Most students need to start at Level 1 – no matter how old they are. That’s because research proves that a lack of phonemic awareness is what is preventing them from being able to read unknown words by sounding them out – and to spell by sounding out. Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate each sound in a word – in your head, without letters.

In fact, research shows there are seven essential phonemic awareness skills a student must have before letters will start to make sense. We teach all seven of those skills in Level 1.

So if your student has not had recent and intense Orton-Gillingham-based tutoring, start the student in Level 1. If it proves to be too easy, we will exchange it – FREE – for Level 2.

But if your student has had recent and intense Orton-Gillingham-based tutoring, let us know. We will then send you the post-tests for our first few levels so you can determine the right starting spot for that student.

Each level has a post-test that you can use as a pre-test (if necessary) to prove that a student could not before you taught those lessons, but the student can do those same tasks easily and with at least 95% accuracy (which is true mastery) after you have taught the lessons in that level.

By the way, if you are a Resource Specialist, let us know if you need IEP goals that exactly match each level in the Barton System.

Since no two people with dyslexia learn at exactly the same pace, we can only provide a range.

If a student has classic, or moderate, dyslexia, and is tutored twice a week in a one-on-one setting for an hour each time, it will take from 2 to 3 years to complete the entire Barton System. So in just 2 to 3 years, you can take a struggling student to the mid-ninth-grade level in reading, spelling, and basic writing.

Students with mild dyslexia may complete the system a bit faster, while students with more severe dyslexia may need 4 to 5 years.

The only way a student can make faster progress is to be tutored more often. If a child can be tutored 3 or 4 times a week, they’ll complete the Barton System much faster.

There are no more rules to teach. At that point, the student can read anything – even college textbooks.In our society today, adult reading level is ninth-grade level.

Once an adult can read and spell at the ninth-grade level, they can read well enough to attend Adult Basic Education courses to prepare for the G.E.D. or go to college.

No. But do not stop at Level 3. Our level numbers do NOT equate to grade levels.

I recommend taking a student who is in elementary school all the way through the end of Level 8. That’s because teachers in intermediate school (junior high) assume their students can already do everything we teach in Levels 1 through 8.

It’s wonderful to see a child progress from being the worst speller in the class in third grade, to being an average speller in fourth grade, to being a superstar in fifth grade – and be able to explain to the teacher exactly why a word is spelled that way.We’ve seen this happen thousands of times.

We’ve taken many third graders through Level 8. If they’re being tutored only twice a week, they may be a fifth grader by the time they complete Level 8.

By that time, they may have a large enough vocabulary to be able to tackle Levels 9 and 10. If not, work on growing their oral vocabulary and delay those last two levels until seventh grade.

Level 9, the Influence of Foreign Languages, and Level 10, Latin Roots and Greek Words, ideally would be taught before a child enters high school.

Those two levels will ensure that the student can read and spell all of the sophisticated words they’ll encounter in high school and college science, social studies, and math courses.

Yes. We have created extra practice games to reinforce the skills taught in Levels 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of the Barton System.

These free games reside on the Internet, so you do not have to purchase software to access them.

The link to those games is on our Tutor Support website.

We also have free fluency drills that can be used on a computer on that same Tutor Support website.

If you have an iPad or a 7” or 10” Android tablet, take a look at our Barton Tiles app – which replaces our color-coded wooden letter tiles.

To order them at our secure store, click here.

But until they’ve been taught all of the rules in the first 8 levels, they can’t read most library books – without reverting to guessing.

So we’ve hired authors to create stand-alone controlled-text books for every level of the Barton System.

We also searched libraries and other sources for controlled-text books. Books written by other authors are listed in the Games section of our tutor manuals.

You will need at least Levels 1, 2, and 3.

If your budget permits, also get Level 4. Some of your students may be able to complete the first half of Level 4 before the school year ends.

I am a resource specialist. Soon I will be getting a student who completed Level 4 at his previous school. Can I start teaching Level 5 – even though I have never taught any of the prior levels?
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Sadly, no. No one – not even someone with a Ph.D. in Reading Instruction – can take over tutoring for a Barton Student in Level 5.

