Tasia Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 My 8 year old was diagnosed with Dyslexia last week and based on his test scores and our goals for him, both psychologists we've spoken with have strongly recommended Barton Reading and Spelling. We're still researching other options, but I think this is what we'll end up going with. Is anyone using Barton with their kids? Do use a tutor or do you teach it yourself? Any experience or advice is appreciated. Thanks. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merry gardens Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 We use it. Barton is a terrific program. I'm my kids' tutor. My ds had serious struggles reading before Barton. We've used it for around 2 1/2 years and are nearing the end of level 6. The first few levels are smaller and cover less material than the later levels. (but they cover very critical skills). My ds now reads at grade level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onaclairadeluna Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 I used Barton through level 10 with my son and it is fantastic! I am also now using it with my daughter. She doesn't have a dx but has all the signs her brother had so I am jumping in with her and wasting no time. I have been my children's only tutor. I find it very easy to use. My sister in law who most likely dyslexic herself (but never remediated) had a harder time with it. She had a hard time even in the early levels figuring out how to phonetically pronounce things. In that case I'd recommend getting a tutor. But for me it was not hard to use at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 I know someone using it (doing the tutoring themselves) who likes it. We used a different Orton-Gillingham program and liked that, also doing the tutoring myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 (edited) We use Barton to and have been very pleased with it. I am my son's tutor :D Edited May 31, 2012 by Quiver0f10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobela Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 We considered using a tutor but she was only available for 2 days a week, for one hour, and said to expect 4 years to complete the program. That was stretching it a bit far for us. I bought it to teach myself, I believe I could have done it, but we instead found someone who was trained in the Scottish Rite Method and hired her instead. She was wonderful and we were very pleased with the results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 Another happy Barton user here. You won't regret it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lecka Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 (edited) I got Barton Level 1 and watched the videos twice (not including rewinding). They were extremely helpful. I ended up using some different materials (my son was confused by nonsense words and he didn't know any words that were vowel-consonant so I used real words.... he basically had only 10 words memorized including a and I and know idea what to do to read when we started) but I couldn't have known what to do with them without the Barton videos. I look at videos on youtube now sometimes, but without having seen the Barton videos, I wouldn't know what to look for as more effective or less effective. My son was recommended to be held back in K but my husband would not allow it. He was really behind even then. He did speech therapy also and I worked with him. He caught up with his class around Christmas of 1st grade and he is on-level now. I really like Barton but I want to follow his school curriculum when I work with him, which has worked out so far, since he caught up. If he ever stalls in his progress I will use Barton, though. I work with him every day, and I think he would make faster and more efficient progress with Barton, but there are pros to me re-inforcing the school program, too. I have used Abecedarian and the Wiley Blevins books and All About Spelling, and they are good for what I am doing, but if I were homeschooling I would do Barton. It was on the table for a while, b/c his K teacher told us we could pass him to 1st grade, but that the school could retain him in 1st grade against our wishes, and she thought that would be what happened. It was mean of her, but also a wake-up call, b/c he was that behind and we didn't really realize it. I haven't been able to find any kind of tutor in my area who is using effective methods so it is not an option for us. Edited May 31, 2012 by Lecka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tasia Posted June 1, 2012 Author Share Posted June 1, 2012 Thanks so much for all the replies. :) I'm leaning towards tutoring him myself, but Dh is worried about me taking on too much. Can someone answer just a couple questions for me to help ease his mind? Is there anything to prepare for each lesson? Or is it safe to assume that (apart from the training for each level), everything is completed in 45-60 minutes per day? Do you find that you need your sessions to be completely focused and free of interruptions or can you work with other kids around? My other kids are older (4yo won't be here), but I don't think much would get done if I left them on their own for an hour every morning. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 We spend about 30 minutes a day which is all my son can handle. I do work with him 1 on 1 and have the other kids doing something independent during this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lecka Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 (edited) My son actually needs complete silence and no distractions. Last summer my little kids watched 4 tv show (80 minutes) in the mornings while we did things. There were rewards built into that time, not just work, by any means, but that was a good amount of time and enough time to accomplish things. Since he has gotten caught up, we do reading time after the little kids are in bed, and then I read him his stories. It is our special time together... but I do usually spend an hour with him, after the little kids are in bed. They go to bed early. If our routine is messed up I work with him while they are in the bath, or they watch tv. Usually the bath works better -- I can turn the water down really low, and they love to sit in the bath while the water drips (they are twins, about 3.5 now). edit: rewards would be he picked something for us to do together for 5 or 10 minutes... sticker book, pillow fight, eat a snack... things like that. He would want to avoid doing it, so I felt like we needed to stick to a routine he knew he coudn't get out of, but still have enough time for it not to rush or for me to be mad at him for eating his snack slowly. I had problems with him having avoidant behavior, b/c he had already had too much time of not being able to give the right answer at school. He had an aide helping him learn letter sounds around Christmas of K... his school actually doesn't have a pushed-down curriculum (as my mom taught K and kids even then were supposed to know letter sounds and first sounds in words)... he couldn't do hardly any of their pre-reading curriculum, though. Now he has got a good attitude and it is like night and day. For him -- phonemic awareness was extremely difficult, but phonics has not been so bad, though he works harder than other kids. Edited June 1, 2012 by Lecka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Wow, I've looked into this. I think it'd be a great system (I've heard good things about it) and I would be a great tutor :) Just trying to figure out how to jump into it ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobela Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Thanks so much for all the replies. :) I'm leaning towards tutoring him myself, but Dh is worried about me taking on too much. Can someone answer just a couple questions for me to help ease his mind? Is there anything to prepare for each lesson? Or is it safe to assume that (apart from the training for each level), everything is completed in 45-60 minutes per day? Do you find that you need your sessions to be completely focused and free of interruptions or can you work with other kids around? My other kids are older (4yo won't be here), but I don't think much would get done if I left them on their own for an hour every morning. Thanks! There is a video for parents to watch before teaching the lessons. My problem was that by the time I had the opportunity to watch the video, it was late at night and I was too tired to feel like I had a good handle on what I was supposed to do with my son. The TM was pretty scripted so that helped as well. And, if you call Barton directly, they also have good phone support. There is a yahoo group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HeartofReading/?yguid=331856644 that is also a wonderful resource. Since it is for parents of children with reading difficulties, there is a wealth of knowledge there. Barton is also one of the favorite curriculums used. It has been a great resource for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShelleyW Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Barton is a wonderful and very doable program for any parent as long as you can pass the phonemic screening test. Do that before you order anything, it is on the website. Sometimes our kids struggle w/the same things we parents do so not everyone is able to teach it for that reason. You have to watch the DVDs in order to understand the program which can be done in an afternoon. I did it in bits and pieces over the course of a weekend. Then you are ready to go. Once you understand the methodology it is not hard. You should do 45-60min/day to get the best results but that was too long for my kids. We usually did 30 mins a day. The nice thing about Barton is that once you have watched the DVDs it is open and go. It is very easy to teach from. Susan Barton has scripted everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lecka Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 (edited) When Barton Level 1 first came, the videos were confusing to me. I spent quite a while watching them while my kids were busy one day (I reserved the day for the videos, and had some nice tea and snacks). I practiced some with my mom. I really like how she visually cues kids, so there is less talking, and I think it's easier for them to stay on task... this just means sometimes you point instead of saying "now do this" it is not hard. That is something I looked at a lot on the videos. But then it is all scripted in the margins, and I felt like once I watched the videos that one day, I could go by the scripts in the margins, and then I have felt like I could adapt the techniques using materials that don't come from the videos and don't have scripts. Then I am looking at things ahead... but with the scripts Barton has I don't think I would need to look ahead very often. Once I have a plan though, the tutoring is not hard -- just being easygoing and encouraging and patient is my focus, b/c it is not that difficult to use the methods. (But also firm and not letting him avoid work, but also not pushing too hard.) All those social things and general good teaching things are harder for me, but I think that is my personality. If you already have those things down, I think it would be an easy program to use, honestly, but that is just me. But then -- who knows how good I am doing it, lol. I also heard (too late!) that there are people who give tokens as they go through the lesson, to let their kids earn their breaks or activities. I think that would have worked well with my son. If you