Reading, Spelling & Writing Services
The Barton Reading & Spelling Method is a one-on-one tutoring system that will significantly improve the reading and spelling of children, teenagers, and adults whose struggles may or may not be attributed to dyslexia or a learning disability.
The Barton Reading & Spelling Method is part of Orton-Gillingham’s umbrella of multi-sensory curricula choices. The Orton-Gillingham approach to reading instruction has been in use since the 1930s. It’s also known as structured literacy. It’s an intensive, sequential phonics-based system that accommodates and utilizes the three learning styles: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. Orton-Gillingham is a scientific, research-based reading instruction. I use both of these tools in my “toolbox.” Orton-Gillingham (OG) is the approach, and The Barton Method is the curriculum.
Pre-readers can also obtain effective remediation using a series of exercises that will move them into the OG program sequence or the Barton Reading & Spelling System. They will work through activities such as the alphabet and phonological awareness, rhyming, Rapid Automatic Naming (RAN) sequences, blending and segmenting, and proper letter formation until they are ready to use the program that best suits them. This may be part of the Foundations in Sound program.
Foundations in Sound (Lindamood-Bell LiPS alternative) is for students who do not pass part C of the Quick Screening. Foundation in Sounds™ is a program for students of all ages that will improve their auditory discrimination, auditory memory size, and auditory sequencing skills. It is an excellent alternative to the expensive Lindamood-Bell LiPS program. When the student is ready, this program transitions seamlessly into the Barton System of Reading & Spelling.
All sessions are 50 minutes and use 1:1 instruction time—at least two weekly sessions.
Student Writing Intensive: A writing course for students. The writing program is part of the Institute for Excellence in Writing(™), which lays a solid foundation for writing skills. IEW’s nine structural models teach step-by-step: note-making and outlines, writing from notes, retelling narrative stories, summarizing a reference, writing from pictures, summarizing multiple references, inventive writing, formal essay models, and a formal critique. Students also use IEW’s stylistic techniques, such as strong verbs, quality adjectives, and sentence openers; students incrementally move from basic to various sentence structures, improved vocabulary, and more sophisticated writing.
Visualizing and Verbalizing For students who struggle with comprehension. The Visualizing and Verbalizing® (V/V®) program develops concept imagery—the ability to create an imagined or imaged gestalt from language—as a basis for comprehension and higher-order thinking. The development of concept imagery improves reading and listening comprehension, memory, oral vocabulary, critical thinking, and writing.
Screening Services Menu
A note about screening services: These screening services are available to provide information that will help determine whether or not a client fits the classic profile of dyslexia. This process is not intended to be used to determine eligibility for school-based intervention. As a prerequisite for all screening services, parents must watch the video Dyslexia Symptoms & Solutions. This video may help answer your questions.
Tutoring Intake, Quick Screen
Goal: Determine if a child is ready for Foundation in Sound, Phonemic Awareness, or Barton (Orton-Gillingham) Tutoring. 20-minute preliminary parent intake phone conversation, 45-minute student screening, and 20-minute final consultation with parents. This is for clients who have decided to seek tutoring services but are unsure which program is suitable. $165
Consultation Only
Goal: Determine if your child fits the dyslexia profile based solely on an in-depth records review, examination of current schoolwork samples, and information shared by you in a face-to-face interview. If a client does fit the profile, recommendations for tutoring and accommodations will be provided. $300