ktgrok Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 I'm watching the level 1 videos now. I won't have my order until Friday though. I'm wondering, can I start just using the videos and the pages of the manual that they send that go with the videos, and use something else for the tiles? That way I don't lose a week waiting on it to come? With the holidays coming up I'd like to get in a routine ASAP, before things go nutty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 It's really hard once you've identified that your dc needs intervention and you want to begin! Sigh. I don't remember how much of the manual was included, but I doubt it was the whole thing. The Barton manual is fully scripted, and every lesson has tons of steps. Are there page numbers at the bottom? You could email Barton and ask her advice. :) My two cents is to wait. Unless the pages are complete, I would wait. In the meantime, read about RAN/RAS, look for my pages in Dropbox, print them, and burn rubber on them next week. I would work on RAN/RAS and working memory all week. It will give her a boost and make things go more easily. When my ds was at that stage, we worked on RAN/RAS 3+ times a day. Same thing for working memory. So that's the whole 30-45 minutes you were probably planning on spending anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 Here, see if this link works https://www.dropbox.com/sh/4rcl6f0uo70esmv/AAAaGAHw3_YTMEQZSw_WI-t_a?dl=0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 (edited) That *should* be a link to the folder with the RAN/RAS pages I made. Probably colored dots, maybe the numbers. We added numbers toward the end. I printed them, put in page protectors, and put everything in a notebook. Then I'd hold it up and he would read. We'd read it three times for a session, but I would turn the page 90 degrees for the next turn and shake it up. So read the rows, then turn the page and read them again, then turn it on point and read them again. That kind of thing. Do 3-4 sessions of that a day. Cognitive therapy is supposed to be work, not fun. Think dog training--intense, fast, done. The more you do it, the more intensely you push, the more bang bang, let's get this done and then go eat cookies, the better the results. Not mean, but don't expect it to be easy and fun. Only praise, upbeat. You'll definitely, definitely see progress if you do that. You might even see it in a week if you work that intensely. Later, as it got easier, we added a metronome set to 54 bpm. You can download an app on your phone, easy peasy. So then she tries to read with the metronome. That kicks in the executive function stuff. Killer, killer task. It will make circuits you can't even imagine and turn her into the Michael Jordan of reading. Not. But it must be worth something, because we did it. :D SaveSave Edited November 4, 2017 by OhElizabeth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 Ticket to Ride is the world's best game to work on working memory. So play T2R and do RAN/RAS all week, that would be my advice. And make all your cookie dough ahead for Christmas and freeze. That way when you get rolling with Barton, you can just pause and bake, rather than feeling torn. Or make your Thanksgiving stuff ahead this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 I can't remember if you posted about this but did your child pass the student screening? And did you pass the tutor screening? If not, I would do that first. If so, but if you don't have the full manual available I would not start yet. If you have access to the manual, even just electronically, and you can make your own colored tiles for Level 1, I could see you starting now, as long as... ...you are mentally prepared that even Level 1 might be hard. In other words, if you are wanting to start because you are hoping to be finished with level 1 before the Holidays, I would not count on that. I am uncertain if that is even on your mind but I thought I would mention, just in case, that Level 1 looks deceptively simple. It SEEMS that it would go quickly. For some it really does. DS completed it in a week and it only took him that long because I insisted we only do one lesson a day (so it had time to sink in and I had time to prep). However, Level 1 can be the starting point that never clicked intuitively for your child. It can be the big hurdle they have to get over before anything else falls into place. DD took a loooooonnnnnnggggg time to do Level 1 and we had to repeat some things. It was not intuitive for her. And they both needed consistency. Lessons at least 4 days a week, no more than 30 minutes a day (sometimes much shorter) worked better, especially for the early levels. Hour long lessons were a disaster but Barton strongly urges parents to get in at least 2 hours of tutoring weekly. That means multiple days. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted November 4, 2017 Author Share Posted November 4, 2017 Yes, we both passed the screening. I have no idea how long this level will take I just know we have a tendency to descend into chaos as the holidays happen, so wanted some time to establish a routine before then, so it would be easier to stick with. I'm thinking 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Maybe split into two 15 minute lessons if she fatigues quickly. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Sounds like a great plan. Best wishes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted November 5, 2017 Author Share Posted November 5, 2017 Dear Lord, Susan Barton's voice is putting me to sleep! It's almost 11pm and she's making me so sleepy. She's like a female Mr. Rogers. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 LOL. Yep. Only way I made it through the videos was to watch in small segments every morning before the kids woke up. I actually sometimes did jumping jacks or a quick multilap sprint around the kitchen island, then I watched them on my laptop using headsets and drinking really strong tea while I ate my breakfast. It helped me stay focused (but I am usually more awake in the morning than in the late evening). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terabith Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Yeah, she's really, really awfully boring. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Oh I loved Barton's voice. She totally set me at ease. Maybe I'm a slow processor or something. And yeah, I like Mr. Rogers. :D I'm excited for you! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Btw, the reason people are saying to wait is because once you get into this, you just want success. It's not the time to get into it and go oh, well it will go better when we have the full manual. It's just a week. Part of the reason Barton's stuff works is because she keeps the steps teeny tiny, idiotically small. So if you go zooming or skipping and don't realize it (like if all the pages you need aren't in the pdf samples), then you could make leaps she's not ready for. Then she'll feel frustrated and you'll have bad pairing to deal with. Right now you only have good and magic coming. It might be hard, but all the pieces are there to let it come together. So that's why people are cautious. It's not that we don't think you'll do a good job or something. You're going to do great. :) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Oh I loved Barton's voice. She totally set me at ease. Maybe I'm a slow processor or something. And yeah, I like Mr. Rogers. :D I'm excited for you! I found her voice soothing but too soothing. I would drift off. I definitely have slow processing so I am grateful she moves slowly and in small increments. I just need more to stay awake. :) And I LOVE Mr. Rogers. But I might drift off to him, too, these days. I get sleepy easily (although that may be because I chronically don't get enough sleep, :lol: ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MistyMountain Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Yea those videos are super boring and extremely hard for me to get through. I much prefer to get info from reading because it is faster but these videos are ridiculously slow and yes it is like a female Mr. Rogers which does not work for me. Lol. Good luck with it! It will be here before you know it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanin Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 I would wait, if you can stand it. It might be confusing to use different materials at the beginning and then switch. I really love OhE's suggestion to make the cookie dough and freeze it. I just got a really awesome mental image of you and your daughter having a magical pre-Christmas week together... cookie baking, buying wrapping paper, tape, etc. Maybe it'll become a tradition! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terabith Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 I love Mr. Rogers but I don't find him boring. He's soothing. Susan Barton is......well, really, really soporific. And ordinarily nothing puts me to sleep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
***** Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 Ticket to Ride is the world's best game to work on working memory. So play T2R and do RAN/RAS all week, that would be my advice. And make all your cookie dough ahead for Christmas and freeze. That way when you get rolling with Barton, you can just pause and bake, rather than feeling torn. Or make your Thanksgiving stuff ahead this week. OhElizabeth, will you please give more information on the Ticket to Ride game, or a link? I'd like to check in to that for a student, but want to make sure I get the right one. Thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 Ticket To Ride It's a commonly available board game that also has an app. There's also a *junior* T2R that is a bit simple but still nice. It bridged a time for us where ds liked longer, more involved games but was having meltdowns if he lost. I'm not saying T2R is the best in a therapeutic, really precise sense, precise there are other tools that would target more ways to use working memory, etc. But it's something you'll like having, a game you'll ENJOY playing, and it happens to require as much working memory as you can give. So when somebody says they need a week of filler that will do something good, be fun, be something they can make happen just with a trip to Target for a game, and make for a lot of good vibes and bonding right before they start a really intense therapy program, well it's the "ticket". :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chanley Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 If you get into Level 1 and find it really hard, I would recommend looking at Foundations in Sound. I am currently tutoring two kids who both started at about the same time, the kid who had to start with Foundations in Sound and is more severe than the other kid, is actually doing better because of the extra practice. So IF Level 1 feels very hard, I would encourage you to not give up but perhaps add in FiS. Good luck! This can be frustrating and challenging but when you hit that "a-ha!" moment with a kid and they start feeling successful in reading for the first time, it is like winning the lottery. With every kid I have tutored, I very clearly remember that moment when they found triumph in reading for the first time. It is so worth it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted November 7, 2017 Author Share Posted November 7, 2017 Well, I'm a red head with the normal level of patience for one, lol, so we did the first lesson today (I had all the manual pages for that). We used colored paper instead of tiles. She blew through lesson one with no trouble, other than once forgetting the word, so I repeated it for her. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 You cheater! :lol: :lol: :lol: Sounds good! That forgetting is the working memory. Don't be cutting corners. Go play some games that work on working memory. Working memory is the cool whip of your Barton pie. Makes it go down better. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted November 10, 2017 Author Share Posted November 10, 2017 and...we hit the hard part!! Level 1 Lesson 3 - VCC segmenting. She can repeat "ilt". She can say it slowly. And then when she segments she reverses the /l/ and the /t/. Same with most of the other VCC words. Her brain does NOT hold on to blends. We will be doing all the extra practice words in that section!!!! We had to work HARD, but she was getting them by the end of our session. I had her watch my hand and hers as she said it slowly, over and over, and then at one point when she did the "tap and say" and had it backwards she switched the tiles and said it correctly. I found it fascinating that she switched the tiles, lol. In fact, I was having a hard time not treating her as a science experiment, as I found the whole thing SO intriguing. Like, she is SAYING the word correctly, even slowly, but then reverses the sounds a half second later. And can't hear that she is doing it! It was CRAZY. Makes me wish I could peer into the brain and see what is happening! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 That's the working memory. You could play different games with names of reindeer and dwarves and things. Like go seasonal. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted November 10, 2017 Author Share Posted November 10, 2017 That's the working memory. You could play different games with names of reindeer and dwarves and things. Like go seasonal. :D but even after segmenting it wrong she can say the word correctly, so it isn't that she has forgotten the word. So she will say: "ilt" /i/ /t/ /l/ "ilt" Her brain just doesn't hear/get the difference. Fascinating. SaveSave 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 My son was the same. He was glitchy on linking what he said to what he heard when he made a mistake. He couldn't hear the error. No working memory issues. Just weird glitches like you describe, but in DS' case it was only with certain blends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted November 10, 2017 Author Share Posted November 10, 2017 My son was the same. He was glitchy on linking what he said to what he heard when he made a mistake. He couldn't hear the error. No working memory issues. Just weird glitches like you describe, but in DS' case it was only with certain blends. So far it is only blends with her too, not sure which ones, or all of them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zinnia Posted November 12, 2017 Share Posted November 12, 2017 Mine took a crazy long time to get the order right in VC blends. He finally got it, and we have moved to VCC. Totally mixes up the order again. It's crazy and fascinating and frustrating, for sure 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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