A question for Barton users...

[my2boysteacher]

We just started using Barton with my 8th grader following a diagnosis of dyslexia and dysgraphia.  

On the training DVD, Susan said that the child should not be doing any other language arts at the same time as Barton- no grammar, spelling, writing, etc.  I am having a hard time abiding by that, as my son will be in high school next year and is already behind in those areas, for obvious reasons.  He is almost done with level 1, and reads/spells at a 5th to 6th grade level when tested. 

Did you hold off on language arts while using Barton, if not, what did you do?  

[OneStepAtATime]

Short answer?  Yes, hold off.

 

And I think it is a good suggestion in most instances.  Just to reassure you, spelling and grammar and writing WILL get covered very gently in Barton in level 2 & 3 so you aren't walking away completely from those skill sets.  And spelling is part of every single lesson in the program, especially from Level 2 onward, so you are not walking away from spelling.  You are just keeping it limited to the Barton spelling lessons for now.  The program ramps up from Level 3 and becomes more challenging.  

 

The program is basically just moving the student into a very controlled way of handling those skills and with good reason.  Usually students are a bit older when they start this program (not kinder).  The student almost always needs to unlearn all the bad habits they have developed trying to learn to read/write/spell using systems that are inefficient for dyslexics. Then at the same time they are learning a different way of doing things.  This is HARD.  

 

It is like being taught how to swim one way, developing the muscle memory and neurological connections for that way, then being told you have to do it a totally different way.  You automatically keep trying to do things the way you were taught before.  Unlearning the first way while learning the second way takes time.  If you are still also doing the first way of swimming it makes it MUCH harder to also be unlearning that process.  Does that make sense?

 

You and your student will move much faster through Barton and be a lot less likely to have to fight bad habits already ingrained if you embrace walking away from outside grammar/spelling/writing for the first 3-4 levels.  If you are lucky and your child does not have additional learning challenges he might make it through the first 3 levels in a few months or even less.  Level 4 is much more challenging but some can make it through in 4-5 months, sometimes less, (sometimes a lot more, though).  It depends on the child and the instructor, etc.  After level 4 Barton recommends starting an outside Grammar/writing program if your child is old enough.  She recommends something systematic like IEW with Fix-It Grammar but you can use other sources.  And in case you were unaware, Level 7 and 8 are considered prep for High School.  Level 9 and 10 are considered  High School level so it isn't like you can't start High School level material until after all 10 levels.

 

In the meantime, expose him to material through audio books, documentaries, read alouds, project based learning, etc.  and scribe for him in his output.   Also work on skills like typing.  Definitely typing.  

 

If you use a typing program reduce wpm to a VERY low rate until accuracy has been achieved.  Especially with dysgraphia trying to develop the proper muscle memory for the key strokes can be horrifically challenging.  Some programs do allow you to adjust the wpm and the accuracy so make sure you get one that does.  Start with 5 wpm and 95% accuracy or maybe even 90%.  Emphasize proper key strokes over speed.  Speed will come once accuracy has been established.  And don't pick one that expects students to know how to spell just by listening to words dictated from the computer.

 

I know it seems counter productive to step away from extensive exposure to the areas that are weak but you aren't.  You are just approaching those skill sets from a different way of doing things.  It is all there.  Just done a bit differently and gently until bad habits are unlearned and better ones in place.

 

Best wishes and good luck.

 

 

Edited to add, if you go on the Barton site and get tutor access there are additional materials you can use, including spelling tests, fluency drills, extra practice pages, additional suggestions, etc.  

 

Plus there are controlled readers you can buy through a 3rd party seller.  They are honestly incredibly boring for an older student, though, so I would hold off on those until at least Level 4.  By then you might not need them anyway.  

 

What I DO recommend is the Spelling Success cards that are designed to use with Barton.  They have been a great help here for review, reinforcement, and for breaking up a lesson so it isn't so boring/frustrating when we run into days that just aren't working well.

