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!