Well I ordered level 1 of Barton...

[PeterPan]

Found a reasonable deal on Ebay, so I jumped.  We're not quite through LIPS and ready for it, but I felt like I needed to get started reading the material so I'd have a clue where this is going.  I don't actually know when to jump from LIPS.  Right now we're doing vowels, and I think that's going to take a long time.  At first we just did /a/.  Now we're doing /a/, /i/, /oo/ and discriminating those three.  They're enough apart that sometimes he gets them.  I wouldn't say they're solid but that he's sort of starting to.  It's hard to tell what he's hearing vs. what he's either lipreading or analyzing from what he feels as he says it.  I'm cool with him using his speech as a bridge, but eventually it would be nice if he could hear it.

 

 

[OneStepAtATime]

Best wishes.  Definitely watch the video.  Deadly dull but helpful.  You probably won't need it nearly as much as I did, but it really did help me.  :)

[Julie of KY]

Agree with watching the videos.

 

Level 1 doesn't have much bulk, but is so important to the foundation. Good luck.

[Guest2]

Also agree on the videos. It was the only thing that worked over here though . It took us a while to get through the 8 levels(almost 4 years, but I wasn't able to spend much time per day on it at first). For Christmas, my now reading 12 year old..wanted only..wait for it..books. :). Hope it works as well for you.

[PeterPan]

SilverBrook, that's amazing progress!!

 

Onestep, thanks for the warning.  I'm not very good with deadly dull.  I'll have to eat bon bons or something to tell myself to do it.  Know where to get bon bons?  :D

 

Julie, how did you know you were *done* with level 1?  If it's deceptively thin but important, how do you know if you've done adequately?  Or does she say in the videos and I should just chill?  :)

[OneStepAtATime]

Barton gives you all you really need to know.  Watch the video and read the teachers manual.  And as you get into more advanced levels there will be lots of useful suggestions on how to help if a child hits a snag and what to do about attitude issues if a child is resistant.  May be there in Level 1, too, but I can't remember exactly.

 

You will know you are done with Level 1 when you have made it all the way through all 5 lessons and your child has mastered the material.  And Barton helps you assess for mastery.  If you can make it through the videos without falling asleep and read through the manual you should be fine.  :)

[PeterPan]

Barton gives you all you really need to know.  Watch the video and read the teachers manual.  And as you get into more advanced levels there will be lots of useful suggestions on how to help if a child hits a snag and what to do about attitude issues if a child is resistant.  May be there in Level 1, too, but I can't remember exactly.

 

You will know you are done with Level 1 when you have made it all the way through all 5 lessons and your child has mastered the material.  And Barton helps you assess for mastery.  If you can make it through the videos without falling asleep and read through the manual you should be fine.   :)

I won't, trust me.  You're going to have to come to my house and poke me with sticks and crack jokes the whole time.  We're going to have to start a You Can Do This, Read a Page Here and Post accountability group.   :lol: 

 

Sometimes I read books backwards to help me stay awake.  Not the print, just the chapters in reverse order.  It does help.

[OneStepAtATime]

I won't, trust me.  You're going to have to come to my house and poke me with sticks and crack jokes the whole time.  We're going to have to start a You Can Do This, Read a Page Here and Post accountability group.   :lol: 

 

Sometimes I read books backwards to help me stay awake.  Not the print, just the chapters in reverse order.  It does help.

 

:lol:

 

I would reward myself.  Make it through one video on one lesson, get a cup of tea and 10 minutes to do whatever might motivate me at that moment.  I actually wrote it down as one of my checklist items.

[Timberly]

.

[PeterPan]

:lol:

 

I would reward myself.  Make it through one video on one lesson, get a cup of tea and 10 minutes to do whatever might motivate me at that moment.  I actually wrote it down as one of my checklist items.

You must have been a nun in a former life to be motivated by such spartan rewards!  I need something major, like a full body massage in the desert.  Or maybe that's my problem, that nothing motivates me?   :lol: 

 

I've never had a full body massage in the desert, btw.  I need one.  