 

 

Edited to add one more thing for the sake of honesty:  DD14 is doing well with Barton but I have to take the lessons slowly or she doesn't internalize.  She takes about 3-4 days to finish a lesson in Level 4, sometimes longer.  But rushing her doesn't help at all.  Rushing her means she forgets or gets it all jumbled and we have to go back and start over.  Very unproductive.  Slow and steady works best for DD.

 

DS10 has other learning challenges that caused lessons from Level 3 on to be harder for him than DD.  He internalizes the rules MUCH faster than DD.  He could whip through a lesson each day if it were only internalizing the rules for reading/spelling/grammar.  He would be in Level 6 or 7 by now if it were only the internalization of the rules.  But he has auditory issues that cause him to add in blends or miss blends and switching between certain sounds is challenging, to say the least.  He had to repeat Level 4 and is several lessons behind his sister at this point.  

 

In other words, every child is different.  Different kids will respond to this program in different ways, even if they have the same diagnosis (both of mine are dyslexic but are VERY different.)  Go at the pace of your child.  Move faster if they can move faster.  But don't panic and decide not to slow down if they struggle just because High School is looming in the window.  Rushing may cause a lot more heartache and put your child even further behind.  Easier said than done, I know.  :)

 

[my2boysteacher]

That was incredibly helpful,  I appreciate your detailed explanation.  That does make sense, I was just panicking since he is almost in high school, and we're trying to put him on a track to get into a good college.  I didn't realize that the other language arts topics would be addressed in coming levels, I guess I need to go look around the website more.  

 

Is there a typing program you would recommend?  He went through 'Dance Mat', but he still isn't using the correct fingers if I ask him to type a couple sentence narration.  

 

Also, how would you complete a high school transcript if he is just using Barton his 9th grade year? Would you say 'remedial English', or just call it 9th grade English?

 

 

[Guest2]

I would hold off. It is difficult to do so when you feel you are "behind" and reading about what everyone else is doing for this year or next on high school boards doesn't help with that feeling. Susan Barton knows her stuff. We all had second thoughts about "only " doing this. But, I think it is beneficial . The longer a student has been trying to read, the guessing and other coping/ habits they have that sort of impede their ability to actually read.

 

We signed up for http://www.learningally.org. With the Bartons code and a fee, you have access to so many audio books! If your child can read at 5th /6th grade level then, that alone would limit them from reading high school level books. Why not expose them to that great literature now? The next two years could be a study of Shakespeare plays , or modern plays. You could watch the great courses or homeschoolconnections videos, mrs. Sperry u tube videos and watch and discuss the plays. I love the other ideas One Step has too.

 

If reading has been difficult, often there is not much enjoyment associated with reading. This could be the time to develop enjoyment through audiobooks. Grammar and writing will flow much more smoothly once a person can read fluently. In level three , there are optional readers. If you really felt you needed to, I guess you could use those or the end of lesson stories and identify some parts of speech. Pull apart some paragraphs and look for topic sentence and supporting ones. I would only use Barton materials, and personally I would wait until almost done with level three and analyze material from the begining of level three or even level two stories. I felt that Bartons was enough. We never finished more than one lesson a week either. But my kids love to read, ahem , not as much literature as I would like, but I'll take it.

 

Sorry, looks like I posted when you did OP!

Oh, and we like Mavis beacon typing for about 15 minutes a day. It's not that exciting, but none of the fun programs taught my kids to type.

[OneStepAtATime]

Hmmm. for the transcript, I guess initially that depends on what state you are in and how you have to report.  For actually applying to college, as has been recommended to me, you might consider him taking a gap year.  See how he does over the next 4 years and maybe even consider shifting some things to an extra year of High School.  Do whatever he can do at High School level starting next year, but keep in mind the possibility of taking an extra year to finish everything.  Also, don't stop Barton over the summers.  Keep moving.