That’s because the Barton System is cumulative. In order to teach Level 5 accurately and well, a tutor must have experience teaching levels 1, 2, 3, and 4 – and know the material, rules, and error correction techniques used in those levels “cold.”

There is no way that anyone can learn them adequately enough to use them just by watching the hours and hours and hours of tutor training videos. A teacher would have to watch 30 hours of video (6 hours per level times 5 levels) – that’s almost an entire week – retain it all, and internalize it so that she could use every technique, every spelling rule, and every error technique automatically when needed.

It is truly impossible to do that just by watching videos.

In fact, that’s why the Barton System is designed for a teacher to watch just 6 hours of instruction (just one level), and then stop and go give those lessons to real students for several months (to internalize and master those rules and techniques – and use the error correction techniques) before watching 6 more hours of training (for the next level), etc.

A teacher or SLP or parent might be able to take over and do an adequate job if a student is only in Level 3. But they would not be able to take over for a student in Level 5.

Yes. Only one set of color-coded letter tiles is included with each Barton Level. But it helps students stay actively involved with the lesson if they each have their own set. So we recommend you purchase an extra set of tiles for each student.

If you purchased your Barton Levels directly from us, and you have a single tutor version, you can order up to 3 extra sets of tiles. If your school has a site license, they can order as many extra sets of tiles as they need.

To order extra tiles on our secure store, click here.

Please be aware you will not save any time tutoring in a group. That is because each student in that group must receive the equivalent intensity of 2 hours of 1-on-1 tutoring per week. The intensity in 3-on-1 tutoring is not the same as 1-on-1 tutoring. To get the same intensity, you must tutor a group of 3 students for 6 hours each week.

Also, the more students in a group, the longer it will take to complete the Barton System. That’s because you have to pace the lesson for the slowest student. And you cannot present new material if any one of the students is absent.

So if at all possible, please do one-on-one tutoring – even if that means training an aide or a parent or a volunteer to use the Barton System.

No. The Barton System is not designed to be classroom curriculum. So if you are a regular education teacher, do not purchase the Barton System.

It was designed for intense intervention, which if possible, should be done one-on-one. The maximum group size allowed with the Barton System is three-on-one.

Our original Barton System included DVD videos. You can now watch our tutor training videos over the internet – on your desktop or portable computer, your iPad or Android tablet or even your phone.

Just click here to learn more or to sign up.

No. But you should suspect dyslexia.

It should be extremely hard for that student to master their weekly spelling list from school, they probably cannot retain their spelling words from one week to the next, and their spelling should be pretty bad when they write sentences and stories.

Also, although that student can read, he is probably slow and inaccurate. And when he comes to a word he does not recognize, he cannot easily sound it out — despite years of phonics instruction.

Those are classic warning signs of dyslexia. Dyslexia is the most common reason a child with at least average intelligence will struggle with spelling, reading, or writing. Dyslexia affects 20% of people in the United States, some mildly, others severely.

But not every student with dyslexia is ready for the Barton System. So make sure the student can pass our Barton Student Screening before you start tutoring.

Yes, as long as.

1. They can speak and comprehend spoken English at the second-grade level or better.

   This is not an ESL program. To find out if a student from another country knows enough English to benefit from this system, download and give our simple ESL screening by clicking here.

   This system is also not appropriate for a student who has been diagnosed with a receptive or expressive language disorder.

2. Their IQ is 71, or higher.
3. They are struggling with reading accuracy and/or speed and/or decoding (sounding out unknown words) and/or phonemic awareness.
   If a child can already read accurately and rapidly, but only has trouble with comprehension, the Barton System is NOT going to help.
4. They can pass our 10-minute Barton Student Screening.

If not, tell the parent that you need an IQ score first – before you can tutor the child – to make sure you’re picking the best system for that child.

Parents can request that their child’s public school give an IQ test, or they can hire a private Educational Therapist or Psychologist or Psychiatrist to give an IQ test.

Do not use the Barton System with a student whose IQ is lower than 71.

Yes, as long as the student can speak and comprehend spoken English at the second-grade level or higher.
An easy way to check that student’s spoken English skills is to give them our informal ESL Screening.