Barton people, a question -- suspend regular reading for now?

[TheReader]

So, we started our Barton yesterday. DS tested as level 2, mostly due to vowel confusion, although he can read leveled readers on a 2nd grade level.

 

***I have absolutely no issue whatsoever with starting him in level 2, I believe this will be great for filling in the gaps, correcting things I may not have spent enough time on in the past, etc. I M not complaining about the level, at all.***

 

But, DH asked me are we going to keep having him read books separately from his Barton instruction, and I wasn't sure. I feel like there is a lot of...not necessarily guessing, but using context clues to say the word he thinks comes next, not necessarily sounding out every word. And Susan Barton talks a lot about not guessing, not firming up those bad habits.

 

So I'm wondering -- do we keep having him read books, too, while we work on this? Or pause and just work through Barton, and get around to books whenever Barton tells us we can? I know she offers Barton themed/ordered books that follow their letter sequence...necessary, or a nice extra if you want?

 

He did great in his first lesson, and is cooperating with all the little tricks, and seems to like it so far. It is probably too early to tell, but I think it's going to work well for him. Thanks for the encouragement to try it.

[merry gardens]

Hold off for now. Especially if your child has vowel confusion, hold off.

 

Most books for new readers introduce all the vowel sounds, all at once. Long vowels, short vowels, r-controled vowels, vowels with w,  etc. Barton cuts back to introduce the struggling reader one vowel at a time, working with short vowels extensively before introducing the rest. The order is nothing like you'd find in most "beginning readers".

 

[Julie of KY]

It says somewhere on the Barton website (not in the specific levels) to hold off until the end of level 3 or 4 (I don't remember which - probably 4). You want to build on the pattern of sounding out the words and not guessing based upon context or pictures.

 

As stated above, the order is not anything similar to "beginning readers" as silent e is not introduced until level 6 and vowel-r words in level 7.

 

I would defiantly hold off for now, but I'd also encourage you to call Susan Barton about any specific questions as she is great at answering them.

[TheReader]

Awesome, thank you! That's what I thought, but I wanted to make sure. We'll hold off :) 

[OneStepAtATime]

I agree, hold off. Expose him to material through read alouds and audio books so he is not falling behind in exposure to grammar/vocabulary/concepts/stories but do not do regular readers right now.  He needs to unlearn any poor/inefficient reading habits, not reinforce any poor/inefficient reading habits and learn better/more efficient reading habits.

 

Think of it this way:  Suppose you were taught for a few years to swim with a certain set of strokes by a teacher that was actually teaching you incorrectly.  It wasn't very efficient but this was what you were taught to do.  Your body and brain have made those connections and are now used to swimming this way.  Now you get moved to a different swim instructor and they tell you what you were taught was incorrect and inefficient, which is why you weren't doing well.  Now you have to learn a different way to swim.  You are going to have to unlearn and relearn.  That will be challenging for your brain and body to do that.  If you are learning the correct way to swim in your swim class but at home you are still using the incorrect or inefficient method of swimming your brain and body are going get confused, learning the new, better method of swimming will take much longer and you may never truly learn it correctly.  Does that make sense?  :)

[TheReader]

I agree, hold off. Expose him to material through read alouds and audio books so he is not falling behind in exposure to grammar/vocabulary/concepts/stories but do not do regular readers right now.  He needs to unlearn any poor/inefficient reading habits, not reinforce any poor/inefficient reading habits and learn better/more efficient reading habits.

 

Think of it this way:  Suppose you were taught for a few years to swim with a certain set of strokes by a teacher that was actually teaching you incorrectly.  It wasn't very efficient but this was what you were taught to do.  Your body and brain have made those connections and are now used to swimming this way.  Now you get moved to a different swim instructor and they tell you what you were taught was incorrect and inefficient, which is why you weren't doing well.  Now you have to learn a different way to swim.  You are going to have to unlearn and relearn.  That will be challenging for your brain and body to do that.  If you are learning the correct way to swim in your swim class but at home you are still using the incorrect or inefficient method of swimming your brain and body are going get confused, learning the new, better method of swimming will take much longer and you may never truly learn it correctly.  Does that make sense?   :)

 

Good points; his brother reads age-appropriate materials to him at bedtime as a read-aloud (they are going through the Percy Jackson series right now), and I plan on adding a daytime read-aloud time with me, and of course his other coursework is age-appropriate and done orally as well (SOTW for history, etc.).

 

I'll use your analogy if DH has any follow-up questions about this; it's what I suspected, and explained to him, and he seems to understand (DH; DS is quite glad for a break in reading), but just in case, good analogy.