 

For typing, I would suggest you look at Typing Pal, but there may be others out there that are just as good.  My son is using Type to Learn 4, where you are a secret agent but it is geared more towards a bit younger crowd.  DD used that for quite a while but has since switched to Typing Pal.  It is usually for sale on Homeschool Buyers coop.  Easy to adjust the wpm and the accuracy requirements.  Sit with your child for the first several lessons.  Make certain he is using correct hand positioning.  If he starts doing it incorrectly and you have to go back and unlearn those skills it can take a lot longer to learn.  And don't expect much output at all with typing until he has internalized the key strokes.  If you ask him to type anything, write it out for him to see and keep it to very short sentences that are only made up of words he already knows well (maybe stuff learned in Barton) so he isn't trying to remember key strokes AND spelling/writing skills.  Give him time to sort of master the basic skill set before you expect a lot of output in this medium.

 

You might also look at software like Dragon Naturally Speaking paired with Ginger for writing output while he is learning to type.

 

FWIW, Level 1 of Barton is a very basic, very short level, with only 5 lessons, as you have seen.  It is by far the shortest (although it is also a crucial level for many kids, IMHO).  Level 2 also only has 5 lessons, just like Level 1,but each lesson is much longer.  When you get to Level 3, the level and the lessons are much more complex and much longer.  There will be roughly 15 sections for each lesson and there will be between 10 and 14 lessons.  Each lesson will include reading, spelling, grammar and writing. Hope that helps.

[my2boysteacher]

Yes, very helpful!  My only concern with taking a 'gap year', is that he is highly gifted.  When he gets bored, he shuts down.  His ed/psych therapist suggested we have him start taking college classes in a couple years.   I am having a hard time figuring this out because he is the oldest, and I am just trying to learn  how high school and college work for neuro-typical homeschool kids, AND figure out how on earth we can adjust things to work for him.  

[my2boysteacher]

 

We signed up for http://www.learningally.org. With the Bartons code and a fee, you have access to so many audio books! If your child can read at 5th /6th grade level then, that alone would limit them from reading high school level books. Why not expose them to that great literature now? The next two years could be a study of Shakespeare plays , or modern plays. You could watch the great courses or homeschoolconnections videos, mrs. Sperry u tube videos and watch and discuss the plays. I love the other ideas One Step has too.

 

If reading has been difficult, often there is not much enjoyment associated with reading. This could be the time to develop enjoyment through audiobooks.

 

Yes!!  I think this is so true for him.  He hates anything that resembles a book.  He will pick up magazines and read those, though- anything techy.   We have always done read alouds, so he has been exposed to a lot of good literature, but I like the idea of flooding him with audiobooks. I will look into learningally. Thanks for that suggestion! 

[Chanley]

We also use learning ally with my Barton student. He listens to books that his older sibling is reading and can chime in when we discuss it. This has developed a strong love for some challenging books that would otherwise be off limits. For a kid who has struggled with reading written text to be able to add his buck o'five to a discussion about Lord of the Rings, it is very empowering.  Definitely have him listen to the books. 

 

Also, I have found now that we are in level 8 of Barton, some of the language arts subjects that were lagging are actually improving with great speed. Do not despair, focus on Barton, listen to some great books and have faith that this will get him where he needs to be. 

[my2boysteacher]

Chanley, how long did it take your son to get to level 8? 

[OneStepAtATime]

Besides Learning Ally, you might also consider Immersion Reading using  a Kindle.  FWIW, DS LOVES having  a Kindle.  It is portable and he can take his books anywhere.  He can just listen while he is doing other things or he can read and listen (using Immersion reading) even if the book is way above his reading level.  It puts him in more control.  Much more convenient than audio CDs and he loves the independence.  

 

Definitely boredom can be an issue here, too.  The kids are functioning much higher in ability to comprehend content subjects than their reading/writing skills can keep up with.  It is an issue.  You might consider an on-line course, where the content is more advanced but you can help scaffold him at home for the reading/writing requirements while those skills are worked on separately.  One thing I had a hard time wrapping my brain around at first was the separation of content knowledge acquisition from input/output  skills acquisition.  

 

Learning to read well may take an extended amount of time, for instance, but the child should not be limited in exposure to reading material by where they are able to independently read.  Read-alouds and audio books at intellectual level instead of reading level definitely can help with that, as you have mentioned already doing to some extent.