[OneStepAtATime]

You must have been a nun in a former life to be motivated by such spartan rewards!  I need something major, like a full body massage in the desert.  Or maybe that's my problem, that nothing motivates me?   :lol: 

 

I've never had a full body massage in the desert, btw.  I need one.  

 

O.k. I am really curious, now.  Why in the desert?  What appeal does a body massage in the dessert have for you, OhE?  I need a glimpse into your psyche....  :lol:  :seeya:

[PeterPan]

I can easily teach NT DS11 after watching the Barton videos just once. 

 

Since I've not done LIPS or AAS (I did other phonics programs) teaching severely dyslexic DS9 has me watching Barton Level 3 and Level 4 videos over and over, grateful for every syllable she utters.

 

Getting LD boy to slow down has been our biggest hurdle.  Last year, when I took him for his first evaluations, I wondered if the ed-psych or neuro-psych would give him an ADD or ADHD label.  They didn't. 

 

Instead, they explained that his low working memory requires him to work quickly before he forgets the letters or numbers in his head. Outside of school work, he has tons of patience and is calm.  I used to be baffled at why he was ADHD like with reading, spelling and math.

 

They also said that's why he likes Singapore Math bar models and number bonds - they free him from using his limited working memory to keep numbers in head and instead let him use his working memory for reasoning.

 

When we began Barton Level 1 he worked so frantically that I gave up on the Barton tiles and switched to the nice quiet iPad tiles that can't noisily fly off the table.

 

He's a LOT better now that it's been 9 months since we started Barton.  He doesn't guess at words because now he uses the iPad tiles to work one syllable at a time, without having to remember what the other syllables are.  Does that make sense or am I not explaining myself well?

 

My husband thought the Barton Program was useless until DS9 reached Level 3.  Now that we're at Level 4, Lesson 6, hubby, kiddo and I are amazed at how well the program works for him.

 

So yep, with your background, Barton Level One videos will bore you big time. 

 

When I can't get myself to do something I tell the kids I'll give them "x" if Mom doesn't do "y".  I broke my expensive latte habit by telling my kids that I'd give them $10 if they catch me buying a latte.  I paid $10 once and only once.

You're actually onto my real problem.  There's going to be enough similarity with other things I've done that I'm going to make assumptions and get antsy.  You start making connections so quickly that it's really hard to slow down and notice the nuances.  

 

That's fascinating about how working memory is affecting your ds.  I know it's an issue for ds.  I think I'm not eligible to buy the Barton app if I bought the materials other than directly from her, correct?  Bummer.  Well maybe next level.  

 

I'm working on evals to see what's going on.  I talked with the receptionist for a psych today, and when I said apraxia apparently they decided they didn't want him.   :svengo:    I have no clue, still waiting on the final word, but I thought Barton was just being a little hyper when she said to find someone with experience.  Didn't know my whangdoodle could confuse people and freak them out.  Most people like him when they get to know him, and his SLP *enjoys* talking with him.  I thought the psych would like him and want to work with him.  Guess I was a little offended?   :w00t:

[PeterPan]

O.k. I am really curious, now.  Why in the desert?  What appeal does a body massage in the dessert have for you, OhE?  I need a glimpse into your psyche....  :lol:  :seeya:

Oh the truth, the truth, it always comes out!  Years ago, when dd was little and just old enough to read a book and stay away from the cliffs, we went to the Grand Canyon, Arizona, blah blah.  It was AWESOME, and although my hair went flat (bummer!), the rest of me went ZING!  I felt AWESOME there, with no aches, no pains.  So ever since then I've told dh we need to go live in a little Airstream and drive around the desert in Arizona.  We could go south in the winter and go north toward Alaska in the spring/summer.  It would be awesome.  

 

Massage, because they make me feel better.  Outdoors because I saw it in pictures and wished I had done it.  :)

[OneStepAtATime]

You're actually onto my real problem.  There's going to be enough similarity with other things I've done that I'm going to make assumptions and get antsy.  You start making connections so quickly that it's really hard to slow down and notice the nuances.  

