Staff Spotlight: Toni

Where were you born and how long have you lived in Louisville?
Louisville, 66 years..

My school/work background is?
Bachelor’s in Music, UL; M.A.T., Catherine Spalding; M. Ed. (Special Education) Bellarmine

When I was a child and thought about what I wanted to be when I grew up, I…
Wanted to be a musician or a psychologist..

In my free time, I….
Like to garden, read, splash in the water, and travel..

One of my favorite books of all time would be….
A Prayer for Owen Meany, or the one I’m currently reading!

One of my hidden talents is…
Oh, there are too many to mention… (But Ask Her About Singing in Carnegie Hall!)

I love and I hate…
I love the word ‘yes’ and hate the word ‘no.’.

People say I…
Am creative, dependable and tenacious.

I once won an award for…
Memorizing the most poetry in my English Class.

Is Your Child Learning To Read the Hard Way?

Four Signs Your Child May Be Learning To Read the Hard Way

Is your child developing habits that may make learning to read difficult? Here’s how to find out.

Listen to your child read aloud. When he comes to a word he doesn’t know, check to see if he exhibits any of these 4 possible warning signs:

1. Spending a lot of time studying the pictures first.

2. Often skipping, adding and misreading small words.

3. Seems to be just trying to memorize words.

4. Looking at the first letter of a word and then giving a wild guess, such as reading “dirty” as “dry” or “make” as “mess.”

Good readers have the ability to sound out new words. Memorizing and guessing from context are good skills to have but if they are used instead of sounding out, reading will be a much harder task than it needs to be.

There are about 44 sounds in the English language and readers who have the ability to hear and pull apart those sounds in words have a much easier time learning how to read.

If you think your child may be learning to read the hard way, talk to your child’s teacher for ways to help before frustration hits.

Umbrellas and Labels

Parents who have children struggling to learn how to read can sometimes find themselves in the middle of a confusing array of educational terms. This confusion affects their basic understanding of the problem which means they do not have the clarity they need to make informed decisions on how best to help their child.

Labels such as learning disability, auditory processing disorder, dyslexia and attention deficit disorder are just a few terms parents may hear from educational professionals. The problem is that most of these terms fall under large umbrellas with a wide variety of symptoms falling under each.

If that’s the case, then are these labels important? Yes and no. Labels are important only as far as they can be used to get help for a child, whether that means help through accommodations for challenges that are innate, and/or specific remediation for challenges that can be improved with research-backed work.

Complicating Factors

One example of how labeling can be helpful is when a child has several factors coming into play that can affect learning in various ways. If nothing else, for a child with a lot of challenges, giving a series of labels about a child can quickly help an educator understand that a particular child has a lot more to juggle in order to learn than another child without those labels. Labels can also help determine specific accommodations or help a school may offer. If the label is used to translate into specific individual help for the child, then that’s what's important.

Uncomplicating the Factors

When it comes to getting some specific help, often there is no reason to think in terms of labels. At Langsford, it’s our philosophy not to label children, especially when we know that the right kind of work can bring a child up to a typical level of functioning. We will certainly use a label if it is helpful in some way for the family to get the help they need, but otherwise we just don't find it necessary or even helpful to the family or the child.

Staff Spotlight: Maryanne

Where were you born and how long have you lived in Louisville?
Covington, KY 31 years

My school/work background is?
Morehead State University BA English/German; University of Louisville MA Creative Writing; Angela Merici HS 1976 -1978 English teacher; Edelson and Associates (psychologists) front desk secretary; Fifth Third Bank; Substitute teacher at Trinity HS, Mercy HS, and Sacred Heart HS; Coldwater Creek in Oxmoor.

When I was a child and thought about what I wanted to be when I grew up, I…
always wanted to be a teacher.

In my free time, I….
read everything, write humorously, sew, bake, and then try to lose the weight from the baking by reading more diet books.

One of my favorite books of all time would be….
Separate Beds by LaVyrle Spencer but this would be just the tip of the iceberg.

One of my hidden talents is…
I can water ski but I am afraid of deep water and can't swim.

I love and I hate…
I love chocolate and I hate panty hose.

People say I…
look younger than I am.

I once won an award for…
Home economics in high school -- the Betty Crocker award. I beat out all the girls who majored in Home Economics ( do you remember that major?)

Langsford's Team-To-One™ Approach

This is Lucas, who is surrounded by two of his Langsford Instructors, Paul (on the left) and Christopher. Lucas really enjoyed having these two fellows on his team.

Lucas had the benefit of a lot of people working together to help him. Mary was his Learning Coordinator. Before Lucas even started sessions with us, Mary had a conversation with his school's principal on how to best structure his day so Lucas could attend daily sessions here. As a team, Mary, the principal and the parents worked out a plan for Lucas to come during the school day.

