Dithor for 1st grader (almost 7yr)

[jenntracy]

My son will be 7 end of October . we are using Beyond for 1st grade and it works great. He has one more book to read from Emerging Readers. AFter that we are going to start DITHOR. In the manual it schedules DITHOR everyday (5 days a unit).
My son is a very good reader but I wonder if 5 days would be too much or if we should do something like 3 days a week. OR start slowly and gradually work up to 5 days a unit.
Any experience?

Jenn D.

[Tree House Academy]

My ds is turning 7 next week and will be starting DITHR soon too. We are using Beyond and DITHR for 2nd grade, but our kids are the same age. I plan to just go full speed and slow down if he seems to need it. I don't think he will, though. I hate to start slow and have him balk at picking up the pace. I'd much rather set the bar high and then back off if I have to. Does that make sense?

[tnahid]

I would personally do DITHOR only a few days a week, keep it more relaxed for his age. This is my opinion. It really depends on the child. For my 9 year old, we are doing the DITHOR 2/3 and he's not really too fond of it. He really enjoys the books but wants me to do the workbook page with him each day. He has issues with comprehending what he is supposed to do, but does better when he can talk it out with me. I would say that if you do the book with your son and do much of by verbally talking it out with him, it will probably go a bit smoother. Then again, you know your child better, so it may work just fine every day.

But personally, I wouldn't push it every day.

Blessings!

[pjdobro]

You might want to consider doing DITHOR at half-speed by having your ds read everyday, but only do the DITHOR pages every other day. So instead of reading a book over 15 days, he would read the same book over 30 days. He would read to you everyday and just do the plans from DITHOR every other day. This way he is still working on his reading fluency, but the writing requirements are less. You may even want to help him with the worksheets, possibly doing some of the writing for him if he struggles with writing.

[MomtoJGJE]

I'm going to be starting DITHOR in a couple of months with DD1. She's already 7.5, but she doesn't like to read. I'm going to go the route of having her read every day, but only do the scheduled part every other day.

[jenntracy]

thanks all. i think i may go the route of reading everyday but using dithor every other day.
He does like to read. If i find it isn't enough then i will go back to the 15 day reading and Dithor everyday.
It may depend on how much he is reading if it is alot more than what he is used to now.
Lately he has really been testing me with school.
Oh the discipline... battle of the wills. School takes maybe 1 1/2 hrs and yet he acts as if he never gets to play. He plays all day!

Jenn D.

[funkmomma71]

I have an almost 7yo daughter who is in the middle of her third unit of DITHOR. We use it everyday, there are many days when the lesson is very light or there may be "emergency plans" that are quick and easy. Many times I work with her on her worksheet pages or we do them orally. ahow much your child has to read all depends on the book you choose for him. I also thought about having her read everyday and do DITHOR just 3x a week, but I didn't want to skip lessons, so we went full-bore and it has been a good experience so far.

Best wishes!