 

That's fascinating about how working memory is affecting your ds.  I know it's an issue for ds.  I think I'm not eligible to buy the Barton app if I bought the materials other than directly from her, correct?  Bummer.  Well maybe next level.  

 

I'm working on evals to see what's going on.  I talked with the receptionist for a psych today, and when I said apraxia apparently they decided they didn't want him.   :svengo:    I have no clue, still waiting on the final word, but I thought Barton was just being a little hyper when she said to find someone with experience.  Didn't know my whangdoodle could confuse people and freak them out.  Most people like him when they get to know him, and his SLP *enjoys* talking with him.  I thought the psych would like him and want to work with him.  Guess I was a little offended?   :w00t:

 

Honestly, I would probably wait to use the tile app until Level 2 at least anyway, but apparently with some children the app is helpful even with Level 1.  I just know that both of my kids needed the tactile movement and the larger motor movement at that level.  We used real tiles through half of Level 3 then switched to the app.

 

DD has actually asked to go back to the physical tiles instead of the app, by the way.  Inconvenient by Level 4 because there are so many darn tiles, but she prefers that way and gets antsy with the other.  DS is fine with the app.  I prefer the app.  SO MUCH EASIER to set up and clean up.

[PeterPan]

PS.  Now you see why nothing motivates me.  Who needs stuff when you're dreaming of life in the desert?   :lol:   And I have no interesting vices or collections to nurture.  I'm basically boring.  I'm not even motivated by typical things like pedicures.  

[OneStepAtATime]

 

Oh the truth, the truth, it always comes out!  Years ago, when dd was little and just old enough to read a book and stay away from the cliffs, we went to the Grand Canyon, Arizona, blah blah.  It was AWESOME, and although my hair went flat (bummer!), the rest of me went ZING!  I felt AWESOME there, with no aches, no pains.  So ever since then I've told dh we need to go live in a little Airstream and drive around the desert in Arizona.  We could go south in the winter and go north toward Alaska in the spring/summer.  It would be awesome.  

 

Massage, because they make me feel better.  Outdoors because I saw it in pictures and wished I had done it.   :)

 

DH loves massages.  He gets so darn kinked up.  In our early years of marriage, before we could afford massages at all there were times when he would get so kinked up he couldn't rotate his head, even a tiny bit.  Made it REALLY hard to drive....or do pretty much anything he needed to at work.  We are both very grateful there are massage therapists out there that we can afford now.

 

I like the desert, too, by the way.  :)

 

 

 

 

PS.  Now you see why nothing motivates me.  Who needs stuff when you're dreaming of life in the desert?   :lol:   And I have no interesting vices or collections to nurture.  I'm basically boring.  I'm not even motivated by typical things like pedicures.  

 

To be perfectly honest. I'm not a big pedicure fan myself.  :)  And I guess my only "collection" if you will is books.  I must admit books are my weakness.  I started my own card catalog system for my books when I was maybe 10.

[Timberly]

.

[Plink]

Agreeing that level 1 is better with the tiles than the iPad app.  We used them in many ways other than just laying them out in front of us - flashcards, dominoes of completed words, giant towers that you stack after saying the right sound and knock over.  Level 1 is a lot of repetition.  The physical tiles made it much more creative and fun.  In addition, the vowel tapping and touch-and-say that Barton teaches is much easier to master with a physical tile to touch.

 

Congratulations on nearing the end of LiPS!!! That is a huge accomplishment.

[MiMi 4under3]

 We're going to have to start a You Can Do This, Read a Page Here and Post accountability group.   :lol: 

 

I'm in!!

 

I was scheduled to start Level 1 on June 1st... What's today's date??  :confused1:

[OneStepAtATime]

I'm in!!

 

I was scheduled to start Level 1 on June 1st... What's today's date??  :confused1:

:laugh:  Yeah, I did that, too.  And again with Level 4.  We were supposed to start Level 4 the 1st week of January.  I think we finally got started the last week of January.  Level 4 twisted my brain.  And I kept losing focus while watching that incredibly boring (but really, really useful) video.

 

OhE, you have two on board already for your Accountability group!  :)  We're here for you, babe.  

 

Wish I had thought to start one....  You all will support me if I started snoozing off during prep for Level 5 right?

[OneStepAtATime]

OP "That's fascinating about how working memory is affecting your ds. I know it's an issue for ds. I think I'm not eligible to buy the Barton app if I bought the materials other than directly from her, correct? Bummer. Well maybe next level."

 

I seem to remember that once you've proven to owning a used Barton Program (picture of you holding Barton manual?) you get full access to tutor support - calling with tutor questions, joining gmail Tutor Support Group, viewing tutor videos on your iPad...

 

That support might include buying the iPad tiles?

 

I think it does.  Definitely worth checking in to for later levels at least.  

 

OhE, there are some great tutor supports on-line for things like extra practice pages, spelling test lists, etc. at the higher levels, too, besides all the great stuff Timberly listed.  I am pretty sure, like TImberly said, you can still get access if you can prove you own a used one.  Check on the website.  There were instructions somewhere on there for what to do.

 

OneStepAtATime

"Honestly, I would probably wait to use the tile app until Level 2 at least anyway, but apparently with some children the app is helpful even with Level 1. I just know that both of my kids needed the tactile movement and the larger motor movement at that level. We used real tiles through half of Level 3 then switched to the app. DD has actually asked to go back to the physical tiles instead of the app, by the way. Inconvenient by Level 4 because there are so many darn tiles, but she prefers that way and gets antsy with the other. DS is fine with the app. I prefer the app. SO MUCH EASIER to set up and clean up."

 

I totally agree that physical Barton tiles trump iPad tiles, ESPECIALLY for the first three levels!!! For us, after Level 3, iPad tiles turn a 2 hour session into an hour session.

 

This ultra tired mom of a DS9 who grabs tiles as though he's in a frantic World Cup Soccer match, finds the iPad tiles a calm, peaceful solution to a child that initially was the worlds fastest, but FAR from accurate, guesser.

 

I totally get you.  Honestly, when DD asked to go back to using tiles with Level 4 I just felt exhausted at the mere thought of it...but we won't be starting up full blown lessons again for another week so I got a reprieve.  Just doing some games right now.  :)

 

iPad tiles apps are something like $30 per level. With 10 levels in all, financially you want to hold off buying them until mom or kiddo dictates the need.

 

I quit independent K12 phonics in DS's K year because of my intolerance with DS's inability to calmly interact with the MANY phonics tiles. K12 independent K-4th science, history and literature were a perfect match for his reasoning abilities, as long as we ignored K12's pencil to paper requirements (dysgraphia needed a break when it's time for history, science and Literature!!!)

 

[PeterPan]

That frantic guessing sounds like impulsivity.  Maybe put out a bowl of chocolate chips, and every time HE guesses wrong, YOU get one.  When he slows down and gets it right, he gets the chip.  Win, win.  And if the have the caffeine flip, the caffeine in the chocolate might be just enough to chill them out.  :D

[Timberly]

.

[Guest2]

Chiming in for tiles for first three levels. As much as I love the iPad app ( it takes sooo much less time to do a lesson), I am glad we needed to start with the physical tiles. Be careful though , as when I was showing a neighbor my Bartons program I pulled out the tiles(I keep them on cookie sheets with little round magnets glued to the backs) and they were embarrassingly covered with dust and dog hair.

[FairProspects]

I'll be interested to hear how it goes for you with a younger student. It definitely felt to me like it was written for older student remediation and some parts went completely over ds's head at 6 simply because he did not have the exposure. I like a lot of the techniques but I do wish they would put out a supplement or something for younger kids. It is so dry and just not engaging for that age group.

[OneStepAtATime]

I'll be interested to hear how it goes for you with a younger student. It definitely felt to me like it was written for older student remediation and some parts went completely over ds's head at 6 simply because he did not have the exposure. I like a lot of the techniques but I do wish they would put out a supplement or something for younger kids. It is so dry and just not engaging for that age group.

