3:7-9, Wk4:10-12, Wk5:13-15) in Week 6 we assign the 5-day project? If so, do they do that 5 day project over 5 calendar days or 5 scheduled DITHOR days? (The reason I'm slightly confused about this part is that, although it makes sense to work on it on DITHOR days, I've done the Biography unit with my kids last year and the project was one about diligence, picking something to be diligent with and doing that over 5 days and keeping track - it would seem that that kind of project would be less effective if done only on DITHOR days instead of 5 consecutive calendar days. . .)

Can someone help us newbies sort this out?

I think it is up to you. The goal is over two years to complete all 9 genres. If you do DITHOR on the days it says to do DITHOR, you can 5 genres done each year - with 20 days per genre. But often families don't start DITHOR with the guide, waiting about a month to get in a groove first. Then it is harder to get 5 genres done in 1 year (4 will be easy). So, if the project is one that you can do in a shorter amount of time (5 consecutive days instead of 5 DITHOR days), then it would make sense to do ti that way. If it is more a project with an end item produced, then doing it on 5 DITHOR days makes more sense (so their days are balanced). Remember that the guide is a guide. It isn't a rule book you have to follow exactly too!

[MelInKansas]

You don't do more than 1 day's worth of DITHOR on the days that the guide says to do DITHOR. So you do it 3 days/week, you will get through 3 days of the DITHOR plans in a week. Doing more would be a lot IMO. In this way yes, the book(s) take 5 weeks to read and do all of the associated activities, and the book project takes 1 2/3 week to complete. You can complete 5 genres of DITHOR a year this way which is quite enough. You will notice there are only 3 levels of DITHOR that are meant to last from 3rd grade or so until 8th grade, so you obviously don't go through a whole level in a year, it takes almost 2 years.

[Michaeljenn]

Ok... that helped! Thank you! I do have 2 more questiona

If they have only read, say 2 chapters so far, is that enough reading to complete the worksheet? Does that make sense???

And...If we only get through 4-5 genres, do most of you have your child read the other books not studied through the dithor workbooks? Maybe just for fun reading with discussion only?

I guess all in all, they WILL be constantly reading across the curriculum.. as in independent history and I am having her go through a couple of the extension books, but not all.

[my3sons]

Ok... that helped! Thank you! I do have 2 more questiona

If they have only read, say 2 chapters so far, is that enough reading to complete the worksheet? Does that make sense???

And...If we only get through 4-5 genres, do most of you have your child read the other books not studied through the dithor workbooks? Maybe just for fun reading with discussion only?

I guess all in all, they WILL be constantly reading across the curriculum.. as in independent history and I am having her go through a couple of the extension books, but not all.

Just to clarify, in PHFHG on up DITHOR is done 3 times a week, whenever it is noted in your PHFHG (and on up) guide. So, in PHFHG, it is scheduled on Days 1, 2, and 4 of the PHFHG guide. So, the first week using your green DITHOR Teacher's Guide's plans you'd do...
DITHOR Biography Day 1
DITHOR Biography Day 2
DITHOR Biography Day 3

The next week, you'd do..
DITHOR Biography Day 4
DITHOR Biography Day 5
DITHOR Biography Day 6

And, etc. In answer to your other questions noted here - yes, it is enough information for them to complete the workbook assignments. For your second question, whatever genres we didn't finish in a school year, we start with the next year. So, over 2 school years we finish all 9 genres and one DITHOR Student Workbook.

If my dc have progressed further in their reading skills than the end of a book pack we are using, I sometimes just let them free read those remaining books for fun, and move them up to the next leveled DITHOR Book Pack. But, I still finish out the genres we didn't do the year before.

We have loved DITHOR for so many years and seen the fruit of it in our middle school and high school students! I think you will too.

In Christ,
Julie

[Michaeljenn]

THANK YOU everyone!

I think I get it now!! LOL Now, I can finish my lesson plans:)

[Nealewill]

So glad you got it Last year when I started HOD, it took me a few months to figure out that we weren't going to finish all 9 genres in a year and then I had to start doing my research

I think you will love it. I know we do. We do like ordering the book packs though at my house. I just wanted to second what Julie said about my kids finishing them off. We read the 5 genres for the year but then my kids will just read the other books in general. I love their book packs because I have been surprised at the book that are my kids favorites. I found out with DITHOR program that my oldest loves the biographies, mysteries and non-fictions. Who knew? So I love that HOD picks one of each genre and that the books they picked are fantastic! We really love that! So we do end up reading all the books each year but we don't study them all - only 5 genres worth.

[Michaeljenn]

Thanks Daneale!

I have started pre-reading the 4/5 books... Loved The Captive Princess and Fanny Crosby is so good!! awww... Love them! I am praying that my daughter will fall in love with reading. She is a great reader, but does not enjoy it right now! I think these book choices will change that!! I am also hoping DITHOR will help her really pay attention to the book, instead of just trying to rush through it. I am so excited and ready to get started!

[Nealewill]

Funny you should say Fanny Crosby is good.....I got my book packs for level 2 and level 4/5 girl interest pack in on Monday late in day/evening. Well, my husband plays soccer Monday nights. So I took the book packs with me so I could sort through them in the car on the ride and for while he was warming up getting ready to play. I read that WHOLE book starting in the car on the way there, during his warm up and finished it on the way home (it is a 25-30 min drive to and from). I laughed, was aghast at one point and teared up in it too. It is a great book LOL! I haven't had time to tackle the others yet though but my dd wanted to start reading books from it so she is now doing Little Pilgrims Progress (with DITHOR) and loving it.

[MomtoJGJE]

In case your child is not a strong reader, but progresses past the book pack you get for them in one year.... or I guess rather if you think they'll be beyond that book pack anyway..... (by not a strong reader, what I'm meaning is that you want the books to be pretty easy for them to read in DITHOR )

What you can do is to alternate genres.

So say you get the level two book pack this year. You would do the first, third, fifth, seventh, and ninth genre from that book pack. Then the next year you would do the 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th genre from the level three book pack. That way you don't jump a whole grade level.... it's a steady increase still, just faster.

My kids are all just now getting to where reading is not a pain to them.... as in, the past month... before that it was like pulling teeth to get them to read anything. So we've not needed to skip anything, but now I can see us needing to do this gradual increase in levels.