Once Lucas began sessions, the Langsford Team began to work together on the customized plan of action that Mary designed specifically for Lucas' learning profile. Paul and Christopher were a big part of Lucas' team. As you can see by the photo above, the three of them became great buddies.

Margaret and Tyler

Margaret is one of our instructors who teaches mainly in our Middletown office. I don't think I really need to tell you that both Tyler and Margaret are two energetic and fun people. But I guess I just did anyway.

Isabell

Here's another delightful child we had the pleasure of working with this summer. Isabell is an example of one of our students who really just needed a boost for her skills to help her put all the pieces together more effectively. Isabell's family reports increased confidence in school this year.

Joey

Joey is another one of our clients who attended from Indiana. As I'm writing this Joey and his sister Katie are in the lobby playing while mom and dad are discussing his post test results with his Learning Coordinator, Kristin.

Along with that data we already have plenty of subjective measures of how well Joey is doing now because some time back Joey's mom told me that they have been making more trips to the library to keep him stocked with books to read.

Langsford Progress Updates

When a student is working here, we want to give feedback periodically to the parents so they know how the plan is moving forward. And of course during the course of work here, the Learning Coordinator is constantly seeing the students and talking to them in sessions about the plan, where they are, how far they have to go, etc.




Okay, so USUALLY a progress update is something Langsford Learning Coordinators do with the parents.

But in this case, Nadia and Ola wanted to have their own private update in Kristin's office. And we would never deny a request for more information from a student!

Christopher Teaches Langsford

Christopher attended sessions at Langsford this past summer. Our Director Stephen recently received this email update from mom:

I’m so glad that we got Christopher to you when we did. He has been going through a lot of books since we have returned. HE reads at breakfast, in the car, instead of doing his assigned homework...etc!!! First it was just one book that he liked. Now he has discovered that there are lots of books that could appeal to him.

Yesterday he purchased “City of Ember” (by Jeanne DuPrau) to read before he sees the movie! Your place is like magic.

We spoke to his English teacher at our fall conference. He is doing better than projected, based on last spring.. Again, we were so lucky to have had the chance to have him work with you at Langsford.

Thanks for writing mom, but really we are the ones who were lucky because we finally found someone who could solve one of our most challenging puzzles in our lobby:



Now that we have this recorded, maybe this puzzle won't stay undone for weeks at a time because so many of us here have a hard time figuring it out. Thanks for the lesson Christopher!

What's Duncan Looking At?

What's Duncan looking at? Well, it's really 'who' and not 'what.' The 'who' would be Leslie, who was Duncan's Learning Coordinator this summer. Leslie was trying to get him to do something interesting for the camera and apparently she was giving him an example of what she meant when I took this photo.

By the look on Duncan's face, I wish I would have gotten a picture of her too! Or maybe not. ;)

I recently heard from mom who said Duncan really enjoyed coming here. We love hearing that because we are committed to not only teaching reading spelling and comprehension skills, but we want to do it in a fun and encouraging environment.

Jack The Great

I took this photo of Jack during a break from his post test. When Jack first came to Langsford, we spoke with his teacher who said he was really motivated and wanted so badly to be able to read chapter books. He was being hindered by weak phonological awareness.

After about 6 weeks of sessions he was sounding out well and fluently reading Nate the Great, a fun detective series of books that early elementary students love. Post testing showed that Jack's reading rate and accuracy are at the early 4th grade level. Nice job Jack!

We didn't get a chance to get a picture like we did with Anna, but one day Jack brought in his brand new puppy to the Middletown office, a white golden retriever named Ryder. Maybe one day Jack and Ryder will solve lots of mysteries just like Nate the Great and his dog, Sludge.

Staff Spotlight: Kristin

Kristin is one of our Learning Coordinators.

Where were you born and how long have you lived in Louisville?
Louisville is my hometown. I left town for about 8 years, then returned home.

My school/work background is?
Bachelor’s degree from Eastern Ky. University- dual degree in Special Ed./Elementary Ed. Also dual Master’s degree in Special Ed./Elementary Ed. from Adams State College in Colorado. Work experience mostly in special education settings and started at Langsford in 1999. Best job I ever had!

When I was a child and thought about what I wanted to be when I grew up, I…
was never quite sure I wanted to grow up.

In my free time, I….
am very involved with the Taoist Tai Chi Society, I enjoy working on my house and in the garden.

One of my favorite books of all time would be….
Ann Morrow Lindberg’s “Gifts from the Sea”

One of my hidden talents is…
Oh, there are too many to mention…

I love and I hate…
I love the many opportunities for growth this life offers. I hate eggplant and beef liver.

People say I…
am even keeled but full of surprises.