:iagree: At least with the higher levels there are board games and card games for reinforcement.

[PeterPan]

I'll be interested to hear how it goes for you with a younger student. It definitely felt to me like it was written for older student remediation and some parts went completely over ds's head at 6 simply because he did not have the exposure. I like a lot of the techniques but I do wish they would put out a supplement or something for younger kids. It is so dry and just not engaging for that age group.

That's interesting, and thanks for the heads-up.  I'll make free then to make it more exciting and not think I'm ruining something!  I read Carol Barnier's book this weekend, so my brain is filled with the necessity of having FUN while you do stuff.  She had great ideas I'm mulling over.  Basically she really pushed my perception of how *fun* things should be, wow.

[The Bobby Soxer]

Another vote for using the wooden tiles in the beginning. It helped ds to touch and hear the tiles. Plus it will seem more special to "earn" the app to use with more advanced levels.

 

And be prepared to daydream about jabbing red hot pokers in your eyes while learning and teaching Barton. It seems like doing so might be a relief from the monotony and repetition but despite the pain (of Barton, not the pokers) it is worth slogging through. It really does work.

 

We did make up songs for some of the rules and used things like a beanie baby cat to kiss for the "kiss the cat" rule. It's not easy to add Carol Barnier's style or enthusiasm but it can be done.

 

Good luck or maybe I should say break a syllable! :)

[PeterPan]

Good luck or maybe I should say break a syllable! :)

:lol:   :lol:    Thanks for the encouragement!  

[merry gardens]

Honestly, I would probably wait to use the tile app until Level 2 at least anyway, but apparently with some children the app is helpful even with Level 1.  I just know that both of my kids needed the tactile movement and the larger motor movement at that level.  We used real tiles through half of Level 3 then switched to the app.

 

DD has actually asked to go back to the physical tiles instead of the app, by the way.  Inconvenient by Level 4 because there are so many darn tiles, but she prefers that way and gets antsy with the other.  DS is fine with the app.  I prefer the app.  SO MUCH EASIER to set up and clean up.

 

Yes, I would never use the Barton apps for level 1.  Instead, we sometimes substitute colored candies (like m&m's) for the colored tiles.  If ds worked well, he got to eat the candy--and if he didn't, I ate them.  

 

I never held out for any massage in the desert--I just work for chocolate.  A cup of tea sometimes motivates me and also serves as a timer to keep the lessons short enough for ds's attention span. We quit for the day when my cup of tea is gone. And then I get chocolate.  (And if I only limited my chocolate to only the times when I worked on Barton, I'd be thinner.)

 

It's good to read your dd prefers the tiles.  We're at the end of level eight and go back and forth about getting the app because we have very many tiles now for creating lots of very long words. 

[merry gardens]

I'll be interested to hear how it goes for you with a younger student. It definitely felt to me like it was written for older student remediation and some parts went completely over ds's head at 6 simply because he did not have the exposure. I like a lot of the techniques but I do wish they would put out a supplement or something for younger kids. It is so dry and just not engaging for that age group.

 

I've used Barton with 5 of my children now up to level 4 at least.  I bought it for a child who was severely dyslexic who needed the remediation, but have used it to teach reading to two younger ones too. (One who showed early warning signs of dyslexia and one who did not.)  With the younger ones, we did more work with the real words and fewer of the nonsense words (unless they needed more words). We worked for less time but more frequently.

[PeterPan]

Merry, you do realize you're the reason I'm being so aggressive and not piddling around, right?  You're the one who told me age 6 if it doesn't click.  Well here I am, all signed up, obeying your command.   :)  And since you've done this so many times, how much would you work on it at this age?  He'll probably be newly 6 before we start.  I got it now to start reading.  We have more work to do with vowels in LIPS.  That's part of why I needed level 1, because I need to see how far to go in LIPS before we jump over.  

 

So if he's 6 when we start in the fall, do 1 session a day?  Two short?  Three short?  Maybe there are things to do that we practice sporadically throughout?  Dd's reading never clicked till our 3rd time through the SWR lists, when I finally put all the words on flashcards and made her read them 4 times a day.  I know that some things need that gentle, persistent effort.  Just trying to gauge what is appropriate.

