Barton Tutoring
Reading and spelling support for any student
The Collective offers tutoring in:
Foundations in Sound & Barton Reading and Spelling
*Foundations in Sound is a pre-reading program that is designed to improve sound discrimination, memory of sounds and sequencing of sounds. It benefits some learners to work their way through Foundations in Sound prior to beginning the the Barton program. It uses seeing, hearing, and touching to make discoveries and build sound skills. A solid foundation in sounds is necessary for reading success!
*Barton is a specialized reading and spelling phonics program designed to support the dyslexic learner, based on Orton-Gillingham. No formal diagnosis of dyslexia is necessary but often times dyslexia is suspected due to difficulty sounding out words despite experiencing phonics instruction. Your child may have poor spelling skills, or reading that is slow and inaccurate. For a more complete list, see below.
Logistics:
For Ages 6 & up!
45 minute session, 2x a week for optimal progress.
Offering online sessions through Zoom.
Requires student to have access to a computer, a good internet connection, and a quiet space to work. Chromebooks and ipads do not work with the program.
Fees:
Pricing starting at $50 per session, payments made monthly.
We accept charter school funds from Cottonwood, Sequoia Grove, Visions, Horizon, & Twin Ridges.
A few signs of Dyslexia:
In Elementary School • dysgraphia (slow, non-automatic handwriting that is difficult to read) • letter or number reversals continuing past the end of first grade • extreme difficulty learning cursive • slow, choppy, inaccurate reading: - guesses based on shape or context - skips or misreads prepositions (at, to, of) - ignores suffixes - can’t sound out unknown words • terrible spelling • often can’t remember sight words (they, were, does) or homonyms (their, they’re, and there) • difficulty telling time with a clock with hands • trouble with math - memorizing multiplication tables - memorizing a sequence of steps - directionality
Reprinted with prior permission from Susan Barton
About Jonna!
When I began teaching, I learned from the best mentors around. They taught me to leave my ego behind, allow the child to lead, and to center the curriculum around the child. They taught me to value questions over answers. They taught me that learning is relational and collaborative. Most importantly, they taught me that not everyone learns in the same way. We are individuals, and learning is on an individual schedule. This is definitely true of reading.
I've always been curious about reading. I was an early reader myself. I came from a home of voracious readers. It was just what we did, along with eating and breathing. Because I was an early reader, that mostly taught herself, I missed out on being taught the reasons why words are formed the way they are. It all seemed random to me, and yet I could easily make sense of it. Only as an adult would I come to understand it wasn't random at all.
Learning to teach an Orton Gillingham program has been like learning that old friends have a whole side to them that I never knew. Which is the long vowel again? Why is knowing how to properly divide a word into syllables important? I mean seriously...why do we even care? So we can clap in rhythm with word???
NO, it's because knowing how to divide the word will unlock the secret of pronunciation and spelling. It's like magic.
I am fascinated and obsessed. My family tires of hearing me talk about "Kiss the Cat" and "Catch Lunch", and so I need students who I can try to rub some of this literacy excitement onto.
When the pandemic hit and we all moved to online classes I wasn't sure how I was going to bring who I am as a teacher to the laptop. I believe in hands-on learning and that building a relationship with my students is fundamental to their learning experience. How on earth is that possible through a computer screen?
I've been surprised. It's better than I would have guessed. Having the right software and tools is necessary for teaching Barton successfully online, but having the knowledge of how to BE with students, asses their needs, understand their off days, care about their lives outside of reading, and knowing how to bring all my experiences of being with kids to the computer screen has been ESSENTIAL. I could not do online teaching successfully without my experiences working collaboratively with students before Covid 19.
I remain grateful to the mentors I had, Bev and Mary Jo.
And I remain as curious as ever.