I once won an award for…
Best award ever was my Master’s Degree! It was very hard won!

Brayden Gets A Lecture from Langsford

Brayden put in a lot of hard work this past summer. One of the areas of work Brayden worked on was Lecture Noting. During Lecture Noting, students learn to organize oral presentations in order to improve their comprehension. They learn to pull out the main points and important supporting details from all the information presented.

This skill becomes very important as students get older, and especially in college, when much information is being presented orally in class.

When Stars Read Video

During the Dyslexia: Beyond Reversals presentation, Stephen mentioned this video. We wanted to make it available to everyone, so we uploaded it here in two parts. Produced by the National Institute of Health, this video depicting the improvement possible with effective remediation, is a Langsford staff favorite. It's a total of about 12 minutes and well worth the time.

Part 1



Part 2

Dyslexia Presentation

Stephen McCrocklin, Director of Langsford Learning Acceleration Centers in Louisville, gave a presentation last week called Dyslexia: Beyond Reversals. Many people still believe that letter reversals (b-d confusion) and word reversals (was for saw) are the primary signs of dyslexia. This presentation shattered that long held belief!

The large group of professional educators that attended the presentation learned what the converging evidence says about dyslexia and how to identify it. This presentation was so well received that we're sure to schedule it again, so if you are reading this and interested in attending the next one, just let us know and we will place you on the list to be notified when another one is scheduled.

Katie Reads The Wig

This is Katie. While on her break between sessions the other day, she was sharing her excitement with everyone in the lobby about how she finished reading a whole book and was able to decode all the words!

The photos above show her in sessions reading that book, titled The Wig. It's a story about a dog who gets into some mischief which Katie found really funny. In the second photo, Katie is showing us a picture of the dog wearing the wig.

Nice job Katie!

If Jack Becomes Famous, He'll Be Ready...

to sign lots of autographs!

Here is a picture of Jack, taking a break from working on his handwriting. The work Jack is doing falls under the area of visual-motor processing. Click here to learn more.

Teddy's Reading Novels

When Teddy first came to work with us, his Learning Coordinator, Mary, created a customized plan of action that developed his reading and spelling up to the simple multi-syllable level. Upon finishing that phase of work, he stopped attending daily sessions and then returned the following summer for 2 weeks to work at the complex multi-syllable level. This is often done with our younger clients so we can give them time to stabilize their new skills and then work on the more complex levels at the same time this type of work is increasing in school, usually after the third grade year.

This past summer, Teddy returned for a one week review. Teddy is now at the level where he is beginning to read novels so we also did some work on Novel Noting. Our Novel Noting sessions help with organizing and planning this type of school reading to gain a deeper understanding of the book. Our work includes ways to organize the setting and characters, develop main ideas of each chapter, and also learn new vocabulary words.

Thoroughly Delightful

This is Anika who did some work with us this summer. Kristin reports that Anika made great strides with writing down her thoughts.

Paul taught quite a few of her sessions and he told me she is a "thoroughly delightful" child and it was so much fun to work with her.

With increased confidence in her spelling ability, she will now be able to write some "thoroughly delightful" stories!

Reading Can Be Magical At Langsford

Remember Queen Bethany? She had her post test recently.

When we administer our post test, the examiner asks a few questions to get student feedback on how they felt about doing work here at Langsford. So when Jessica asked Bethany how she uses the skills she acquired here at school, this was Bethany's reply---

"I just use the magic. I got magic from here. It makes me lucky."

Staff Spotlight: Paul

Paul is one of our Instructors and he's been around here, on and off, for more than 10 years.

Where were you born and how long have you lived in Louisville?
Reese Air Force Base, Lubbock Texas

My school/work background is...
History

People say I...
am crazy. And they worry about my soul.

When I was a child and thought about what I wanted to be when I grew up, I...
wanted to be a jet fighter pilot, soldier, architect.

In my free time, I...
read, garden, play soccer.

One of my favorite books of all time would be...
Stuart Little, War and Peace, Lord of the Rings

One of my hidden talents is...
It is too well hidden, I haven't found it yet.

I once won an award for...
sportsmanship.

Past Langsford Client Receives Distinction in Reading

We heard great news from a past client the other day. Michael's mother brought in an award he received from The Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth.

He received Distinction in Reading for the 2008 academic year!

His proud mother wrote:

"Michael came to the Langsford Center 1999-2000; now, 8 years later, it still holds! Thank you!"

Practicing in Pink is Perfect

Anna had her last day celebration recently. Isn't she pretty in pink? We think so, and we even printed her Langsford certificate to match her outfit. :)

Anna worked very hard while she was here and mom reports that they successfully did some reading and worked on her sight words during a vacation recently. Like any other activity we learn, Anna's mom understands that this daily practice is important for Anna to continue to progress in her reading and spelling skills.