 

Love the m&ms and candy idea!!!  Do you do anything else to try to make it fun, or just do the lessons and get 'em over with?

[merry gardens]

Merry, you do realize you're the reason I'm being so aggressive and not piddling around, right?  You're the one who told me age 6 if it doesn't click.  Well here I am, all signed up, obeying your command.   :)  And since you've done this so many times, how much would you work on it at this age?  He'll probably be newly 6 before we start.  I got it now to start reading.  We have more work to do with vowels in LIPS.  That's part of why I needed level 1, because I need to see how far to go in LIPS before we jump over.  

 

So if he's 6 when we start in the fall, do 1 session a day?  Two short?  Three short?  Maybe there are things to do that we practice sporadically throughout?  Dd's reading never clicked till our 3rd time through the SWR lists, when I finally put all the words on flashcards and made her read them 4 times a day.  I know that some things need that gentle, persistent effort.  Just trying to gauge what is appropriate.

 

Love the m&ms and candy idea!!!  Do you do anything else to try to make it fun, or just do the lessons and get 'em over with?

 

Now we're even since you're the reason I pursued vision therapy for my ds.  :D 

At six, I'd do one session a day, but I'd follow the child's lead as far as how long to make the session or use my cup of tea-timing method. But, that's me and I have lots of kids. I wouldn't be able to get two sessions into a day and teach the others.

 

As far as when to stop LiPS and move onto Barton 1, check out under the Barton student screen section for those who fail part C of the Barton screen.  For some reason, I can't just copy and paste it, but it basically says have covered all the brothers and cousins, the vowel circle and find the different sounds in a chain of 10 CVC nonsense words.  If you are holding him with LiPS only because of difficulty distinguishing similar vowels, I can tell you that the earlier levels of Barton were helpful to us with vowel confusion.  Levels 2 and 3 "tap" the vowels for their short sounds using a Barton technique with keywords. My ds still had lingering trouble with /i/ and /e/, so we worked on those a bit more outside in some creative ways, but much of the difficulty was corrected by Barton. And my dd now 8 used some funky sounding non-English vowels that between Barton and the LiPS vowel circle and frequent reminder when she speaks with non-English vowels have been mostly corrected. 

 

My ds didn't get to Barton until he was eight and that's the youngest boy I've worked with on Barton.  My ds doesn't have an official adhd diagnosis, but when we were starting out with Barton, I'll just go ahead and tell you that some of the work we did while he was hanging off the sofa upside down.  It wasn't that I was allowing it "for fun", but it seemed to be what it took to get him through it. What can I say?  The kid was born breech.  It was really, really hard work for him. I bribed him with candy and quarters to work with me.  And because I was throwing in the whole kitchen sink approach, we worked on portions of Seeing Stars too that year, including the flash cards of "Star Words" and the books with them.  That was the year after we'd spent the entire year doing the alphabet in clay, a la the Davis approach, along with sandpaper letters, salt trays and phonograms a la SWR. 

 

I've had my others do clay letters, sand paper letters, etc. as part of the younger years too even when doing Barton and LiPS.  I use our SWR cursive sandpaper letters now to help my dd8 with cursive. (I almost bought some cursive capital letters that I just saw at a homeschool conference, but I know we could make them so I didn't.) Keep the other work fun and age appropriate.  You can do other art projects of the letters you are working on in Barton. 

[PeterPan]

Thanks Merry, that was very helpful!!  And you're right, my crazy ds IS motivated by money.  I should get a roll of quarters, lol!

[PeterPan]

It came!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm very pleased with it, and after a few cordial jokes about the 30 cent disks and the small pack of wooden tiles costing $250, I opened the manual packets and decided it's worth it.  Wow.   :svengo:   This woman totally gets it!  And now I see what we have to get done before we're ready, so that's helpful.  I also see what I DON'T need to do, so that's good.

