susanfh Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 I'm trying to plan for next year . . . I know Susan Barton says that Barton is a complete LA program -- that you don't need to add grammar or writing, just penmanship. But I'm having second thoughts about this. My son is on level 2. I'm thinking about adding Writing With Ease/ First Language Lessons plus Handwriting without Tears probably. He really needs lots of fine motor practice and he could use the guided narration. He also has speech problems with syntax, so I thought FLL could possibly help with that. Thoughts?? Does the grammar and handwriting pick up in level 3? It only covers writing CVCs and marking the Who, Did What and Where phrases in level 2. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 In Barton 3 she has them writing huge, long sentences that my ds can't even BEGIN to keep up with. You'd be better off putting your energy into Barton and moving forward, rather than bringing in that other stuff and diluting your efforts. You need to do a handwriting program, yes. You can bring in letter formation as part of your warm-up time. I have a basic handwriting book and have my ds doing pages in it, but they aren't even through the letters yet. Barton has TONS of writing in 3. FLL is not likely to click with a dyslexic. It got total blank looks with my ds. The grammatical analysis Barton is leading you into is BRILLIANT. It's very compatible with Shurley, so if you feel you must do grammar, I would get farther in Barton 3 and then consider Shurley. I used it all the way with my dd, so it's easy for me to carry it into our Barton. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susanfh Posted March 20, 2015 Author Share Posted March 20, 2015 Thank you OhElizabeth! That is exactly the information I was looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Agree with OhE. Keep moving through Barton. Don't get distracted or dilute your materials. Once you have finished Level 4, then bring in an outside formal writing program. Barton recommends IEW but other writing and grammar programs have worked for other posters on this board. We will be using IEW coupled with the new Fix-It Grammar once Level 4 is done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timberly Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 . 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 You rock, Timberly. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timberly Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 If you feel you must do writing before you get through Barton 4, look at Bravewriter's Jot It Down. You can scribe and have tons of fun. I got it to use with my ds and just haven't had a chance to start yet. Adore, adore, adore. HSBC may have deals on it right now if you check. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Wow Timberly, you're the woman!!! :hurray: :hurray: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susanfh Posted March 20, 2015 Author Share Posted March 20, 2015 Thank you all very much for your responses. I think part of my problem is that I am still in the process of accepting that my son truly does have special learning needs and isn't necessarily going to grow out of them. I had this hope in the back of my mind that he was going to do some LiPS and the 1st level of Barton and then be ready to tackle a regular reading/spelling program like his sister. Not. Going. To. Happen. I'm just going to have to have faith and trust in the Barton system. Faith and trust are not my strong suit. The HWT app is a great idea. His handwriting is bad, but to be fair to him, I don't have him to much more than a 1 or 1/2 pages of the HWT workbook a day. I think I might buy the 1st grade HWT book again for next year so the lines don't get too small for him. OhE I'd be really interested in what type of speech practice, if any, you do at home between therapy sessions. I definitely need to do more with ds but I'm not sure what to do other than articulation station or apps like that. He is somewhere between having moderate apraxia or a severe phonological disorder. He has some s/sx of apraxia but not all. And he talks a lot with long sentences but has the articulation skills of a 3 year old. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timberly Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 . 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 Susan, PROMPT is the therapy we get, and if you haven't gotten it it sounds like you really need to at least look into it. They'll teach you how to carry it over at home, so yes you'll be able to do the prompts and bring them into your Barton sessions. PROMPT plus LIPS plus Barton is crazy powerful. Watch this video and see what you think. Btw, don't ask if the therapist does PROMPT, because they'll just say of course they "prompt" and do prompting. It's NOT the same. The Prompt Institute website has a provider locator map. It's worth driving for. We drive 2+ hours each way and it's totally, totally worth it. PROMPT: Speech Production Disorders - YouTube Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imagine.more Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 I admit, I'm still in denial and think I can Barton the dyslexia right out of my kid. :leaving: Haha! I can so relate to this! But yes, I agree with everyone else that Barton in and of itself is a complete Language Arts program. Especially if you make use of the online resources she has like the spelling tests based on each lesson and the fluency practice and extra practice pages. In that way you're really hitting each of the main Language Arts spots hard except for Literature, and that can be achieved through read-alouds and oral discussion. And yes for a younger kid I'd do Handwriting. My DD is 13 and we've been doing Barton for 1 year and ONLY Barton for Language Arts. I'm in PA and we have super strict requirements but we passed our portfolio requirement just fine using Barton as our sole L.A. program. We're about to finish Level 3 and the grammar portion (identifying the Who Phrase, Did what Phrase, etc) has gotten a lot harder and I'm starting to see how it is laying the groundwork for real grammar later. BTW, OhElizabeth, thanks so much for mentioning that Barton is similar to Shurley English and would lead well into it. I used Shurley as a student teacher and had been thinking that it might be a good fit for Ana once she's done with Barton and your comment reinforced that thought for me. So thanks :) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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