The great thing about practicing reading is that there are so many good books on many different topics that will grab a child's interest. To get an idea of a topic Anna is probably interested in reading about, click here to see the visitor she brought to Langsford this past summer.

Start Learning Those Vowel Sounds Early

Leslie, one of Langsford Learning Acceleration Centers' Learning Coordinators is also is in charge of Assessment. She oversees our Examiners and makes sure all the details that go into figuring out the learning processes of each individual client are covered.

Click here to see a video of her granddaughter and after watching the video, see if you agree with our assessment that Leslie's grandbaby is doing a fantastic job with her vowel sounds. Nice job Rose!

Jonah Reads Everything in Sight

This is Jonah with his Learning Coordinator, Kristin. After doing work here, Jonah's family reported that he tries to read everything in sight and the other day he was reading the air bag warning on the visor in the car!

I also hear that he has now taken up guitar lessons and is working quite hard at that. I hope he'll stop by sometime so we can all listen to him play.

Elizabeth Knows Horses

Elizabeth and her mom traveled here all the way from Tennessee to do sessions with us. She was great fun to have around and knew a lot about horses. One day as I worked with her, we were reading a story about Lippizaner Stallions. Elizabeth already knew quite a bit about them but we were both curious about why they are now so rare. Well later that evening, she did some research on her own and the next day she brought me a printout of information she found on the internet explaining the history of this breed of horse.

That's one reason why it's great working here, it's not just the students that learn a lot!



This picture above is Elizabeth and her mom.



This is Elizabeth and Claudia, who was her Learning Coordinator while she was here this summer doing sessions.

Will's Smiling Face

Will and one of his Instructors, Fran, stopped their session for a moment to pose for a picture for the blog.



Here he is a few days later at his last day celebration.

Dreaming of One Day Competing in the Olympics?

Watching and reading all of the coverage of the 2008 Olympics has certainly caused many children and teenagers to dream of one day competing in the historic games. Besides talent, we all know it takes a lot of time and dedication to reach such a lofty goal. With huge time demands on all athletics, even at younger ages these days, it's important to find ways to stay on top of academics.

The current issue of Greater Louisville Vype Magazine includes an article provided by Langsford Learning Acceleration Center on creating a Study Workout Center. This article includes tips on how student-athletes can get ahead academically, even during a busy sports season. Click here to read the full article.

Mary Caroline Can Picture Her Mom Tripping

This is Mary Caroline and her mother during her last day celebration. She was here doing some work in the underlying process important for good comprehension, which is learning to create images and pictures in her mind of information she reads and hears.

Mom recently had a story to share with us about a trip to Florida this summer. Mary Caroline and mom were out enjoying the beach and mom had to climb a 3 foot sand hill created by the waves to get out of the water. But she fell back into the ocean. This was apparently very funny to her daughter and she said to mom "I'm glad I'm going to Langsford because I have a great picture of that in my mind now!" Although mom is not so sure how she feels about being teased, she told me she was so pleased that her daughter is beginning to understand the concept of picturing.

Josh's Last Day

Josh is all smiles as he celebrates his last day.

Michael's Becoming an Independent Learner

Michael just finished writing a sentence dictated to him by his Langsford Instructor. He's now checking it over for any possible errors he may have made with his spelling. This is a very important part of the work done at Langsford. Our goal is to help all of our students learn to become self-correcting and independent with their skills.

Mallory has Gone Fishin'

This is Mallory and she's playing a game of 'Go Fish' with her instructor as a way to review her sounds. Students love playing games and many instructors have come up with great ideas to help kids learn while at the same time having fun. Sharing such ideas is part of what we do at our bi-monthly staff meetings too.

Staff Spotlight: Jessica

Where were you born and how long have you lived in Louisville?
Louisville, 25 years, with short stints in Cincinnati and Lawrenceburg.

My school/work background is?
I spent 1.5 years at University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music studying Theater Design and Production. I decided it wasn’t for me and now have BA in English from Bellarmine and MFA in Creative writing-Poetry from Spalding.

When I was a child and thought about what I wanted to be when I grew up, I…
...wanted to be the first woman to do something, anything.

In my free time, I….
Write poems, read books, cook/bake, garden, collect LPs, watch Mythbusters and Deadliest Catch.

One of my favorite books of all time would be….
...Ahab’s Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund

One of my hidden talents is…
…swing dancing.

I love and I hate…
I love Elvis and hate the State Fair (I know, completely un-American.)

People say I…
…talk too much and drive too fast.

I once won an award for…
President of Most Improved Student Organization (Ariel Literary Magazine)

More Visitors From Schools

In a previous post, we talked about how visiting Langsford is one of the best ways to learn more about us and what we do.

