DITHR-them reading & my time

[Gwenny]

We finally started DITHR back up this year with my daughter in Preparing. She just started the 4/5 book-we've done 3 days. How do you handle your time? I know it sounds petty, but 5 minutes for me right now is huge. I'm sure you can relate. So, for instance, on Day 3. We were doing our subjects together, I open up the guide and it has her reading the pages on her own and then doing a worksheet. AHH, I could've had her doing that earlier in the day-she had been waiting on me to get that done. Another day it says to have her read most and then save 3-4 pages to read me and then we had an activity. I don't have time to sit around while she reads. Is this just something I need to have looked at ahead of time and plan my DITHR according to that day? Do you all just hang out during the reading? Those who have posted schedules have a certain time for DITHR set. I'm sure I'm missing the obvious.

BTW-when I said we were finally starting DITHR-she cheered and said she was glad because she really liked it.

[MelInKansas]

My daughter in Preparing and DITHR 4/5 has an independent block of time before I work with her. DITHR is on that. It is near the end though, for continuity's sake (she is supposed to do math, Independent History, Independent Science, Timeline, History project, copying the Bible verse if it's day 4, and then look at DITHR - that's a long block and often I do need to redirect her during that time but she is mostly on her own). Then after her independent block (and after I get done doing some work with her sisters) she comes to me and we finish up the things in her independent work that require me. That being, narrating from reading she has done, reading a portion to me, and the last few pages of her DITHR and the workbook. I try to talk through most of her independent stuff except for math because she does that in the evening with her dad. If the workbook is mostly independent (which it is more than half the time) I might have her read the whole thing to herself and do the workbook and then I will just check over it when I work with her. So at the 4/5 level DITHR is mostly independent for my DD. There are just a handful of days where I do work with her on the activity/workbook or discussion. It would be helpful for me to look it over beforehand, but I usually don't. She is supposed to look at it, and if it is mostly with me (as in she doesn't find anything in her workbook to do) she just leaves it until it's time to work with me. I hope this makes sense.

[MomtoJGJE]

My kids read things out loud a lot, so for school I do not typically make them read anything outloud to me once I know they are reading well. Especially once we start DITHOR. So for us I do not have them read their DITHOR book out loud. Sometimes they will read to a sister, but it's never actually part of it.

But again, if they never read anything out loud then I probably would just to give them the practice of reading out loud.

[Rice]

I only have the kids (who are reading really well already) read aloud to me once or twice per genre. I will have to reevaluate that with my DD (the one doing Dianne Craft this year due to low reading level) when she starts DITHOR, but that's the only way my schedule works right now, with 4 kids in 3 guides. They have to be independent for the reading. That said, I am scribing for my DSs often because DS 9 is still young and working up to that volume of writing and DS 12 has dysgraphia. It's sometimes hard to fit it in, but so far it's worked, even if it's occasionally made the day a bit longer.

Blessings,