Question about DITHOR

[LynnH]

I am planning on homeschooling my DS in the fall. He will be in 5th grade. He has mild Cerebral Palsy that affects his hands. He has tremors in his hands so it makes handwriting difficult. He uses a laptop at school and does type fairly well, but it still takes effort. When they test his reading level using the DRA he tests a little below grade level. They see him having trouble retelling a story back to them and giving exact details. What I find at home is that he does better at home than school and if a book really interests him then he does a great job retelling. If he can't relate to it he doesn't do as good of a job. For example the book Double Fudge that is supposedly above his reading level, but which he thought was hysterical, he could tell me every detail. I really want to use DITHOR with him next year. Do you think 1) the writing required will be too much for him? He can write, but tires quickly and is so focused on the effort it takes he sometimes doesn't get all the details down. 2) Is it a good program to help him with his reading comprehension?
He is a kid that really wants to learn and succeed. In fact it is at his request that we are homeschooling. He says he wants to be homeschooled so he doesn't feel the pressure to keep up with the other kids and he will actually have the time to think before he puts an answer down. I just want to make sure that I pick curriculum that won't further stress him out.

[Carrie]

Lynn,

I think you could definitely use DITHR with your son. It does a good job of working on comprehension, along with a whole host of other literary skills that really help a child learn to read with discernment and interest.

If you desire for your child to do the writing involved in DITHR, then I would start with Level 2/3 Student Book. If you are fine with just discussing the questions and doing the writing for your child, then I would use Level 4/5 instead.

I wouldn't force him to do the writing in DITHR as that is not the point of the program. The goal of the program is literary discussion, comprehension, and discernment. These skills can be accomplished without him doing the writing.

Choosing books that interest your son will also help inspire him in the area of reading. So, the program should be a good fit with the modifications I mentioned.

Blessings,
Carrie

[LynnH]

Thank you Carrie for your reply. I am fine with him dictating to me his answers so I think I would use the 4/5 book. He is capable of thinking at that level its just when he has to focus on the mechanics of writing it gets in the way of him putting down complete answers. The goals of the program sound like exactly what I am looking for.

Is it ok to mix books from the 2/3 level and the 4/5 level? As I looked at some of the ones you sell for each genre I think some of the 4/5 might be too challenging for him at this point, but others would most likely be fine.

[Carrie]

Lynn,

You can easily choose any books you'd like to use with DITHR. Mixing and matching to meet your child's needs best is an excellent way to use the book lists.

On a sidenote, If your son is still working toward reading at the 4/5 level, you may wish to start out with Level 2/3 Student Book for discussions instead then. On the other hand, if your son has had quite a bit of literature study already in school, then he'd be ready for Level 4/5 Student Book. It's good to know that the levels in DITHR are advanced. Moms are often able to use Level 6/7/8 for a 9th grade lit. credit if desired, so there's no need to rush through the DITHR levels.

Blessings,
Carrie

[6timeboymom]

I would start with the 2/3 book, and use the quesitons as discussion versus writing. You could always have him type his answers in word document for some of the questions if you need to have some sort of written work.
The workbooks/levels in DITHOR are SO easy to adjust to your child's needs. You can pick a book at any level, really, and it would work with any of the workbooks. I let my 10 yr old, who is using the 4/5 level, pick books that are below his level sometimes and sometimes pick books that are above his level. I have found that if I let them pick the book (I give them guidelines) they are much more interested in doing the "work" parts. When I tell them what book the must use, I get a little bit of mutiny going on.