 

Y'all know I'm rogue, so I went ahead and started reading the manual.   :smilielol5:   She says it won't make sense without her videos, but it totally does.  Please tell me there's SOMETHING extra on the videos to justify watching them?  

[OneStepAtATime]

It came!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm very pleased with it, and after a few cordial jokes about the 30 cent disks and the small pack of wooden tiles costing $250, I opened the manual packets and decided it's worth it.  Wow.   :svengo:   This woman totally gets it!  And now I see what we have to get done before we're ready, so that's helpful.  I also see what I DON'T need to do, so that's good.

 

Y'all know I'm rogue, so I went ahead and started reading the manual.   :smilielol5:   She says it won't make sense without her videos, but it totally does.  Please tell me there's SOMETHING extra on the videos to justify watching them?  

 

Well each of us is different and comes at this with different background knowledge so maybe you DON"T need to watch the video but I honestly, for the very first couple of lessons, would not only watch the video but maybe practice delivery just a few minutes.  If it seems, after having taught the first two lessons, that you really don't need the videos, then try the next one without it.  

 

I come from a family of teachers.  I have taught classes myself.  I retaught DD nearly all of her school material through 5th grade.  I THOUGHT it seemed really clear and easy to do reading through that first lesson in the manual but I practiced on my mom anyway and realized I was missing some pieces.  Watching the video and practicing again helped smooth out what I was saying and doing.

 

FWIW, I know that when I goof something up, seem hesitant, don't sound like I have a clue what I am doing with Barton the kids disengage really quickly.  I have to have my head in the game and really smooth things out so the lesson goes pretty easily, no bumps from my end.  That takes a lot more mental prep than it appears when I just read through the manual, or at least it has for me.  Also, practicing with the Level 1 lessons and really getting the delivery down there helped tremendously when we got to the much more intense Levels and it also really helped when the kids sometimes hit snags (and definitely read and watch any videos pertaining to snags).

 

I am glad you like what you see.  I remember thinking "Seriously?  All that money for this?"...right up until I used the materials with the kids.  :)

[PeterPan]

I'm going to take a lot more time and go through it, but my initial take was that I can't use those dialogues with ds.  His SLP doesn't want him saying sounds in isolation.  It REALLY screws up his speech.  I probably won't have him doing the parts where you tell the student to slow down their speech either. (again, motor control.  You'd have to see him doing it to realize how much it screws up his speech to say something incorrectly.)  I'm going to be modifying as needed.  Probably am going to end up glad for the ability to call her too!  

 

And yes, I'm with you.  It's much easier to teach once you've wrapped your brain around something.  I was really impressed with the scripting and the care to make sure the kids couldn't fake it.  

[OneStepAtATime]

I'm going to take a lot more time and go through it, but my initial take was that I can't use those dialogues with ds.  His SLP doesn't want him saying sounds in isolation.  It REALLY screws up his speech.  I probably won't have him doing the parts where you tell the student to slow down their speech either. (again, motor control.  You'd have to see him doing it to realize how much it screws up his speech to say something incorrectly.)  I'm going to be modifying as needed.  Probably am going to end up glad for the ability to call her too!  

 

And yes, I'm with you.  It's much easier to teach once you've wrapped your brain around something.  I was really impressed with the scripting and the care to make sure the kids couldn't fake it.  

 

I know once I really understood the purpose of each piece and each lesson and the big picture of each lesson and the big picture of each level it really, really helped when I needed to adapt based on a specific child's strength/weakness.  I know when I tried winging it without a full understanding I ended up missing key components and it made it harder in the next lesson.  We usually had to go back a bit and shore up.  Obviously your ds has some special considerations that will require some adaptation.  Thankfully, you are pretty knowledgeable about a lot and I'm sure you will do just fine.  :)

 

I'm with you, I LOVE the detailed scripting.  I can really see what is expected and how the lesson should progress, which also allows me to adapt small pieces where needed while still keeping us both on the main track.  I also love the short cut images in the margins to make it easier to zip through once I am solid on the lesson and know what I am doing.  Barton really has thought through this system.