He is 9 yrs. old and finishing up 3rd grade; getting ready to do Preparing in the fall. When he does DITHOR (level 3), I usually have to assist him so much with the written worksheets, to the point of sometimes writing it out and having him copy it. I am ending up skipping many of the worksheets (although he reads aloud every day) because of the stress it causes him and lack of time. I know this is normal for younger children, but lately I have started to wonder if I should be putting on more pressure at his level? He is a poor speller (and knows it), so that may be a big part of his balking at writing. But he can do copywork just fine. What is your experience? Do you think he should do DITHOR level 3 over again in the fall instead of moving on to level 4? Should I be putting more emphasis on dictation and having him do more writing on his own? For now he practices spelling every day, and does dictation only 2 days a week (oral narration more often; no written narration yet). Rachel
) speller, so she hated anything that required her to write on her own (i.e. Dithor). Her reading and everything else was on track. Just the bad spelling. And, like your ds, she knew it, so she didn't want to produce anything original.
That is good to hear; I think I won't worry too much or it will just put more stress on him. We started dictation midway through the year, and lately I have already noticed some improvements with his spelling that I never saw before. And he doesn't fight dictation at all. (Especially since it's studied dictation, but I make him do it again the next time to make sure he has it). He is getting pleased with his ability in it, and I think that will really boost his spelling and writing skills eventually, like you said. I just need to be patient. And today he surprised me by completing a Dithor worksheet on his own without too much complaining. So there is hope! 
He was reading books from the 4/5 boy set, but we did the 2/3 student book to cut down on writing.