 

Spelling, grammar and physical handwriting may never be perfect but as spelling, grammar and handwriting skills are being worked on scribing for the student and software like Dragon and Ginger can help output move closer to intellectual capabilities.

 

As for taking College Level courses in High School, certainly Dual Enrollment at some point might be a very good fit.  Is there a college/uni near you that allows accommodations?  Like a scribe or extra time for tests?  

[OneStepAtATime]

I know you are asking Chanley about their pacing, and I am interested, too.  

 

But whatever the response, keep in mind every child moves differently through this program.  If one is moving very quickly don't feel bad if yours isn't.  If one is taking it very, very slowly don't despair that your child won't finish until they are 30.  :)  

 

Every child moves at a different pace and different levels may be different, too.  DD took at least a month to get through Level 1 of Barton.  DS? 1 week or so.  Much quicker.  Same with level 2.  DD was slow, especially compared to DS.  DS whipped through with flying colors.  DS slowed down in Level 3.  DD and DS both bogged down in Level 4.  We made it halfway and had to start Level 4 completely over after a hiatus.  Now DD is moving steadily through Level 4.  DS is still struggling with certain things.  

 

It isn't just my kids, either.  You will see a pretty wide range of responses to successful pacing with Barton.  There is one poster on here whose dyslexic child moved through all 5 lessons of Level 1 in a couple of days.  (And, FWIW, another poster used the program with an NT child and they finished Level 1 in an afternoon.)  But another had a dyslexic child that took an entire year.  

 

Every time I try to schedule out when we will be in which level it just doesn't work. Either we move much more quickly than I had anticipated or much more slowly than I had anticipated.  I have not yet predicted anything correctly long term.  I know that probably sounds frustrating and discouraging, especially if you like to check off boxes and have a set plan.  It isn't as bad as it may sound, though.  It just means that there is no one pacing that works for all kids.  

 

Maybe we ought to take a poll or something sometime, just for grins....not sure it would be of much practical help but it might be fun.  :)

[OneStepAtATime]

OP, how is level 1 going?  I was thinking that if things go well, he might make it through Level 1-3 by mid-summer, possibly a LOT sooner.  Just be prepared to slow down a bit for Level 4.  A lot of parents I have exchanged info with seem to run into challenges with Level 4.  Many consider it the hardest level.  It is certainly one of the longest.  In fact, I honestly wish it had been broken up a bit.  Some have needed an entire year to make it through Level 4 (although many have completed it in 7-8 months, sometimes less).  Some actually quit when they hit that level because they fear that all the remaining levels will be as hard as that one.  As I understand it, though, once you make it through that level the others usually go more smoothly and the pace increases.  At least that seems to be the general consensus from many.  

[Plink]

We break the rules.  

 

Grammar and composition are extremely easy to do orally.  For grammar I read, she identifies, states changes, points out missed punctuation, etc.  For composition she uses our Macbook's voice-to-text feature on her own to create her draft, and then we edit together orally.  She is never asked to correct a mis-spelled word on her own that does not adhere to the rules that she already has mastered (not just taught, but mastered).  In general, I just feed her the right spelling and she types/writes it down.    

 

We do the same thing with handwriting - spelling doesn't count unless the rules have already been mastered.  I just point out any errors immediately and she writes them down correctly.

 

Spelling is the one thing we leave entirely as part of her reading program.

[my2boysteacher]

I agree it would be interesting to do a poll sometime.  I'm sure results will vary greatly.   My son is flying through level one.  If I did it with him every day he would have finished in a week, but I'm taking days off until I get the second level ordered.  I am also using it with my 6 year old daughter and husband.  My daughter is a very strong reader, but I figure might as well make things easy for me.   :tongue_smilie:   (also I have minor concerns with her hand-writing, wondering if another 2e kid?) Why do a second phonics program when Barton should work well for her, too.  I'm pretty sure my husband is dyslexic, and when we started doing more research on dyslexia, he agreed with me.  He wants to go through Barton, too.   I'm sure they will all go through at different paces.  

