"What Langsford is About": According to Lindsey

Miss Lindsey

Recently we've had the pleasure of working with this delightful 3rd grader 

who wrote the following about Langsford:

What Langsford is About

by Lindsey

Langsford is a place where kids go to get better at school work that is tricky for them.  I really like Langsford because I can learn in fun ways.  I can read interesting books while playing the Jewel Game. 

I also do spelling.  If I get a word wrong, I have a list that the word goes on.  If I get the word correct 5 days in a row the word gets checked off.  I also get to write sentences on the white board with a dry erase marker.  My favorite color is purple.

If I read 20 minutes a day I get to put a check on the reading board.  If I get checks all the way across the board, I get to get a prize out of Rhonda's special basket.  

I have a different teacher every hour I am here.  At the end of each hour, I get stickers to put on my sticker sheet.  Langsford is a good place to go to!

Thanks Lindsey!  We think you're pretty special too!!

Hoping for her life to be changed

This week we had a new student start.  On her first day her mother told me a story I want to share with you.  She said that the night before her family had had Chinese food for dinner.  When her daughter, our new student, opened her fortune cookie, it read.......

You are about to be tested,

and the results will be life-changing

The daughter turned to her mother, smiling, and said, "I think Langsford is going to be my big test."

We've had many past clients tell us their lives were changed by the work they did with us.  We strive for that with every client we see.

The Magical World of Reading!

BOOKS

Books are magical....they can take us to far away places, and introduce us to wonderous characters.  Through books, make believe takes shape in our mind and anything is possible. 

One of the biggest joys of working at Langsford Center is being able to be a part of bringing this magic to new readers.  

This is Andrew.  He is so excited to be reading!  You can almost see the wonder in his eyes as he experiences new adventures via books.  What is truly amazing is this:

You will never get too old to experience the wonder.  

Follow Andrew's lead 

and let a good book take you on a magical journey!

Lolli's Lovely Letter to Langsford

Where Is Everyone??

Not to worry--these books and backpacks and toys have only been abandoned momentarily!  Come the next Langsford break there will be children crouched around this table laughing, playing, and talking.  It's amazing how much fun and connectedness kids can have amongst themselves in 5 minutes!  We grown-ups should take a lesson!

Langsford Center Celebrations

Tucker's Birthday!

At Langsford Center, we believe that life should be a celebration.  We celebrate both large and small accomplishments of both our clients and our staff, as well as birthdays, anniversaries, and new babies.  Usually our celebrations  include Oreo cookies.  But sometimes, there just has to be a birthday cake with all the trimmings to properly mark a special day.  Wouldn't you agree?

Two Friends Celebrating

Garret (red) and Caulin (green) became fast friends while attending sessions at Langsford!   They both came at the end of a school day, starting and ending close to the same time. Caulin and Garret ended up having their last day celebrations on the same day and at the same time too. 

The guys were surprised and delighted to find their families had brought  a  big cookie treat to congratulate them for all their hard work.  (Needless to say, the Langsford staff was also quite happy about the big cookie.)

P.S.

Rumor has it Garret and Caulin were spending time hanging out outside of Langsford, too.

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!!

QUESTION: How Many Boys Does it Take to Operate a Robot?

Answer: A Center full of boys! At least that's what it took one recent day in the Langsford lobby. The big boy with the directions is our Director, Stephen McCrocklin. It's his robot too. Stephen is a child at heart and couldn't resist coming out to play with the kids on break.

Of course boys will be boys and they always like to show off their favorite toys. And it just so happens that Stephen keeps a stash of toys in his office for those rare occasions when he takes a respite from his daily work. I guess it's true--you can take the boy out of the office, but you can't take the toys away from the boy....or something like that.

An American Hero

Langsford salutes Virgil, retired military veteran, who recently completed a phase of reading and spelling work. With his strong work ethic, determination and drive, Virgil truly is an American Hero, on and off the battlefield. His smile says it all! We at Langsford Learning Centers are honored for having known and worked with him.

"So, You Think You Can Draw?"

Every where you look on TV, people are competing.  Network shows are designed around finding new talent across the country.  Singers, dancers, survivalists......When they finally come up with an Etch A Sketch illustrationist competition, I'm sure Pierce will be in the final running!

Pierce just finished up some reading and spelling work here at Langsford Learning Centers' Louisville location.  While he made good gains in these areas, we couldn't help but be amazed by his drawing abilities on the Etch A Sketch in the lobby!  On this particular day, Pierce looked at a picture of a dog in a book and proceeded to quickly draw it on the Etch A Sketch.  