Last week, we had a visit from a group of 3 teachers from a local Catholic school. Our Director Stephen met with them to talk in some depth about Langsford and then they had the opportunity to sit in and observe some actual sessions of clients attending this summer.

One of the teachers had this to say about the experience:

I learned so much about how children learn. It is very evident that you and your staff are committed to helping children succeed.

If you would like to learn more about how Langsford is helping students learn, contact us to schedule a visit.

More Langsford Lobby Fun

This is Katie, another sister of one of our clients who enjoys playing in our lobby with the blocks. This summer she's also come in with her swim suit on, ready for a day in the pool. As I've seen quite a few swim-suit clad families picking up their kids this summer I've been thinking Langsford should figure out a way to have our summer sessions at the pool too!

What Can You Do In Five Minutes?

I took a photo of these energetic boys while at the Middletown office a few weeks back. Langsford's sessions are 55 minutes long and the students get a 5 minute break, so sometimes we all like to go outside and enjoy some fresh air and sunshine.

And if you're wondering why the fellow on the left, Will, has that look on his face, well, gee, you would probably look like that too if you had to hold up 3 other boys. (By the way, those other boys from left to right are Kasey, Austin and Scott.)

Birthdays are Special

Colin did the bulk of his work last summer and came back this summer for a 2 week refresher. He picked a good time because on his last day, we also celebrated his birthday with a song and a few balloons.

We love birthdays around here. As a matter of fact, some of the Langsford staff, especially two of our Learning Coordinators Rhonda and Leslie, have been known to celebrate their birthdays every day for a week. And last I heard, since they were both born in the same month, they were conspiring to make the celebrations last for the entire month. That's a lot of birthday cake, but we can handle it!

Queen Bethany

This is Bethany and one of Langsford Learning Acceleration Centers' Instructors, Toni. As with all of our Instructors, Toni has quite a varied and interesting background. Toni's background includes being a professional singer and I'm pretty sure Queen Bethany ordered a song or two from her while she was here and thanked her on the day this picture was taken by letting her wear a crown too.

And speaking of singing, if you're ever around when we do our birthday greetings, you may find other Langsford staff slightly scuffling to be strategically situated close to Toni so everyone thinks they can sing great too!

D.J. - 10 Years Later

We heard from another past client a couple of weeks ago. D.J. has been attending Bellarmine University and is now in the process of planning to take the GMAT. The family contacted us for copies of his pre and post testing for documentation he needed in reference to taking this test. Here's what his mom had to say about his recent educational activities:

Thank you so much for getting that information out to us. I have sent it along to get permission for D.J. get assistance while taking the GMA

Please share that he has had outstanding assistance at Bellarmine, he has made the Dean's List several times. With a smaller class size, Professors that are willing to work one-on-one, as well as being willing to meet at the local bookstore on Sunday afternoon to help the entire class.. and an entire staff that is willing to bend over backwards to assist.. You can't go wrong!!

We are very proud of him, he is entering the Masters Program!! Where there is a will, there is a wa

Please know that without Langsford's help I don't know that he would be as successful as he is today!! A million thanks!!

Together we believed in him and he believed in himself!! Once he finishes his Masters Program he will graduate with an MBA and a Bachelors in Communication. Who would have believed that this little boy, in sixth grade.. reading at a first grade level when he entered Langsford, would accomplish his dreams with the tools he learned in your center. Langsford 97'-98', Thank you again!!

Sincerely,
Donna

Staff Spotlight: Jenny

Let's spotlight another member of our staff. This is Jenny, who is Langsford's Scheduler. She is the one who has the amazing ability to solve the weekly puzzle of matching our available instructors to the students. It's quite the challenge but she's really, really a master at the task. (And if you read what she likes to do in her free time, you can see why she's perfect for her position.) Here's more about her:

Where were you born and how long have you lived in Louisville?
Methodist Hospital, in Louisville, all my life

My school/work background is...
...I went to Presentation Academy, then Bellarmine College. Prior to Langsford, my work background was all in the non-profit sector.

When I was a child and thought about what I wanted to be when I grew up, I…
...wanted to be a mom.

In my free time, I….
...like to read, work puzzles. I love sitting on my back porch, with or without a book in hand.

One of my favorite books of all time would be….
...Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston

One of my hidden talents is…
…I have an incredible knack for killing plants.

I love and I hate…
...sitting on my back porch, listening to the ocean, the sound of rain, watching a thunderstorm, the smell of coffee, sunsets over water, dogs, I could keep going. I hate, and am probably certifiably phobic of snakes.

People say I…

…should do massage therapy for a living

Blocks and Dogs

We never know what will happen during the 5 minute breaks between sessions or when students are waiting for someone to pick them up after they are done for the day.



