Choosing DITHOR books

[girlboygirlboy]

I will be using DITHOR 2/3 w/ my ds9(3rd grade) & dd7 (2nd grade) next year. I am trying to decide what books to use and am getting confused and probably making something more complicated than it needs to be(I have a tendency to do that sometimes:).

I had been planning to use the Level 2 book set with my 2nd grader and Level 3 book set with my 3rd grader, but read more closely that Level 2 goes up through 4th grade readers(she is currently able to handle American Girl books independently) and Level 3 goes up to beginning 5th grade readers(he's not finished a "real" chapter book on his own yet) which I don't know if dd9 would be ready for. Then, as I was going through the sample book list, I noticed that some of the books in the book sets were not on the list. I also noticed that the book sets show the number of days to read, but the book list does not have that information. How do I go about determining how many days to read if we don't use the books in the book set? And if it is a "shorter", lower level book does that mean I stretch out how long it will take to read it even if dd could read it in one sitting, or should I just pick harder books?

Now I'm wondering if I should have them read the same books together, or if I should choose separate books for each based on interest. Anyone want to help me muddle through this? Thanks for any insight or help you can provide!

Blessings!
Jennifer
mom to girl10(going to cs next year), boy9(Bigger), girl7(Bigger), Boy4(doing pre-k)

[Carrie]

Jennifer,

For ease of use, you may just wish to go with the Level 3 books for both kiddos, unless your son will want different books from your daughter. It sounds like your daughter is an advanced reader and your son is reading near to the same level as your daughter.

Blessings,
Carrie

[jenntracy]

I am "bumping" this because i want to know the answer, too.

Another "Jennifer"



"I also noticed that the book sets show the number of days to read, but the book list does not have that information. How do I go about determining how many days to read if we don't use the books in the book set? And if it is a "shorter", lower level book does that mean I stretch out how long it will take to read it even if dd could read it in one sitting, or should I just pick harder books? "


Blessings!
Jennifer
mom to girl10(going to cs next year), boy9(Bigger), girl7(Bigger), Boy4(doing pre-k)[/quote]

[my3sons]

I will be using DITHOR 2/3 w/ my ds9(3rd grade) & dd7 (2nd grade) next year. I am trying to decide what books to use and am getting confused and probably making something more complicated than it needs to be(I have a tendency to do that sometimes:).

I had been planning to use the Level 2 book set with my 2nd grader and Level 3 book set with my 3rd grader, but read more closely that Level 2 goes up through 4th grade readers(she is currently able to handle American Girl books independently) and Level 3 goes up to beginning 5th grade readers(he's not finished a "real" chapter book on his own yet) which I don't know if dd9 would be ready for. Then, as I was going through the sample book list, I noticed that some of the books in the book sets were not on the list. I also noticed that the book sets show the number of days to read, but the book list does not have that information. How do I go about determining how many days to read if we don't use the books in the book set? And if it is a "shorter", lower level book does that mean I stretch out how long it will take to read it even if dd could read it in one sitting, or should I just pick harder books?

Now I'm wondering if I should have them read the same books together, or if I should choose separate books for each based on interest. Anyone want to help me muddle through this? Thanks for any insight or help you can provide!

Blessings!
Jennifer
mom to girl10(going to cs next year), boy9(Bigger), girl7(Bigger), Boy4(doing pre-k)

I agree that the Level 2 Book Pack would seem to fit both of your dc well. We really enjoyed the Level 2 book pack, and found the books to be excellent for our dc starting DITHOR. There are many reasons to use book packs. First, the book choices are excellent. Second, the number of days to read are planned out for you. Third, you can have one stop shopping, order the books, and be set for the whole year. These are the reasons I order book packs.

However, if you want to put together your own set, you can use your handy-dandy Sample Book Ideas List. You can look at the reading levels in each genre, and choose for each child with that in mind along with their interests. You would determine how many pages to have them read each day. Once you have the DITHOR Teacher's Guide and Student Books in hand, they walk you through this step by step. But, in a nutshell, you have 15 days of reading for each genre. You choose 1, 2, or 3 books to read for each genre. If you choose 1 (longer) book, you read it the whole 15 days. If you choose 2 books, you read the longer one for 10 days and the shorter one for 5 days. If you choose 3 shorter books, you read each of them for 5 days.

If you enjoy putting together your own books, then choosing your own is a fun thing to do. If you are stressing about it, simply ordering a book pack is the way to go. I've done both in different stages of life, but now that I'm homeschooling 3 little shooters, I LOVE LOVE LOVE using the books packs. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie