Does Drawn into the Heart of Reading squelch a child natural love

[mama2cntrykids]

of reading? Maybe I really don't understand what DITHOR is/does. Could someone explain it to me? From my (vague) assumptions, it looks like it would put a real damper on a child's natural love for reading (which is what my oldest has).

 

Thank you!

[annabanana1992]

I use DITHOR with DS10 and DD8. I have not found it to dampen their love of reading, but we take a casual approach. I don't push too hard.

 

DITHOR introduces story elements and character traits. I see it as reading enrichment. It simply adds another layer to our reading time.

 

Just last week we were reading William of Orange for our biography. DITHOR had us compare William to David and his fight with Goliath. When I told my son that we were going to do that, he got very excited because of the parallels he could make. So, again, not a dampening, but rather an enriching!

[Daisy]

I think if done as written, it sure can.

 

I've picked it up and put it down a few times this year. Daughter enjoys the activities. For example, when reading a biography she made a collage of the main character which she loved. But if we did every single assignment she would be bored out of her mind. She doesn't want to spend 3 weeks reading a book she could have read in two days.

 

Eventually, I just made her a list of ideas and prompts and now she just keeps a reading journal. Must easier. Every day she reads her book (whatever book it is) and does something like the following...

 

1. Define 5 works you found in today's reading.

2. Describe the main character.

3. Compare a character to yourself.

4. Make an acrostic with a character's name, setting, etc.

5. Create a travel brochure for the setting.

6. Write a summary.

7. What did you like about what you read today?

8. If you could change the story, how would you do it?

9. What do you think is going to happen next?

10. Does the main character have good character? Why or why not?

11. Does this story remind you of anything?

12. Is there anything you want to research more about? (Reading about Louis Braille and she read up about France).

13. Want to copy an illustration, map, or create a diagram of something described?

 

I could go on but this works much better in our house. She doesn't have to do something off our list (and these aren't all of them). She can come up with her own. It is just a journal. I check it about once a week just to make sure she is doing something. Otherwise, I've told her it is her book for remembering all the great books she has read.

[Ellie]

I gotta tell you that the samples I can see on-line don't inspire *me* in the least. They look just like public school reading classes--stilted, unnatural, not the least bit interesting. If I'd tried to do something like that with my children, they would have stared at me open-mouthed until I finally stopped talking.

[MamaofTwo]

Ellie - :lol:

[mama2cntrykids]

LOL Ellie...too funny! Thanks everyone for your thoughts! I want something to enrich my ds9's love of reading, but I'm not sure DITHOR is it. Can someone help me with something else (even if it's something you've made up on your own)?

 

Daisy, you have some good ideas. So, she does this every day? Is it just books she's reading for fun or ones you've assigned? I'm trying to get a better picture in my head because I'm interested! Thanks!

[HollyDay]

Remember you are not supposed to do ALL the activities per genre. You are supposed to pick a number you feel comfortable doing for the book you are reading. Then, next time you visit that genre, do a different set of activities. I found it enhanced our love of reading. It is very easy to personalize to your needs and tastes.

[robsiew]

I think those exercises would be better done later... possibly in Logic. I tried with my ds last year in 2nd grade and he found the exercises too difficult. It was asking him to do something he wasn't really ready to do so I ended up giving him most of the answers and writing them for him. I decided to put it aside and we much prefer reading and discussing orally what they've read at this age. Reading has gone much better this year.

[Country Girl]

I think if done as written, it sure can.

 

I've picked it up and put it down a few times this year. Daughter enjoys the activities. For example, when reading a biography she made a collage of the main character which she loved. But if we did every single assignment she would be bored out of her mind. She doesn't want to spend 3 weeks reading a book she could have read in two days.

 

Eventually, I just made her a list of ideas and prompts and now she just keeps a reading journal. Must easier. Every day she reads her book (whatever book it is) and does something like the following...

 

1. Define 5 works you found in today's reading.

2. Describe the main character.

3. Compare a character to yourself.

4. Make an acrostic with a character's name, setting, etc.

5. Create a travel brochure for the setting.

6. Write a summary.

7. What did you like about what you read today?

8. If you could change the story, how would you do it?

9. What do you think is going to happen next?

10. Does the main character have good character? Why or why not?

11. Does this story remind you of anything?

12. Is there anything you want to research more about? (Reading about Louis Braille and she read up about France).

13. Want to copy an illustration, map, or create a diagram of something described?

 

I could go on but this works much better in our house. She doesn't have to do something off our list (and these aren't all of them). She can come up with her own. It is just a journal. I check it about once a week just to make sure she is doing something. Otherwise, I've told her it is her book for remembering all the great books she has read.

 

Daisy,

 

What a good list of activities. I think I'm going to try using some of these. Any chance you have a few free minutes and would be willing to share some of you other ideas?

 

Thanks!

[chpiper]

I think if done as written, it sure can.

 

I've picked it up and put it down a few times this year. Daughter enjoys the activities. For example, when reading a biography she made a collage of the main character which she loved. But if we did every single assignment she would be bored out of her mind. She doesn't want to spend 3 weeks reading a book she could have read in two days.

 

Eventually, I just made her a list of ideas and prompts and now she just keeps a reading journal. Must easier. Every day she reads her book (whatever book it is) and does something like the following...