This is Anna, who ran back into our office one day because she wanted to show off her little puppy to one of our Instructors, Kim. Kim was already back teaching her next session so we took this picture for her. Looks to me like these two are going to be great buddies. But I don't know how much longer Anna will be able to carry her puppy around for visits with her friends!



And this is Patrick. He's another one of our block builders. He was excited to show off the height he managed to build this tower so we took a picture for him as well. I'm almost to the point where I may have to just hang my camera off my neck so I'm always well prepared to record the activities of our busy students!

Following Up: The Learning Continues

Kristin, one of Langsford's Learning Coordinators, recently followed up with a family of a student who will be entering 8th grade this fall. At the end of his work here, Kristin prepared further recommendations so he could continue to benefit and strengthen the gains he made from his work at Langsford.

Kristin's main recommendation was that the student continue to work on writing this summer. So as summer arrived, she contacted his mother to remind her about that and to offer specific suggestions. She wanted to offer ideas that would be fun, help motivate and give him more control over the process, so she recommended creative writing. She gave the mom the following link to help along those lines. Readers of this blog may want to check it out as well. Click here.

Another recommendation Kristin made for this particular family was to investigate the possibility of using a Franklin Speller. Technological advances such as these electronic dictionaries and spellers can be helpful depending on the situation. Sometimes these tools are used soley for accomodation or compensation. Langsford believes it's important to concentrate on remediation first and then move to technology to assist in learning and the Franklin Speller can be a great tool.

Finally, Kristin recommended that this family have some fun with a Group Story. A Group Story is where someone starts a story and then passes it off to another person who writes a few sentences and so on. The stories can get quite crazy and you never know how it's going to turn out. I know I (Debbie) did this several times with my children and I still have my favorite. We suggest everyone give it a try.

Kristin received this feedback from mom after her follow up:

Good Morning Kristin,

I hope this finds you well. Yes, Brock did finish with a great report card. All his grades were 88 and above. He made second honors for the very first time! YEAH!

I purchased the Franklin speller for him and he seemed to benefit from it. Thanks for that good suggestion.

To say the least I am impressed with your follow up! I always appreciate people that hold me to my word. I purchased the notebook for the combined story writing weeks ago. Now, making the time for the writing. Thanks for the nudge.

Please pass along my thanks and appreciation to your staff for their part in Brock's success!

Take care,
Courtney

There's a word for that?

It's important to Langsford that we stay on top of what's happening in the field of reading and reading research. So our Director Stephen is always on the hunt to learn more and keep up to date.

Recently he ran into a new word he hadn't heard before: Phonotactics. Of course, it's highly related to one of the the underlying brain processes we work with at Langsford every day, all day long: phonemic awareness. But phonotactics takes the idea of phonemes in a bit of a different direction. You can read more about it here.

We compile the work Stephen does in keeping up with the research in reading and include the links in an email newsletter we publish every other month. If you are interested in adding your email to our list, please contact us by clicking here.

Benjamin's Surprise

People sometimes ask if Langsford is part of a franchise and the answer is no. Since its beginnings in 1992, Langsford has been owned and operated by Stephen and Claudia McCrocklin.

One unique difference about Langsford is that Claudia and Stephen want to remain very involved and hands-on in the work that goes on here, even though they also have broader responsibilities as owners/directors. So when Benjamin's family decided to sign up to do work at Langsford, Claudia became his Learning Coordinator.

Benjamin happens to attend the same school as Stephen and Claudia's son. The day Benjamin found out it was his buddy's mom who would be helping him, he said "Wow, this is cool!"

Rhonda Rocks

Our clients come to us with a wide variety of challenges and needs. Sometimes parents need help and assistance as they figure out how to be an advocate for their child and make sure they get the help they need as they move forward in their schooling. Below is a recent card Rhonda received from a past client who knows that Langsford will remain available to help her in any way we can:

Rhonda, How can I thank you for the countless hours of helping me through this challenging transitional year. Your guidance and listening ear has been so appreciated! Thanks because I know I can count on your in years to come. We so appreciate you!

Brent Has Style!

This is Brent, who just finished some work at Langsford refining her reading and spelling skills.

One of our instructors, Kara, had this to say about working with her:

I loved working with Brent! She's so very bright and interesting, and as soon as she learns something new she applies it to prior material and comes up with ideas beyond the sum of the parts. That sort of thinking is very impressive (also hard to teach)! Beyond that, Brent is down-to-earth and has a heart of solid gold. She's a very likable person and I would enjoy meeting her again in five or ten years to see what she's doing with herself.

And Maryanne, another instructor, wrote this:

Brent was wonderful to work with. She seemed wise beyond her years. She was willing to give her all to any task I set before her. She wore the cutest clothes and was easy to talk to about almost anything. Just a delight.