[my2boysteacher]

We break the rules.  

 

Grammar and composition are extremely easy to do orally.  For grammar I read, she identifies, states changes, points out missed punctuation, etc.  For composition she uses our Macbook's voice-to-text feature on her own to create her draft, and then we edit together orally.  She is never asked to correct a mis-spelled word on her own that does not adhere to the rules that she already has mastered (not just taught, but mastered).  In general, I just feed her the right spelling and she types/writes it down.    

 

We do the same thing with handwriting/copywork - spelling doesn't count unless the rules have already been mastered.

 

Spelling is the one thing we leave entirely as part of her reading program.

 This sounds similar to what I have been doing.  I have him type a short narration after he watches a History video.  Then we go through it together.  I sometimes offer grammar advice if a sentence is really awkward, but never make him change anything.  He can take my advice or not.  He calls me his 'editor'.   For spelling mistakes, I am working on having him re-read what he wrote.  Because of his strong visual spatial abilities, he can almost always tell if a word doesn't 'look right'.  He can't fix it, but he can identify it which I think is good for now.  

[merry gardens]

Did I hold off? No. I added other things along with Barton. A large part my reasoning was our family's needs that my son have something to do while I was working with my other children. Many of the things he did ended up being duplications of things we later did in Barton, but many weren't.  I didn't use the writing program that Barton specifically recommends (Institute for Excellence in Writing) until much later than when Barton--and that program was fantastic. We're on level 10 of Barton.  My son is in eighth grade and we've been using Barton for many years.  It took us far longer to get to this point than it likely will take your child, especially if you follow the suggestion to set aside other grammar programs and focus on Barton.

 

As to the transcripts question--I don't know.  I have another son who's a sophomore in high school and I'm trying to figure out how to manage his transcript.  He attended a brick and mortar high school his freshman year, and that high school did not use any programs to teach grammar or spelling. They assumed the students already had those skills, so their language arts focused primarily on literature. Strong writing, grammar and spelling skills were expected but not taught. At a high school level, some schools separate English class, using materials to teach vocabulary and writing skills, (which in your case could include materials like Barton and Excellence in Writing) from a Literature class, where students read and discuss quality literature.  You might accommodate your son's dyslexia and dysgraphia in a Literature class through books on tape and help with writing through typing all assignments with help from spell checker and grammar checker. High school students who get help from a tutor don't have to mark tutoring lessons marked on their transcripts, so if your son's transcript may not even need to mention anything about remediation if you weren't trying to give him high school credit for that.  He could earn English credit through a Literature class, and by next year, he might be far enough in Barton to manage a Literature class with accommodations, especially if he's 2e.

 

I'm trying to figure out Literature vs. English class with or without Barton too. My high school son got up to level 8 but he never finished the entire Barton program. I think it would help him if we did, especially as I now see what levels 9 &10 cover. We've found other high school materials that we really like, and Barton could be supplemented in with those materials. But that gets back to what I wrote in the paragraph above--when we add in more materials beyond Barton, it takes longer to get through Barton--and if I put in Barton, it will take away from some time we spend on other things. This son's freshman year he didn't receive any help with grammar or writing, outside of having me help him with his papers (or having teachers mark up the papers with red ink whenever he didn't accept my help.) A 2e kid who has been remediated or partly remediated with a good program may be able to handle a regular high school literature course, especially if he gets help with writing or is allowed to demonstrate his understanding of the materials in other ways. My son actually did pretty well in his freshman year literature class. As he's back to homeschooling, I plan to mark his transcripts with one grade for 10th grade Literature and another for 10th grade English--and I'm wondering how to fit Barton in with all of that. I don't plan to mark anything on his high school transcript as remedial. If I decide to use Barton instead of another vocabulary and writing programs next year, I'll likely just give him a grade for Literature.

[Plink]

Hmm... Despite my rule-breaker-ness, in level 1 I wouldn't have him typing his own work (requiring him to make up spelling) or re-reading error filled text to search for spelling mistakes (requiring him to look at misspelled words repeatedly).  I'd wait for both of those tasks until he has enough rules/tools under his belt to know WHY the errors exist and break down how to fix them.  