 

1. Define 5 works you found in today's reading.

2. Describe the main character.

3. Compare a character to yourself.

4. Make an acrostic with a character's name, setting, etc.

5. Create a travel brochure for the setting.

6. Write a summary.

7. What did you like about what you read today?

8. If you could change the story, how would you do it?

9. What do you think is going to happen next?

10. Does the main character have good character? Why or why not?

11. Does this story remind you of anything?

12. Is there anything you want to research more about? (Reading about Louis Braille and she read up about France).

13. Want to copy an illustration, map, or create a diagram of something described?

 

I could go on but this works much better in our house. She doesn't have to do something off our list (and these aren't all of them). She can come up with her own. It is just a journal. I check it about once a week just to make sure she is doing something. Otherwise, I've told her it is her book for remembering all the great books she has read.

 

 

I would love to hear more! :bigear:

[Sheila in OK]

:iagree: This sounds great. I also tried DITHOR several times this past school year, and put it down quickly every time. For *us* it just felt too stilted and unnatural. I finally ended up selling all of it. I love Daisy's idea of a reading journal though; maybe I'll try that.

[Donna T.]

I really like DITHOR. I think it's been a good thing for my ten year old. This is our first year trying it and I'm glad we've incorporated it into our curriculum. He was ready for it this year. He has always loved to read and using the course has in no way squelched his love of books. We don't use it everyday mostly because HOD is, for us, plenty full and we just don't always have the time. I've had no difficulty planning the books out and making decisions about what assignments we will complete. I like that he will be doing it for many years, not just once, so anything we miss covering this go through will just be touched on in the future. I have found that the lessons take us longer than what Carrie recommends so I can't always fit it into our daily schedule. Instead, I teach one unit at a time and take it at a pace that we can enjoy.

 

Right now, he is covering Folktales. I like that I can choose the books I want him to read. He is reading American Tall Tales by Adrien Stoutenburg and The Apple and the Arrow by Mary and Conrad Buff. In addition to reading those, we are doing several read-alouds that go along with that genre. So, rather than going at the pace that the guide lays out, we are spending some amount of time on Folktales... not sure how long because if I get tired of it, we'll move to another genre or just not cover one at all for a week or two. I really have found it to be very flexibile that way.

 

For Folktales, he is focusing on comparisons and contrasts, learning the common characteristics of fables, fairy tales, legends, pourquoi tales, and trickster tales. Each genre covers a different character trait. For Folktales, the character traits of virtue, truthfulness, kindness, and self-control are discussed. One of his recent assignments was to both compare and contrast himself with a character from his book. He really enjoyed that. He also wrote his own pourquoi tale and is now working on a rewrite of a story from Kipling's Just So Stories. DITHOR emphasizes developing oral reading skills and he has enjoyed learning how to not just read a story outloud but to become a true storyteller, learning how to modulate his voice to make the story more interesting, how emphasizing certain words in sentences can change the meaning of a sentence and make a better story.

 

I don't know if these kinds of things are schoolish or not! We like it. These are things I want my logic stage student to be learning about. I hadn't planned to start this at all with my youngest son but he has gotten interested in it, so just this genre, I decided to assign him his own books. He just reads them and narrates them, no workbook pages. He is reading about The Little Red Hen, The Gingerbread Boy, and some of the tamer fairy tales. He went to the library and choose, on his own, 7 different folk tales from the picture book section and he's been reading those at bedtime. So, in that way, DITHOR has encouraged him to read.

[Mrs Mungo]

Susan's new Literary Analysis lecture addresses this age group a little. You might find it interesting.

 

:iagree:

 

There is actually a great thread on this with additional information and suggestions.

 

I would also add that there are questions in the logic section of TWTM that might help.

 

ALSO, SWB's blog has handouts from the lectures that she does. These are also quite helpful. The one entitled "How to Read a Book" is great!

[Daisy]

It is really about as simple as it sounds. I pick up small blank journals (like you'd find at a school supply store), the children decorate the cover, and have at it.

 

I usually pick two books for them to choose from. They read the back, read a few pages, and decide which one they prefer. Then I assign anywhere from 1-3 chapters a day (4x a week) based on the length of the chapters and age of the child. Writing in the journal is a daily activity. They can pick from our list or come up with their own way of responding to the literature. Sometimes I'll say something like, "Hey, I noticed when I read your journal this week that you haven't mentioned the setting, so maybe you can write something about that this week." It is their journal though. I read it once a week just to make sure they are actually writing in it, but I do not correct spelling, grammar, etc. I'll leave a sticky note inside making a comment about a part I really liked but I make no negative comments (after all it is their journal and they are welcome to write whatever they want).

 

My son mostly copies sentences, illustrations, finds stickers, makes collages with magazine pictures, asks me to write down something for him, etc.

 

My daughter fills her notebooks with drawings, acrostics, charts, summaries, character sketches, further research, vocabulary words, etc. It becomes her scrapbook of reading.

 

I'm really just trying to build a habit in them of gleaning from what they read. I do the exact same thing when I read books. I keep a journal of sorts for my book lists, favorite quotes, facts I've learned, etc. I think it helps that we all do it.

 

If they read about 20% of the book and don't like it, the only thing I ask is that they write down in their journal why they didn't like and whether or not they think they'd like to return to the book in the future.

[One Busy Mom of 5]

Love it!! I am going to start doing this myself!! Thanks for the tip! :)

Edited March 30, 2010 by One Busy Mom of 5

[Flaura]

Thanks for that idea, Daisy. It is sort of like a commonplace book. My daughter would love this and I might convince my son as well.

[mama2cntrykids]

Thank you again Daisy. I will try this next year, I think!