Dyslexia/dysgraphia Update-Any opinions on Barton Spelling and Reading System?

Barton is an excellent program and if you can borrow it for free that is a blessing…it is very expensive to purchase (up to $300 per level)! I used Barton with my dd. I actually tried Dianne Craft’s materials first and when they did not work for us, Barton is what she recommended. If you want to tutor your ds at home, then this is probably the easiest O-G method for you to implement as a parent. Just make sure you watch all the videos. 🙂 My dd made amazing progress with this program.

I did nothing else for English/spelling/writing but Barton up until the end of level 4. This was actually on the advice of Susan Barton…it is a complete program for those subjects. Once they get to the end of level 4 you can start to add in writing. She recommends IEW for a writing curriculum. For grammar I did some of first language lessons at one point and then part of primary language lessons…very hit or miss. Now that my dd has progressed far enough we are doing Queens language lessons and Writing With the Best. I like IEW, but found it hard to implement as writing is not my strength.

I did not end up completing all levels. We got to level 6 but my schedule is just so crazy I can’t keep up (I have a new job), so we are switching to using a Wilson tutor. It is another OG program very similar to Barton. It kills me to switch at this point…but I just don’t think I will get it done on my own and dd really needs to finish the reading instruction. If there was a Barton tutor in my area, we would finish with Barton in a heartbeat.

One nice thing about using the Barton system is that Susan Barton is very accessible. I have emailed her with questions several times and she always responds with help very quickly. 🙂

I don’t mean to put a negative twist on Barton, but I wanted to share our experience. I did Barton for a while with my 11 yo daughter (10 at the time). She has dyslexia and some other processing issues, which I’m sure contributed to the outcome. Barton was working very well for her until she got into level 3. Then it became a lot of spelling rules. As there became more and more spelling rules, my daughter became frustrated, because she just could not retain all the information and remember all the rules. (even with the pictures) And then there are exceptions, which make it more confusing.

Maybe a child with just dyslexia can work through that, but we ended up stopping in the middle of level 3. For my daughter, I think her spelling is getting better just by reading and writing. Basically memorization. Barton did help initially with the reading, but the spelling rules were too much. Since you have access to Barton for free, that’s great. It is expensive. I don’t know what kinds of problems your son has, so I just wanted to let you know that Barton does not work for all children. So, if you come to a point where it seems like it is no longer working, then you may need to move on to something else.

Since we stopped Barton a little over a year ago, we have used Growing with Grammar and Soaring with Spelling. My daughter has done very well with those. She is progressing in her reading, but not independent yet. I have put her back into Heart of Dakota and stopped Soaring with Spelling, because she will be doing dictation passages, and for writing will do copywork. She is making progress. It is slow, but I have seen more progress during these first three months of school than I had seen in the two years before. I finally feel I have her in a place where we can settle in and work though the guides without frustration. So, each one needs to decide what works and what doesn’t for our child. I had to make changes several times before coming to this point. Maybe Barton is just what you need. I just wanted to share our experience, as each child is unique and it will take different techniques for each one. Hope all goes well for you and your son.

The grade levels for the Spelling Wisdom books are suggestions. We recommend that you choose the book that best fits your child’s abilities. If you look at the samples of the different books you can determine which one your child should use. Each sample has lessons from the beginning of the book and the end of the book. Start at the beginning of a book if your child would not be able to spell 3-5 words correctly from the beginning lessons. Start at the middle of the book if your child would not be able to spell 3-5 words correctly from the later lessons. If your child would not be able to spell more than 3-5 words in the beginning lessons in a book, choose a book from a lower level. Likewise, move up a level if your child can spell almost all the words in the later lessons. When choosing a book, remember that each book is used for two years, if starting at the beginning.