 

Do you think he'd be willing to switch to speech to text?  It would make the writing process go a lot faster for him, still give him the independence he needs, auto-spell everything correctly so that his awesome Visual-Spatial skills don't get corrupted with repeated viewings of misspellings, and protect him from reinforcing bad habits.

 

I love that he calls you his editor!  That is such a positive spin on needing help.  :)  

[OneStepAtATime]

Hmm... Despite my rule-breaker-ness, in level 1 I wouldn't have him typing his own work (requiring him to make up spelling) or re-reading error filled text to search for spelling mistakes (requiring him to look at misspelled words repeatedly).  I'd wait for both of those tasks until he has enough rules/tools under his belt to know WHY the errors exist and break down how to fix them.  

 

Do you think he'd be willing to switch to speech to text?  It would make the writing process go a lot faster for him, still give him the independence he needs, auto-spell everything correctly so that his awesome Visual-Spatial skills don't get corrupted with repeated viewings of misspellings, and protect him from reinforcing bad habits.

 

I love that he calls you his editor!  That is such a positive spin on needing help.   :)

I agree.  Excellent points, Plink.

[OneStepAtATime]

Did I hold off? No. I added other things along with Barton. A large part my reasoning was our family's needs that my son have something to do while I was working with my other children. Many of the things he did ended up being duplications of things we later did in Barton, but many weren't.  I didn't use the writing program that Barton specifically recommends (Institute for Excellence in Writing) until much later than when Barton--and that program was fantastic. We're on level 10 of Barton.  My son is in eighth grade and we've been using Barton for many years.  It took us far longer to get to this point than it likely will take your child, especially if you follow the suggestion to set aside other grammar programs and focus on Barton.

 

As to the transcripts question--I don't know.  I have another son who's a sophomore in high school and I'm trying to figure out how to manage his transcript.  He attended a brick and mortar high school his freshman year, and that high school did not use any programs to teach grammar or spelling. They assumed the students already had those skills, so their language arts focused primarily on literature. Strong writing, grammar and spelling skills were expected but not taught. At a high school level, some schools separate English class, using materials to teach vocabulary and writing skills, (which in your case could include materials like Barton and Excellence in Writing) from a Literature class, where students read and discuss quality literature.  You might accommodate your son's dyslexia and dysgraphia in a Literature class through books on tape and help with writing through typing all assignments with help from spell checker and grammar checker. High school students who get help from a tutor don't have to mark tutoring lessons marked on their transcripts, so if your son's transcript may not even need to mention anything about remediation if you weren't trying to give him high school credit for that.  He could earn English credit through a Literature class, and by next year, he might be far enough in Barton to manage a Literature class with accommodations, especially if he's 2e.

 

I'm trying to figure out Literature vs. English class with or without Barton too. My high school son got up to level 8 but he never finished the entire Barton program. I think it would help him if we did, especially as I now see what levels 9 &10 cover. We've found other high school materials that we really like, and Barton could be supplemented in with those materials. But that gets back to what I wrote in the paragraph above--when we add in more materials beyond Barton, it takes longer to get through Barton--and if I put in Barton, it will take away from some time we spend on other things. This son's freshman year he didn't receive any help with grammar or writing, outside of having me help him with his papers (or having teachers mark up the papers with red ink whenever he didn't accept my help.) A 2e kid who has been remediated or partly remediated with a good program may be able to handle a regular high school literature course, especially if he gets help with writing or is allowed to demonstrate his understanding of the materials in other ways. My son actually did pretty well in his freshman year literature class. As he's back to homeschooling, I plan to mark his transcripts with one grade for 10th grade Literature and another for 10th grade English--and I'm wondering how to fit Barton in with all of that. I don't plan to mark anything on his high school transcript as remedial. If I decide to use Barton instead of another vocabulary and writing programs next year, I'll likely just give him a grade for Literature.

Great post!