Oh, and I also just have to mention that Brent has the coolest purse. It's covered with colorful shiny sequins and I heard her get lots of compliments on it during her time here. That girl has style!

Evan's Tapering Plan

This is Evan and her little brother Tommy. Evan's mother has a special education background and when she first called to speak to us, she said she knew Evan was struggling, but not really at an extreme level. She thought Evan would benefit from a boost and wanted to do something to help her self-confidence when it came to reading. Mom reports that school says she is now reading above grade level.

Working In conjunction with her Learning Coordinator, Mary, Mom has decided to continue bringing Evan in sporadically over the summer to ensure that she has more time to apply what she's learned. At Langsford, we refer to this part of our customized plan as "tapering," which means that we want to gradually move a student out of sessions as they demonstrate the ability to apply their new skills. This tapering plan will differ with each individual client and his/her specific needs.

Our goal is to make sure that every client leaves Langsford with the skills needed to be a self-correcting, independent learner.

Alex's Favorite Toy

In the picture above, Alex is playing with one of his favorite toys. The orange star in front of Alex has proven to be a very popular item during student break times. The star consists of thin plastic colored pegs that are loose and will conform to whatever shape is pressed into the back side of the toy. For example, if you put your hand on the back, then look at the front, you will see the shape of your hand in the orange pegs.

A simple idea I know, but lots of fun. Wish I had thought of it!

It also works as a good stress reliever. I've been known to just pick one up and play with it a bit after I've had to battle some traffic. Or after a student absolutely obliterated me during a reading and spelling game we played in session!

You Want To See Energy?

Okay, so you can't really see it in this picture we took of Claire during her celebration, but trust me, this girl has energy!

Every day she came into Langsford ready to go and with a smile. Well, I'm pretty sure I saw a smile, but she usually moved so fast, I didn't always get much time to see. Claire liked to visit all of us in our offices and she checked everything out that was going on around here.

It was nice having someone like her around because energy like that can be quite contagious. Claire and her family have an upcoming trip planned to Spain and Claire is very excited about it, so I can only imagine the energy she is going to spread over there!

Maggie Makes A Splash

The photo at left is a picture of Maggie, one of our recent clients, during her Spring Break trip in April.

Leslie, Maggie's Learning Coordinator, received this note from mom:

Thank you soooo much for entertaining her - oh yes, that was teaching her wasn't it! She will really miss you ALL!! Thank you for helping her to this level. She has definitely improved. Although costly - you helped her self-confidence rise and gave her the tools she needed to feel good about reading and figuring out the words.
You made it easy coming to Walden.

Thanks. :)
Fondly,
Anne

Grandmothers are Great!

Sometimes the logistics of transporting students to Langsford can be a challenge for parents. And that's where supportive family and friends can help. The picture above is of Kaylee, her mother and her grandmother, who helped transport her to sessions here. Below is a recent email she wrote to us when I asked permission to put up the photo:

Dear Debbie,
It has been a pleasure having to pick up Kaylee and take her to her elementary school for the past weeks.
Everyone was gracious and greeted me with a smile when I came inside.
Every morning we talked about what she was learning.
I have seen her gain confidence in reading using word attack skills.
She even wanted to help me read a card when I couldn’t see the words well.
I think Langsford is doing great things

It would be fine to use the picture on the site.

LOVE AND LIGHT SALLIE

You Can Learn A Lot By Observing

We are often contacted by educational professionals who want to learn more about Langsford so they know what sort of student may be appropriate for the work we do. These professionals want to be knowledgeable about local resources so they can help any families they come in contact with who may need extra help, or are looking for a boost.

So, what's the best way to learn about Langsford?

How about setting up a visit and learn first-hand what goes on here, by meeting with us, discussing the characteristics of our typical client, and through observing actual sessions?

In other words, see us in action!

Below is a recent email sent to our Director, Stephen McCrocklin, from a local professional who visited a couple of weeks ago:

Stephen,

Thank you for taking so much time out of your day to spend with me. I truly enjoyed all the background information you shared with me about Langsford, as well as all the wealth of information you shared regarding various programs, research, etc. Your knowledge and passion for the field is contagious! As time allows I would love to set up a time to return and observe a session. It is such a blessing to have such a wonderful resource that you, your wife, and your team provide to our community. Thank you, again… :)

Have a blessed day,

Robin D'Aniello
Elementary Academic Support
Christian Academy of Louisville

We will soon be packed to the gills with all sorts of students this summer, so if you are an educational professional with some extra time this summer, why not take advantage of your time off to visit with us and learn about Langsford?