have a motivated child then it is different.... he is motivated now b/c he sees success and progress and he takes a lot of pride in himself. Previously this was not the case and ugh! Edited June 1, 2012 by Lecka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MicheleinMN Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 I'm still working through Barton Level 3 with my youngest son, but it has helped a great deal. I am my son's tutor. We usually do only 15 to 20 minutes at a time daily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tasia Posted June 2, 2012 Author Share Posted June 2, 2012 There is a video for parents to watch before teaching the lessons. My problem was that by the time I had the opportunity to watch the video, it was late at night and I was too tired to feel like I had a good handle on what I was supposed to do with my son. The TM was pretty scripted so that helped as well. And, if you call Barton directly, they also have good phone support. There is a yahoo group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HeartofReading/?yguid=331856644 that is also a wonderful resource. Since it is for parents of children with reading difficulties, there is a wealth of knowledge there. Barton is also one of the favorite curriculums used. It has been a great resource for me. Thanks for the link! Barton is a wonderful and very doable program for any parent as long as you can pass the phonemic screening test. Do that before you order anything, it is on the website. Sometimes our kids struggle w/the same things we parents do so not everyone is able to teach it for that reason. You have to watch the DVDs in order to understand the program which can be done in an afternoon. I did it in bits and pieces over the course of a weekend. Then you are ready to go. Once you understand the methodology it is not hard. You should do 45-60min/day to get the best results but that was too long for my kids. We usually did 30 mins a day. The nice thing about Barton is that once you have watched the DVDs it is open and go. It is very easy to teach from. Susan Barton has scripted everything. Thanks so much, this is what I was hoping to hear. I did pass the phonemic screening test without any trouble (out of curiosity, Dh and my 11yo tested themselves and passed as well).:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
attabren Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 We started using Barton a few months ago, and we LOVE it! We are seeing huge progress~ however, like someone else mentioned, it is very difficult to do more than 30-40 minutes a day. This is a reason to do it yourself, in my opinion. Tutors want to do an hour, and my dd cannot handle that. It's like isolating an untrained muscle for her, and it wears her out fast. There is no prep at all other than the videos (or dvd's in my case). We love, love, love it. I am even beginning to incorporate elements of it into my teaching with my little girls' language arts class that i also teach. It's that good. I feel that it makes clear what is unclear in all the other curriculums I have ever used. After watching the videos it is super easy and clear. No need to be intimidated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 :grouphug: You can try my free online phonics lessons while you are waiting. Watch them as a family, the things you learn will help you with whatever you decide to use, be that Barton or another option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 I'm another happy Barton user. I'm about to start level 7 with my daughter and will be starting a second child soon. I do the tutoring. Prep time is minimal. The tutor should watch the dvds ahead of each level to learn how to do the level. The first several levels I watched alone and then taught my daughter. Now she watched each teaching section with me before each lesson within the level. We start the week watching the dvd together and then proceed through the entire lesson. It has worked well this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiddle Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 I know there is a strong Barton clan on the Board, but I also did want to throw out the possibility of something like ABCdarian and/or REWARDS for reading. If you like the idea of doing reading and spelling at the same time, Barton is wonderful. For my kid, we went through the first 3 levels of Barton and she began to stall because of the rules for spelling----so we're doing REWARDS for multisyllable word recognition and Sequential Spelling for spelling (although you could do something like All About Spelling, Megawords, etc.) These programs I mention are *all* able to be done with parent/child tutoring. There are many different types of programs out there for dyslexia- the best thing is to find a good fit for YOU. Good luck in whatever you decide :) Paula Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest krispykatye Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 We use and love the Barton system ( I tutor my son and I am also Dyslexic). During school year we spread out the tutoring m-th 30min a day. In the summer we work m-f 1 hr a day. Noticed improvement right away. It comes with a dvd training video and if you have any questions Susan Barton is great at getting back to you ASAP, even if you buy it second hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tasia Posted June 5, 2012 Author Share Posted June 5, 2012 Thank so much for all the replies! It looks like we're going to go ahead and order the first level and start a few weeks after he gets out of school. We'll start off slow and try 30 minutes a day. I'm lucky that he's my early riser and won't mind doing it too much before his brothers wake up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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