AAS vs Barton's

[Mama2four]

My son struggles with spelling greatly. His reading has greatly improved. I own AAS 1-4, and he is making slow progress. Before AAS, I wanted to try Barton's with him but couldn't afford it. My question is are these 2 programs similar? If I'm using AAS with him now (just started level 2), wouldn't Barton's be redundant (assuming I could afford to purchase it)? For those who have used or seen both, which is better iyo?

Thank you.

[juliecram]

I'll check with my friend who has used Barton for 8 years with her daughter who has dyslexia and has just started using AAS with her younger son. However, I know from talking with her that they are very similar. Barton is more intense and covers the material in a different order than AAS. My friend is very happy with the AAS program.

[Mama2four]

Thank you. It seems like my son will take 2 steps forward and 1 step back. Just when I get excited about his progress, he throws me for a loop.

[onaclairadeluna]

If you decide to go with barton you can contact them for placement. See this page on the barton site.

 

http://www.bartonreading.com/levels.html#faq

 

"If your student HAS had prior Orton-Gillingham-based tutoring, or for some other reason, you think the student has already mastered the skills taught in our early levels, let us know. We will then send you the post-test of our first few levels so you can determine the best place for that student to start."

 

I can't speak to the differences. I have only used Barton.

[Julie of KY]

I've used both. Barton is Reading and Spelling. If you only need spelling, then I'd probably stick with AAS, though I haven't gotten to the harder levels of AAS. I am using Barton with my daughter and she is about to start level 7. For a while we were doing the spelling and reading portions of Barton. However, the reading side of the program was getting into bigger, harder words and we do the spelling as it is presented, but move along without mastering the spelling - we make sure the reading is mastered before moving along. I am now using AAS alongside Barton for the spelling portion. I'm also using AAS to reinforce the reading. One day she'll read all the words in the next spelling lesson and then we move on to spelling them.

 

Barton has explicit rules for reading and spelling if that is what you need.

[fiddle]

Barton is Reading and Spelling. If you only need spelling, then I'd probably stick with AAS, though I haven't gotten to the harder levels of AAS.

 

:iagree:

 

We went through the first 4 levels of Barton and then decided that it was going so slowly and my dd didn't need much help for reading, as her issue is mainly poor spelling. So we switched to a different spelling program. The nice thing about Barton is that it IS a reading AND spelling program, but if your dc does not struggle with both issues it can be time consuming & expensive and the time might be better spent focusing on the weaker issue if the other is not a problem:)

 

Paula

[Lecka]

Here is a basic lesson outline and scope and sequence for Barton:

 

http://www.bartonreading.com/scope.html#scope

Edited May 9, 2012 by Lecka

[Mama2four]

Thanks everyone. Seeing the scope & sequence for Barton's was very helpful. I think we'll stick with AAS since it's mostly spelling that he has a hard time with.