Barton vs. SWR

[lovinmomma]

Is there anyone that can compare Barton with SWR? Anyone tried both? If this has been discussed before I apologize. I couldn't find any threads specifically about the differences between the two. :)

[MerryAtHope]

One big difference between Spalding-based programs and Orton-Gillingham-based programs is in how things are introduced. O-G is more incremental, Spalding teaches all of the phonograms up front. Also, Spalding will organize word lists according to frequency of use. Sometimes that can be a lot for a student with dyslexia to keep up with (you have to learn many patterns at once). An O-G program will introduce words by concept, so in that way is more incremental. (I haven't used Barton, but with AAS, you practice words according to concept first, then in mixed review and in sentences through dictation to make sure the word and concept are both mastered, and you have built-in review so you can customize to what the student needs to focus on. Here's an article on the differences between AAS and SWR, and some of these would apply to other O-G programs like Barton as well, so this might help as you look at similarities and differences.)

 

Hope you find what will work best for your family!

[PeterPan]

Barton is meant for dyslexia and severe problems.  You won't even bother with it if you don't have a SN dc.  SWR is $100, all the content from K5-college spelling, and it's meant to let you jump in, extract what you need, and teach your flock.  There are going to be no scripts, no lesson plans.  It's the raw material (lists, explanations, enrichment activities) and YOU choose what your dc needs to cover and YOU make it happen.

 

You *can* use SWR with a variety of kids, but the fact that it's not open and go is why you have so many other programs spawned off.  AAS is almost identical conceptually but has fully scripted lesson plans for every grade level.  Ditton Phonics Road.  

 

Barton not only scripts, but it slows everything down, making no assumptions.  Most kids will generalize and have the phonemic awareness skills and just not need what Barton does.  

 

So on a spectrum:

 

-if you want flexibility and enjoy planning things yourself, get SWR.

-if you want scripts, get LOE or AAS or PR.

-if you have a dc who isn't learning any other way and nothing is connecting, then you pull out the big guns, the program that will slow it down so things will stick, ie. Wilson, Barton, Abcderian, etc.

 

I used SWR with my dd for years (and a bunch of other things), then after VT we went through all the levels of AAS.  Having been through all those, I know there's no way *I* could slow down SWR and make it work for my ds.  I'm probably going to have to get Barton.  I'll do that when we finish LIPS (a phonemic awareness program).  Right now he can't hear the differences between all the vowels, so he's not ready to go forward.  It intrigues me as to whether SWR could work for him once his phonemic awareness is there, because it did work so well for my dd.  I'll be looking for how incremental he needs the instruction, whether he's able to generalize, whether having lots of rules and things at once confuses him.  At this point though, knowing myself and having taught them, I think Barton will make our lives easier.  I don't have the heart to sit there and create lessons that are that slow and careful, when someone else has done it for me.  But most kids DON'T need that.  I would never do that with a typical dc.  

[MyLittleBears]

I tried SWR, Spalding, ASS, LOE, and abecedarian for my severely dyslexic child. All of these moved way to quickly and and only brought him so far. Abecedarian made the most difference but was still not enough. My youngests' reading really took off with this program but he is not dyslexic. Barton is the only program we have seen some real progress with. We found some holes in his phonemic awareness at level one, even though he was reading at about first grade level. My oldest is only moderately dyslexic and I suspect SWR or any of the others would have been fine for him. He learned in school with Saxon reading and we worked on spelling with LOE. Had I known I was looking at severe or profound dyslexia, I would have saved myself the trouble and and gone with Barton from the beginning.