Teaching the Classics vs DITHOR...

[butterfly113]

I have heard wonderful things about both of these programs. I need some clarity however please. For those of you that have used either of these curriculums, I have a few questions.

 

With DITHOR (Drawn into the heart of reading) it seems that there are assigned pages to read per day... and then various activities, and writing, answering question assignments... much of it in a workbook. The program covers all the genres. Is this correct?

 

My understanding of Teaching the Classics is that it is more of a method. In that you learn the method, as a teacher, and it gives you various discussion questions to ask with each type of genre. Similar to how WWE gives the teacher the methods of how teach narration, copywork and dictation. Is this correct?

 

Of the two programs, which do you prefer, and why? If you have only used one, why did you choose that method? Any input or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks hive ladies!

[butterfly113]

:lurk5:

[Country Girl]

This is something I wrote almost 2 years ago for someone else who asked me to compare the two. This was before I had actually used either. I have been using TtC since then and still really enjoy it. However, occasionally I get the "Am I doing enough" panic and think I should go with a program that is a bit more scripted, laid out, and traditional. That is when I start to second guess TtC and think about DITHOR again. A few of the things in this response were directed towards some specific questions she had so they may not apply to you.

 

First, let me start by

saying that I think both programs look VERY good and I

had a really hard time deciding between them. I first

found out about DITHOR over a year ago and I had

planned on using it ever since. However, I was thrown

for a loop at this year's conference when I learned of

TtC. If I never would have heard of TtC I would have

gone ahead and used DITHOR and I'm sure it would have

been great. I should also tell you that I am planning

on using this with my son who just turned 6. He

sounds like your dd, reads and comprehends far above

grade level, always gets comments on how mature he is

etc. So I think we are in a similar boat as far as

the type of child we are planning for.

 

I'm not sure if I can really organize my thoughts

about the two programs but I will try. However, they

will probably come out as a big jumbled mess and

hopefully you can sift through them and find something

helpful.

 

DITHOR:

For the most part, I've only looked closely at the 2/3

level of the TM so most of my comments will be based

on that. One of the things I really liked about this

program was the way 9 different genres are used. I

like this concept because it would force us to read

different types of literature (my ds would always

choose mystery if I let him). I also like how a story

element that is typically more predominant in a

particular genre is studied with that genre. For

instance, in the biography genre you would study the

story element of character, in the adventure genre you

study conflict etc.

 

I like the idea of the genre kick-offs that are used

with this but in reality I'm not sure how much we'd

get into them. I really don't like activities and

crafts, and as much as I would want to do them for the

fun factor, I could definitely see myself skipping

them. However, if you like this sort of thing it

would be great. She gives approximately 10 ideas for

each genre. The ideas range from simple to more

complex and include things like acting out a scenario,

doing a treasure hunt, take a field trip to a

historical building, visit a re-enactment, drawing

pictures etc.

 

One of the things I really liked that I'm not sure if

TtC includes, is prediction exercises. She may ask

you to look at the title, a picture in the book, the

synopsis on the back cover etc. to predict what is

going to happen in the book. I can't remember if TtC

covers this or not.

 

I also like the vocabulary exercises that are included

(which is something you mentioned). Again, I don't

think TtC covers this directly. She included optional

vocabulary exercises even at the 2/3 level so I don't

think you would probably have to order the extra

workbook if this is the main reason you were thinking

of the 6/7/8 wkbk. For the 2/3 level, on days 2,7,12

she lists optional vocabulary work. In the Appendix

she has 4 vocabulary activity worksheet pages that you

can choose from. One concentrates on using clues

about what is going on in the story to guess what the

word means then looking it up. One activity

concentrates on looking up synonyms to learn the

meaning of an unfamiliar word. The 3rd has you look

for root words, prefixes, suffixes to determine the

meaning. The final activity is based on contextual

clues from the sentence the unknown word came from.

Most of the activities have the student writing out

the dictionary definition and also using the word in a

sentence.

 

I also like the daily format of this program. I am a

check off my boxes kind of person and I love

schedules. So the fact that there is a day by day

guide of what to do really appeals to me.

 

My absolute favorite part of the program is the

discussion days. Which is why in the end, I

ultimately chose TtC. TtC is pretty much just

discussion and I realized that was really what

attracted me to DITHOR in the first place.

 

Strangely, one thing I didn't really care for is the

character element of the program. We are a Christian

family and this is one of the things that initially

attracted me to DITHOR. However, this past year we

used parts of her program Beyond Little Hearts for His

Glory. In that program she has a read aloud schedule

that is based on the same concept as DITHOR. In fact,

it is very similar but doesn't include the worksheets

and writing activities and concentrates more on

narration. The BLHFHG also included the character

aspect and I found that often we had a very hard time

making a connection between the character element that

was being studied and the book we were reading. I

felt like I was trying to force something that wasn't

there. Sometimes it worked out okay but often it

didn't. We may have been studying brotherly love and

the book we were reading just may not have had

anything to do with brotherly love, either positively

or negatively. So I found myself skipping these days

very often and I figured I'd do the same with the

DITHOR program.

 

Something that may be seen as a positive or negative

is the repetitiveness of the program. You can look at

the general daily format on her website and see that

for every genre, on days 1,6,11 you are going to do

pre-reading activities. The activities themselves may

be different and some may overlap, but you will still

be doing the same kind of activities throughout. This

can be good because of the reinforcement that comes

from repetition, it can also be good because kids can

anticipate what is coming, they know what to expect

etc. However, it could be a drawback if your child is

very easily bored. Although I do think she does a

good job of trying to keep the program fun and

interesting.

 

So, based on all of the positive things I saw about

this program you may wonder why I chose TtC. I think

the major factor came down to the fact that I was

looking for a program that was primarily discussion

based. While I liked the idea of the projects etc. I

didn't see them getting done at our house. Also,

since I am using this with a younger child, I wanted

something that we could get "meaty" with without

having to deal with the issues of writing out answers

on the workbook pages etc. I wanted something we

could cuddle on the couch reading our book and then

continue cuddling on the couch to discuss it.

 

While I liked the vocabulary activities included in

DITHOR, I figured I could easily add my own version to

TtC. The same thing goes for the

pre-reading/prediction exercises I like in DITHOR.

The trick for me will just be to remember to include

them since I don't have a daily schedule to follow. I

have to admit, not having the daily schedule was

probably the biggest drawback of TtC for me.

 

Also, since I still have the BLHFHG, I figured I can

pull things from that to help address the issue of

different literary genres.

 

Before I found TtC, I was planning on using the BLHFHG

schedule again to discuss our read-alouds and then use

the DITHOR program to discuss the books that my son

was reading. I wanted to choose books for my son to

read that would challenge his reading ability.

However, I had some concerns with asking him to learn

literary concepts and analysis techniques on books

that were challenging to read. TtC has solved that

concern for me. TtC is based on the premise that all

works of fiction (even children's picture books) share

the same basic elements. So I figured we would work

through the TtC concepts with the children's books

(the workbook uses children's stories to introduce the

TtC concepts). Then I would choose a more challenging

book that he and I would take turns reading aloud to

each other. I will probably use some of the Socratic

questions for these read-alouds too but it won't be as

formal as the study we do with the children's books.

 

 

I should also say, that I originally thought I'd try to add in some of the vocab and prediction exercises..... hasn't happened. I kind of figured that is the way it would go. A few weeks ago I did do a little vocab exercise with one of the books we were reading but that is as far as that good intention has gone:001_huh:. Maybe I'll try again! I hope this has helped somewhat.