Marty's Last Day

Marty finished up his sessions last week and here he is pictured with mom and dad. During session work, Marty became very good at analyzing words and various word patterns. He learned a variety of complex multi-syllable rules which has helped him become an awesome speller. Here's what his mom had to say:

Langsford was a really great experience and he really liked all of his teachers. You have a great group of caring instructors there!!! Jim and I are very impressed with his improvements. It was the "push" that he needed!!

Thanks again,

Colleen

Story from Lexington Kentucky

In the post titled Langsford Little Sisters are Great, we mentioned how Kendra and her mom spent time hanging out in Louisville because they traveled from Indiana to bring Brandon for sessions.

At the end of last summer and into the fall, we had a mom bring her son Thomas from Lexington, Kentucky for sessions. He did work in comprehension at that time and this summer, the family plans on returning for about a week for a customized refresher and review of the work he did last year. When mom called to sign up for this review, Jenny, our scheduler, received an update:

Mom called. Thomas doing great!! She said he no longer qualifies for some of the services he received in the past because he just soared this year, having completed Langsford last summer. Said she is always available to talk to anyone about her experience!

Any readers of this blog who are interested in speaking with another family who has had experience with Langsford can call (502) 473-7000 and ask for our Admissions Coordinator, Debbie.

The Trouble with Oreos

This picture is of Charlotte, her brother and her mom at her last day celebration. Charlotte and her brother are all tight-lipped smiles for a reason: they just finished eating an Oreo cookie treat and didn't want us to see black crumbs on their teeth!

Email Out of the Blue

As I think we've mentioned before on this blog, Langsford has been around long enough now that we are starting to receive some "Blasts from the Past" as clients want to let us know how their children are doing, years after working with Langsford. We received the following by email just this week:

My son, Max, went through the Langsford Center program 5 years ago when he was in second grade. I just wanted to share his success story with Stephen and Claudia. My son not only qualified for the Duke Talent Identification Program in the category of "Critical Reading," but he took the SAT in the Fall and scored high enough in that category to qualify for State recognition. Qualification for State recognition requires a child to score in the top 30% of the talent pool.

Max has been so successful in Language Arts. With each of his successes we always think of the Langsford Center and are so grateful!. It was the best money we ever, ever spent. Max loves to read, and you would not believe the things he chooses to read. At this moment, he is alternating between three different compilations of plays: William Beckett, George Kaufmann and Neil Simon. He is reading these for fun! Reading is one of the best pleasures in Max's life.

You will also take pride in knowing that Max recently won Young Authors at the Oldham County level for his grade level for the third time. Langsford Center truly opened his world.

We have been wavering between YPAS and St. Francis High School for our high school choices. Max is heavily involved in theater.

I wanted to let Stephen and Claudia know what the end product has been 5 years down the road.

I am such a fan of the Langsford Center. Please feel free to add Max's information to your website.

You all are The Best!

Sara L. Abner

What Can 12 Weeks Do?

Here is a video from the mother of Ross, who we wrote about on this blog here.

Langsford Little Sisters Are Great!

This is Kendra and she is the sister of a client, Brandon. Brandon's family drove quite a distance from Indiana to get to Langsford sessions, so Kendra and her mom passed the time in Louisville. We showed mom where a couple of local parks were located and they also were able to do some errands periodically. But many days, they would hang out in our lobby. While here, Kendra played with our toys and puzzles, or she and mom read books together, and a few times she had a laptop and watched a movie.

But the best days, at least from the perspective of Jenny, our Scheduler, and me, Debbie, Admissions Coordinator, were when Kendra drew or colored pictures for us. As a matter of fact I have a bulletin board full of drawings, mostly from younger siblings of clients. It really brightens up my office!

Oh, and every once in a while Jenny and I might come back into our offices and see a surprise treat that Kendra cooked up from home. She makes a yummy cookie!

On the day this picture was taken, Kendra was warming up her camera skills in order to take pictures of Brandon during his last day celebration. But Brandon was not quite as excited about having his picture taken, so Kendra said we could post her picture holding her camera. When this was taken, Kendra had just finished taking a picture of SpongeBob Squarepants that I have on my door handle.

We really enjoyed having Kendra hang out with us and we'll miss both her and Brandon!

Christian Post-Tested Today

Christian recently celebrated his last day of sessions and today he returned for an Assessment of Progress. After this assessment, we prepare a full written report and the parents return for an in-depth consult to discuss the results. This means families leave Langsford with clear information on where their child was upon coming to Langsford, the gains he or she made while here, what they can do at home as well as what can be done at school, and further recommendations for Langsford if applicable.

Christian's mom told us today that she is certainly curious to see what our testing shows but she already sees big changes in him and relayed a story about how Christian has a little light he uses now so he can read in the car!

Christian and his mom on his last day of sessions.

Christian during one of his sessions.