Questions about Dithor-how do you do it?

[jody]

I love Hod! Thank you Carrie! We are so grateful for you! We have been doing PHFHG this year with our 9 year old, Jake. He is a very strong reader and a wonderful student. He works really well independently and his oral and written narrations are excellent. (most of the time) Writing about what he's read is not usually a problem. Dithor requires one to dig a little deeper though...sometimes beyond what is actually said or implied in the book and I can't figure out how to show him how to do that when I haven't read the books. I do have him read aloud to me a portion of the reading and when we discuss I find that he understands things like cause and effect, etc. He just never seems to know what to do to fill in the blanks...I honestly think a blank page is less intimidating to him than a fill in the blank but he needs to learn how to do that too, right? He has only read 2 genres in Dithor this entire year. Mostly because at the beginning of the year we had a little trouble with him being frustrated. So we put it up for awhile. I thought that since it was our first year with Hod and there were so many things new to us that it would be for the best. We came back to it and it still is not coming together like I'd hoped. Do most of you read the books that your student is reading? How do we evaluate answers without having read the book? Sometimes his answers sound pretty good but I sometimes think he's not getting the most out of the lesson. Since he is in the 4th grade this year, there should be no problem with using the remaining 7 genres in the 4/5 boy book pack with him next year for Dithor right? We usually try to save Dithor for the afternoon when his younger brother and sister are asleep and it's quiet...but somehow we never have time. We are doing about 4 hours a day without Dithor...maybe it's because things like this happen... "mom, what is a lymph node?", "Well, son, I don't know. It has nothing to do with Christopher Columbus or anything that we are study currently but lets spend a couple of hours looking that up!" Could it be a lack of discipline on his mother's part? Probably. I'm too sleepy to make sense...but if others have stories of how well Dithor is working out for them. I would love to lhear about that! Thanks!

[Kathleen]

Maybe you could pre-read a book or 2 so that you have read the book he's using. But, I'd still be careful not to answer the questions for him. The questions in DITHOR are trickier because they're not "one right answer" questions. They do require thinking. If my son seems a little stumped or seems to need help with one, I'll ask him a question about it. Like if he's supposed to be tellng me how his book characters show responsiblity -you could say, "________ is the main character in your book, right? So, have you read about any chores that ________'s mom and dad have him do? Does _________ have a job?" That usually gets him going.

Maybe he's just not comfortable with questions that can have more than one answer. I know that so would have been me in elementary school. If your child tends to like to do things "right" or not try things they're not sure they're good at, maybe they're a little perfectionistic. I'd just make sure that you let him know that there could be SEVERAL right answers to this question. Talk through them 1st even though they're in the student book maybe. You don't have to draw the discussion way out, but if you ask him what is the 1st answer/example that comes to mind, maybe you can get him to share just a bit of the story and then encourage him by building on it a little or talking about how that's a great example of what you're looking for. I talk this way with my oldest because I like to hear more of the story than I listen to aloud (and he happens to love to share it).

We've really loved DITHOR here. I love the way that it teaches my son to read with discernment by comparing the actions of the book characters to what scripture teaches through the lives of Bible characters and godly character qualities. This really spills over into all that we take into our minds - playing with friends, TV, movies. And, I can see it giving him a love for good literature. It's worth working on, and I'm sure you'll get it!
Kathleen

[jody]

Katheleen,
Thanks so much for your reply! You made me feel a lot better. You really had BOTH of us figured out when you suspected a little bit of a perfectionist attitude. My son is like that...and so is his mother. That is probably the whole reason for the bewilderment. More than one right answer? OH! Now, I get it. I am still learning right along with him. I will feel a little more relaxed now. I think we need to switch our Dithor time to earlier in the day so that we are not rushing so much and we can have a little more time to discuss and get comfortable with the program. I know it's true what you said about this program being an excellent method for learning discenrment in literature AND life in general. We loooooove HOD. It just keeps getting better and better and it's good to have friends like you to find encouragement. Thanks again!
Jody