As you can see from the photo, Pierce did an amazing job!  Maybe one of these days we'll see Pierce on TV wowing the audience with his artistic skills!

For Fun!

Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.

Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.

~Groucho Marx

Langsford Cornhole Tournament

The "Langsford family" got together in the parking lot one recent evening and a rowdy good time was had by all! After a dinner of Mexican food, we paired up and battled each other for bragging rights for winning the cornhole competition.

It was a tough competition and finally we all let Jenny and Jeff win.

(Just kidding-they won fair and square!)

Here's a picture of the winning cornhole duo:

After the competition, we topped off the evening

with lively conversation and ice cream sandwiches.

A great way to end a workday!

If You See a Friend Without a Smile, Give Him One of Yours

Zac is a 7th grader who's been doing work in reading and spelling at our Middletown office. It's hard not to be charmed by him when he flashes his big awesome smile. While Zac says that he was very surprised to find that he wasn't bored coming here, it's not to say he didn't try to use his smile on us from time to time.

Zac says that his smile doesn't work for him at home or school, but it always does at his Grandma's. Grandma sometimes picks up Zac and from the the pride I see in her eyes when she looks at him, I imagine it does.

When I asked Zac what he'd like me to say when I posted his picture, he said "tell them it's not boring here and that when I came I wasn't a good reader, but now I am."

(Hearing that would have charmed me even without the smile.)

A Couple of Brainy Boys!

Zach and Grant didn't know each other before coming to Langsford Center, but they became fast friends.  On breaks they bragged to each other about how much they'd read the night before, each trying to outdo the other!  

We always retest our clients upon completion of their work, and Zach and Grant were excited to find that they were both testing on the same day.  They both worked extra hard to do their very best!  

So hard that, for a moment, I thought I could see their brains working!

Everything is More Fun With a Friend!

Allie and Kara go to the same school. Kara started at Langsford about a month beforAllie.

On Allie's first day, she and Kara were totally surprised to run into each other. They excitedly ran up to each other and shared a huge hug!

They ended up carpooling to and from school and each provided moral support for the other. It was hard when Kara finished before Allie.

But Allie stuck with it and accomplished her goal of reading a Junie B. Jones book before she finished sessions. It's true! Everything is more fun when you share it with a friend!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE LANGSFORD STAFF

All of us at Langsford Learning Center would like to wish

you and your families

Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

Here's a little peek at our Langsford staff and their families at our annual Christmas Party.

Enjoy!

Some Electrified Thinking!

                                                                        WOW!!!

I've heard of people being so scared that their hair stood on end, but never that someone was thinking so hard that their hair stood on end!

 But that's exactly what happened to Clayton during a recent learning session at Langsford!  He came into the session with normal looking hair and walked out looking like.........this!!!

But don't worry.  I've been assured no permanent brain damage was incurred.  It seems Clayton kept running his hands through his hair while he was thinking.  Now that's really Using Your Head!

 

The Chicken Farmer that's a Chicken Charmer!

This summer we had the honor of working with Vance, who lives in Barbourville, KY and loves working on the farm with his granddad, Pap.

Vance is a chicken farmer. Everyday he feeds and waters his chickens and then gathers the eggs!

Vance's family has nicknamed him the Chicken Charmer because the chickens are so calm around him and gather at his feet when he is around. While here in town, Vance visited the Lorikeet exhibit at the Louisville Zoo one day after sessions. Looks like he's also a charmer of all things feathered!

Mom asked Vance one day whether he'd told Kristin, his Learning Coordinator here at Langsford, about his chickens. He replied, "Nope! Because I'll just get asked a bunch of questions about them!"

And he was right! Vance did comprehension work with us and we ask LOTS of questions to encourage students to be clearer with their use of language while making movies in their minds about what they've read.

Kristin hopes that maybe Vance will write her a story about his chickens before next summer when he comes back to visit us again.

Two Young Heart-throbs

All of our female staff this summer stayed in a state of infatuation.  And who could blame them with these two boys around.  Toooooo cute!  We all had crushes on them.   

Henry and Mitchell came to Langsford over the summer to work on their reading skills.  We suspect they'll be needing those skills in the near future for reading love letters from their girl classmates.

These two are surely going to break a lot of hearts!  Ahhhhh.......to be young again!