Barton Reading vs. Diane Craft

I think of Barton as a step further than Dianne Craft’s materials.  We started with Dianne Craft and then moved to Barton when that was not working.  (When I had talked to Dianne she recommended moving to Barton if my dds dyslexia was severe enough that her program was not working….which was the case.)  As far as cost, I alway bought my levels new and resold them for almost the price I paid.  So, while the initial investment was steep, I could resell one level to buy the next.  I will say that working through reading and spelling in this fashion is labor intensive to get from begining to end no mater which way you choose.  It takes alot of dedication fromn both parent and child.

After 5 or 6 levels in Barton I moved my dd over to a private Wilson tutor.  I needed the break and the accountability.  I think the way Wilson is set up is easier to understand without as many rules and exceptions.  My daughter is making great progress with Wilson.  The down side would be needing to pay a tutor….it necessitated me finding a job. :/

All that to say that I guess it really depends on your dd and her needs.  

As far as math goes, that it a continual struggle for us as well.  We did Touch Math for a while…that was recommended by our neuropsych.  It was helpful for addition and subtraction.  I don’t know where you are in math skills, but it is another option to consider if your find yourself looking for another program at some point.

Chris

How old is she?  We have major issues with patience here.  If she can’t get something down the first time around she becomes totally exasperated and quits.  So, she is her own roadblock.  Today she was doing a typing program for the first time–total meltdown, lots of drama.  We talked about patience and having to do things several times before our fingers “learn” and she did better.  She is turning 10.  From all the research and time on the internet that I’ve spent the past 2 weeks researching math curriculums, I found so many parents with dyslexics this age having the same issues.  But reading is finally starting to click with her.  I wonder if there is a developmental milestone at this age and it’s a painful process? 

What impressed me about Mastering Mathematics was reading about it from an adult who is dyslexic and right brained and now has studied this topic as it refers to learning, and after reviewing several different math curriculums, why she recommended this one.  It is not impressive looking at all.  Alot of the info I came across were old posts in the WTM forums.  But I think in a few years, I will look back and realize that many of the struggles weren’t so much the curriculum, but just the developmental things going on inside of her at this age–like adjusting to more abstract thinking. 

I don’t know if this helps.  I don’t think there is a magic bullet (I’ve spent so much money in search of it).  Alot of it is just sweat and tears, for them and for us.  I would check her vision as well.  Patience and perseverance.  I hope you find something that works for both of you.  I totally understand how hard it is.

Blessings!

We use Dianne’s program – I would say that my daughter has mild dyslexia – after using it for a year the reading and right brain exercises we’ve seen excellent progress including in spelling WITHOUT doing her actual spelling program, somehow spelling is just starting to improve.  We did a very modified version of the reading program because I didn’t want to make her read lists for 20 minutes or whatever the time frame was, so we’d just do a page a day.

Suzukimom- if you’re not doing the physical exercises and writing 8’s with Dianne’s program I would HIGHLY recommend those as I think they are invaluable and I’m thinking about having ALL my children do them everyday regardless of whether or not they are right brained.

For math we use MUS, BUT to reinforce those math facts – we use multiplication.com – they have picture stories to help remember the times tables – they are animated and FREE and have puzzles and games to help practice the one you just watched.

Subbing in as we are in a similar boat.  My beloved son is 8 years old and with me doing reading with him 4 days a week an hour a day on my lap he has progressed to early 1st grade reading.  I knew he had dysgraphis, but now we are certain it is dyslexia as well. 

I am trying to decide between Diane Craft’s program and Barton reading.  He is reccomened for LIPS primarily because his auditory memory is not very good at all.  But I have not yet found a Lips program that I can access at home.  So here I am hitting my head on what feels like a brick wall trying to make (for us) very costly decisions. 

Any help is appreciated.

Mamabear….my dd had problems with auditory memory.  She started with a program called Earobics.  It is ear training games on the computer.  The levels are games that get progressively more difficult.  That might be a good place to start if you are looking for something you can implement at home.