[my2boysteacher]

Yes, very helpful, Merry Gardens.  I understand what you are saying- I will hold off on the typed narrations.  We have not looked into any tech support yet, such as voice to text.  I'm hoping to get my husband to start looking into some of that this weekend, as my son definitely got his 'tech gene' from his dad and not me.  :001_rolleyes:

 

[OneStepAtATime]

Yes, very helpful, Merry Gardens.  I understand what you are saying- I will hold off on the typed narrations.  We have not looked into any tech support yet, such as voice to text.  I'm hoping to get my husband to start looking into some of that this weekend, as my son definitely got his 'tech gene' from his dad and not me.  :001_rolleyes:

:)  Yeah, here, too.  

 

Just to add, there is a learning curve with things like Dragon.  He may need help and time to navigate through learning how to use the program effectively if you choose this route.  Then it also takes time for him to actually train the program to recognize his voice.  Give him that time.  Don't expect him to load the program and just start producing written material the next day.  :)

[my2boysteacher]

Besides Learning Ally, you might also consider Immersion Reading using  a Kindle.

Could you tell me more about this? Is that an app or through a website?  He does have a Kindle, and received an iPad mini for Christmas. (Like I said, I have zero technological know-how!)

[OneStepAtATime]

On certain Kindles, but not all, you can buy the ebook then buy the audio version at a discounted rate and the two can be synced (must be purchased in that order to get the discount).  Sometimes it is a HUGE discounted rate, sometimes not so much.  Anyway, then when you start the e-book, also start the audio version (tab or something at the bottom).  The print syncs with the audio so as you "read" the book with your eyes you hear the audio book version and the text is highlighted as the audio version says the words.  The two are together.   Does that make sense?  If you stop reading, the audio stops, too.  They both resume at the point you last read.  Immersion reading frees up the person from having to rely entirely on themselves for decoding and fluency but can still be exposed to both the print and the audio version of the book.  That way the person is hearing and seeing the words correctly spoken, pronounced and written.  Not all books have this feature, however.  When purchasing you need to research to see if the book you are looking at buying does.

 

I hope that made sense....:)

[imagine.more]

No time to read everyone's responses but yes I'd follow the advice and hold off. Level 1 seems kinda light for L.A. but is so crucial and any reading/writing work will cause guessing and undo your work. By Level 2-3 you start to see a bit of grammar (identifying who, did what, and where phrases) and more spelling and dictation work. It's hard to ignore the common trend working with an older child but so crucial. I understand because my DD is 13 and so it's really hard for me to hold off! 

 

I would continue studying literature but exclusively through read-alouds and audiobooks and oral discussion. Use speech to text or simply write it down yourself so there is a written record of the responses if you have a state that requires a portfolio. As long as you continue to study literature this way the vocabulary will continue progressing and you can even talk about all sorts of literary analysis things all orally. 

 

By level 4 you can let them write a bit more but always spell for them any words they have not yet encountered in Barton. Not getting exasperated at this requirement to spell so much for them is hard but necessary, lol! I'd wait until level 5 (I think this is what Barton recommends??) to reintroduce required reading but even then I'd read ahead and put a dot over every word that your son hasn't covered in Barton yet. You read the dotted words and he reads everything else. That way he gets practice but without falling into any bad habits of guessing. 

 

The program requires letting go of your typical curriculum ideals but is definitely worth it, my daughter was reading on a 1st grade level at 12 and hadn't made progress in several years (same exact reading scores for 4 years straight!) but after 1 year of Barton now (Level 3 currently) she's reading on a solid 2.5 grade level easily. She has a lot of sight word knowledge too from other programs so I'm thinking she'll be at a 4th grade level by summertime. And she's technically intellectually disabled and hard of hearing! So any typical learner who just has dyslexia is going to easily make that much progress and more in a year or two. 

 

Once your son is reading on grade level he'll be able to progress much faster and more independently in all subjects so it's not a waste to pause other language arts work for a couple years. 

[my2boysteacher]

Thanks Manda, that was very reassuring.  :001_smile: