Gentlemommy Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 What is the main difference(s) between Barton and other OG programs? Is it the same information but slower? Presented in different ways? How difficult is it to teach/tutor with it? My own dd (9) struggles with writing and spelling. She had a heck of a time learning to read, until I we did vision therapy. I suspect ADD and possibly dysgraphia, however being that we homeschool, I can make accommodations for her. I can see improvement lately, especially with her willingness to write. A friend has asked if I can work with her (also 9) son. He attends public school, and while he struggles, isn't receiving extra help/time/accommodations. I think it's a case of him not being far enough behind to qualify, yet his mom feels like he needs the extra help. He hates to read and write, and struggles with spelling. So much mirrors what dd has had issues with. I'm not a professional or qualified tutor by any stretch of the imagination, however, I've read and researched ways to help dd for years. I'm considering buying Barton to use with them together, however, being that the price tag is high, I need to know what exactly the difference is between that and say, The Writing Road To Reading, which I have. Here are the other things I have as far as reading and spelling, if you're experienced with Barton, could you let me know if any of these would work if I took them slowly? Or if just biting the bullet and starting with Barton is the way to go... The Reading Lesson OPGTTR Reading Reflex Phonics Pathways Teach a Child to Read Using Children's Books Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons Spelling Power ETC R and S grade 3 and 4 The Illustrated book of sounds and their spelling patterns The victory drill book Sound beginnings How to teach spelling and how to spell workbooks The ABCs that all their tricks Sequential spelling 1 and 2 McGuffy readers set Pathway readers for K through 2 Building spelling skills 1-8 Wise guide for spelling Logic of English phonograms and spelling games book Soooooo, yeah. You can see my hesitation to spending even MORE money (though I will say, in my defense, that most of these were purchased used, for pennies on the dollar....:-0) on spelling lol. However, I am open to it if it'll really make the difference, especially if someone is depending on my teaching their kid...I know he will be on a public school time table, so he may need to make improvements quicker. Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 To be honest, if you had a ton of tutor training with kids that are not neuro-typical, especially dyslexics that also have other issues, you could probably pull something together from the materials above and do just fine. Without experience and training, I just don't know. And unfortunately, while I am using Barton, I really couldn't help with determining if the above list could be pulled together, especially when tutoring a child that is not your own. I don't know your background so I will speak to you of mine. My mother is a reading specialist. She taught for YEARS in the public school system and took lots of extra training courses to teach both advanced and remedial reading. It did NOT help her to help me with my two dyslexic kids with other issues. I got a Bachelor's in Communication and went back to get my teaching degree. I am a voracious reader and did well in school. I couldn't help my kids do more than survive school. Grade wise they did well, but they were falling further and further behind in skills. Rather, as others continued to improve their skills, my own kids were not progressing. They were not learning to truly read, spell and write with anything that the school was using or that Mom and I tried. It was demoralizing and depressing and undermined everyone's confidence, including and especially my kids. Constantly trying different things that didn't work was not helpful. They became resistant because they started to believe that it was not possible for them to ever truly learn to read. We turned to Barton because it is designed specifically for someone with no tutor training to be able to do. It is scripted, there are support DVDs, lots of support on-line through the Barton site, and Susan Barton herself is there when you need her. It has helped tremendously with one child. It has helped quite a bit with the other. But my son has some odd glitches that are still throwing him off. We are still working on those odd glitches. It is not perfect because every child is different and every child has different strength and weakness combinations. If you were to tutor both children, I would NOT recommend tutoring them at the same time. They will need one on one, focused attention without distractions. this will probably apply no matter what system you use until you can get into a routine and get a good feel for each child's issues. You don't want one flying through and the other getting even more demoralized as they struggle to grasp and apply something. Also, with Barton specifically, it is supposed to replace all other language arts material through at least Level 3, preferrably through Level 4, to unlearn any bad habits and prevent any bad habits from happening. Since the boy is in school he may take longer to get through the material since he is not able to step away from the apparently ineffective instruction and material he is getting at school. You will need to move at the pace of each child through this program. Another thing to consider is that I have found, as many other tutors have too, that doing a 30-45 minute tutoring session 4-5 days a week is much more effective than just one two hour session or two one hour sessions a week. Would you be able to meet with this boy more than once or twice a week? I am not saying don't do this. I think it is wonderful that you are considering this and I applaud you for that. Just think through all the details BEFORE you commit and make certain you and his parents are on the same page. Barton is ideally suited to start someone out as a tutor with no tutor training, by the way. It helps you with which materials to send home for the student to work on in their own time, it gives lots of suggestions for what to do if they trip up in specific areas, it has a wonderful tracking sheet for keeping up with where you are and what still needs to be done, there are end of Level assessments to make certain the child really has internalized all of the lessons for that level and easy ways to go back and work on only the specific areas that they still seem to struggle, etc. And you can reuse the material over and over. Just put the student sheets in sheet protectors and use a dry erase marker. You could earn extra income as a Barton tutor for years to come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plink Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 None of the programs you listed are incremental enough for a truly dyslexic child, but they may work in your situation since you are more concerned with dysgraphia than dyslexia. In the OG world I have worked with both Barton and Wilson. Barton has better teacher training, so it is my pick for teaching at home. Yes, it is very expensive, but it works extremely well. I like their very slow introduction of new sounds, and they have fantastic books and games that are intentionally designed for older students (topics include taxes, prom, etc.) That said, we are borrowing quite a few things from Wilson We set up our letter tiles with fls and z (letters doubled at the end of 1syllable short vowel words) at the end of each row We tap in the Wilson way, which allows you to feel the blend, not just the individual letters. We draw scoops rather than lines to divide who, did what, and add on phrases. We will use the Wilson method for teaching how to properly use spell check. I'm not sure if that answers your question. Feel free to PM me if you need more information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 None of the programs you listed are incremental enough for a truly dyslexic child, but they may work in your situation since you are more concerned with dysgraphia than dyslexia. In the OG world I have worked with both Barton and Wilson. Barton has better teacher training, so it is my pick for teaching at home. Yes, it is very expensive, but it works extremely well. I like their very slow introduction of new sounds, and they have fantastic books and games that are intentionally designed for older students (topics include taxes, prom, etc.) That said, we are borrowing quite a few things from Wilson We set up our letter tiles with fls and z (letters doubled at the end of 1syllable short vowel words) at the end of each row We tap in the Wilson way, which allows you to feel the blend, not just the individual letters. We draw scoops rather than lines to divide who, did what, and add on phrases. We will use the Wilson method for teaching how to properly use spell check. I'm not sure if that answers your question. Feel free to PM me if you need more information. Would you mind giving an example of the Wilson method of using spell check? We are struggling a bit with Barton's version in Level 4. Or point me to a resource? I really don't want to buy Wilson just for spell check but I have heard from others that the Wilson method for this is frequently preferred.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 FWIW, my son is also dysgraphic. He uses a lined dry erase board for several parts of Barton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plink Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 I don't know that you really NEED to buy Wilson just for that section, but we have access to both so for us the switch makes sense. Here is some info: http://www.wilsonacademy.com/media.aspx?m=WRS_Spelling_Options.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 I don't know that you really NEED to buy Wilson just for that section, but we have access to both so for us the switch makes sense. Here is some info: http://www.wilsonacademy.com/media.aspx?m=WRS_Spelling_Options.pdf Thanks so much, Plink! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Oh, Gentlemommy, have you given your child the free student screening? You need to do the tutor screening first to see if you can even tutor in Barton (not based on knowledge or skills but sound discrimination mainly). The screening is free, easy to administer and might help you determine if Barton is even an option. You would need to administer the screening to any child you were considering tutoring, by the way. I have linked them below. FWIW, my DD, my mom and I passed with flying colors. My DS did not. My mom had to remediate with LiPS before he could move on to Barton. http://www.bartonreading.com/tutors.html#screen (scroll down) http://www.bartonreading.com/students_long.html#screen This will also give you a clue if there may be other issues that could be tripping up your child or the other child that might make it more difficult for them to progress through ANY program without remediation of specific issues. Just make certain you administer the test when you are both rested and focused, there are no distractions or interruptions, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 You might find this thread helpful, even though it is titled LiPS. Barton is discussed quite a bit, pros and cons.... http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/494226-lips-by-lindamood/?hl=%20lips Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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