HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE LANGSFORD STAFF

Wishing you Happy Holidays and all the best in the new year!!

Some Pictures from the Holiday Party!

Rhonda gets a new pair of earrings for Christmas!

Tony and Toni enjoying the applause they got for their duet

Linda and Kristin

A great shot of Kara!

Kim, oblivious to the fact that Margaret is about to pounce upon her!

OOOOHHHH.....the party is TONIGHT!

Chef Callie and her lovely assistant

Jerry's wife telling an embarrassing story about him??

Karen, Kathleen and Callie

Claudia--the charming hostess

A Peek into the Langsford Holiday Party

Every year in December, Claudia and Stephen graciously invite all of the Langsford staff and their families into their home to celebrate the holidays. A gourmet dinner, prepared by Stephen's mother, Callie, is served. The house is always beautifully decorated for the holidays, and a good time is had by all.



In the past, we always had a white elephant exchange, and boy, did some crazy gifts show up for that! This year, we shifted and everyone brought small genuine gifts to exchange.



It has also become a tradition that the staff donates money to some charity in Stephen and Claudia's name. This year, we decided to donate to Gilda's Club, which helps cancer patients and their families. We did this in memory of Carolyn Oakley, a staff member who lost her battle with cancer this year.



Two of our staff members sang a beautiful duet, to our delight. The evening was also capped with a funny poem, written by a staff member, that we have decided to share:

T'was the Night of the Langsford Holiday Party

T'was the night of the party and all Langsford was there,

Eating and drinking and forgetting their cares.

The tree was all decorated, with presents all wrapped

People were glad that, this year-no crap!

They'd go home this time with only good things,

no urinals, or junk, or someone's old bling.

Claudia in her boots, and Stephen in his sweater,

All settled in to listen to this letter.

When out in the kitchen there arose such a clatter,

Claudia sprang from her seat to see what was the matter.

Callie was in there, cleaning up from dinner.

Just like every year, she'd concocted a winner!

All of the guests were stuffed and sipping on cider,

Claudia sat down, with Stephen beside her.

Looking around, she felt very proud.

The party had resulted in quite a big crowd.

There was Margaret, and Mike, and over there Sarah,

Linda and Kristin, Merwan and Tara....

Gemma and Jenny, Marsha and Tony,

Karen and Kim, Kathleen and.....more Toni's!

And then all of a sudden you could hear from the back

Leslie laughing and crying and just talking smack!

Claudia smiled to herself, feeling a wave of joy.

We may be all crazy, but we're her misfit toys.

We teach kids to read, that's just what we do

And maybe make them more confident too.

It had been a good night and the party was done

People were leaving, having had lots of fun.

As I went out the door, Hark! I think I heard Stephen say...

If Rhonda wrote that on worktime I'm gonna dock her some pay!

Hahaha....Happy Holidays to Everyone!!

Jack Speaks Out About Langsford Center

Last time you heard from Brion. Here is something another client wrote. This is from Jack, who is a second grader working on his reading and his handwriting.

What Jack has to say:

I go to Langsford. You do straight lines and curved lines. You read 5 minutes and do the vowel circle. And write in the air.

You get a break for 5 minutes. You can play games and get candy. My favorite game is pin ball. It is fun.

You get a sight word box. You do letter tiles. You learn a lot. You learn Magic E.

Nice job, Jack! Good spelling and your handwriting looks super!

Keep up the good work!

What Brion Has to Say About Langsford Center

I recently asked some of our current clients if they'd like to write about their experience at Langsford. Brion was the first to finish his paper. He actually worked on it at home! Brion is in the 3rd grade and has been coming to Langsford for a little over 3 weeks.

Here is what Brion had to say:

About Langsford

Langsford is good. It helps you with all the sounds. I have not been here very long, but I have learned a lot. I'm already getting better at reading.

The teachers are great here. They teach you a lot about sounds.

You have a reading folder and a sight word box. The reading folder is for when you read at home with your parents. You and the parent you read with, sign off on the paper in your folder. You also have to write the title on it. They give the book to you to read. You also read there with them. The sight word box is for when you read off a paper there. The words you don't know they write it on a card and put it in the box. You go over it until you have five marks on it. You also take spelling tests and this is how you do it. They ask you to spell the words they say. If you get it right you don't write it down on the paper. If you get it wrong, you have to write it down on the paper and spell in until you get five A's next to each other.

You learn a lot about the vowel sounds. They want you to do your best handwriting on all the papers you do there. Air writing is fun because you write and it doesn't show up, but you have to imagine in in your head.

It is fun here at Langsford!

Thank you, Brion, for your thoughtful response.