Jacksen: A Star Student

Jacksen came to Langsford Center with an amazing thirst to learn. He came in each day with a dazzling smile and ready to work. Dad, in a conversation with Jacksen's Learning Coordinator, shared that after three short weeks he knew they were in the right place for Jacksen.

Jacksen improved his reading significantly while here, and school reported that his reading rate had increased from 47 WPM (words per minute) to 87 WPM in just 4 months time! Since 90 WPM is the goal for the end of 2nd grade, Jacksen was right on target. With the improvement he made while here, coupled with the practice he's getting this summer, Jacksen should be able to start 3rd grade feeling confident and capable.

Good job, Jacksen!

A Mother's Love

You've heard the phrase, "It takes a village......" Indeed, everyone involved working together has proven to be the best way to assist children in the development of their reading skills.

One of the most important people on this "team," is often the child's mother.

Since Mom generally practices the new concepts needing mastered and helps with the homework assignments, she is often in the best position to recognize when the child is struggling or just needs a little boost. Often the final output in the classroom that the teacher sees does not reflect the level of effort that had to go into the assignment.

For any child working to develop his or her reading skills, having a parent as an advocate to monitor the work done at home, to stay in close contact with the child's teachers, tutors, or anyone else from "the village" that is working with their child, is a critical component to coordinating the efforts of all involved in addressing their child's individual needs.

Addie, shown here with her mother and younger sister, is lucky to have her mother as an advocate for her. Addie's mother has worked tirelessly and with much enthusiasm to make sure that her daughter gets the help she needs to perform to the best of her abilities.

And isn't that what a mother's love is all about?

The Family Who Reads Together, Learns Together

DAD AN INSPIRATION

For some Langsford families, reading is a family affair. Parents who lead by example and make reading a family-centered activity are creating an environment which fosters life-long readers.

Ethan and his dad, David (right), are a perfect example. Ethan came to Langsford throughout the spring to work on reading and spelling. Often, while Ethan was in sessions working on reading, Dad could be found in the lobby working on his reading, too.

When students took breaks from sessions to play in the lobby, they could usually expect to find David sitting and reading, and even taking notes.

Here, Ethan is pictured on the day of his celebration marking the completion of a phase of work at Langsford. Typically, on celebration day, students receive a certificate and are asked to pass out cookies. Ethan’s celebration, though, was different. Ethan chose to let Dad pass out the cookies, because he’d put in so much hard work, too.

Ethan’s family isn’t the only family like this, however. Many siblings and parents of Langsford students pass a quiet hour or two in the lobby with a good book. Situations like these aren’t just heart-warming, they support the belief that reading skills are one of the most important things that families can nurture in children. We commend Ethan's family and those like them that inspire by example.

Staff Spotlight

Gemma Newland

Where were you born and how long have you lived in Louisville?

Born in Louisville, spent 2 years in Germany, reluctantly became a Hoosier 22 years ago.

My school/work background is:

Associate degree in Science Allied Health, UK; Lab Tech, Respiratory Therapist, phlebotomist. Home-schooled 2 of 4 children for 5 years. I discovered Langsford when we were referred here for my son.

When I was a child, when I grew up I wanted to be…

Wanted to be a teacher. I just took the road less traveled to become one.

People say I…

Never met a stranger.

In my free time, I…

Love to read books, see plays and hike in the woods.

One of my favorite books of all time would be….

Frekles and Girl of the Limberlost. These are set in the early 1900s and show how with faith and determination you can overcome obstacles.

One of my hidden talents is…

I know all the lyrics for songs from the early 1900s onward. It drives my children crazy!

I love and I hate…

I love music theater but hate the song "Memories" from Cats. It just grates on my last nerve. ;-)

How Three Months Can Change A Life

In the course of a K-12 education, three months usually doesn't amount to much. Three months is hardly a blip for most students. But for a child struggling with reading, three months can create such a tidal wave of change that it sends out ripples for a lifetime.

One of Langsford's past clients, Rachel Stivers-Bender, was recently honored by Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson as the 2009 Outstanding Student of the Year for duPont Manual High School.

We've heard from Rachel's family on this blog before. Click here to listen to a message we received from mom.

Believe it or not, at one point in her elementary career, Rachel's family was told not to expect Rachel to go to college. After all, some kids just aren't cut out for it. She was also discouraged from taking foreign languages.

Then her mom found Langsford.

We know the three months of work Rachel did with Langsford removed the biggest obstacle standing in her way, which was a lack of phonemic awareness, a vital component in learning to read. But past that, it was Rachel's continued hard work, backed by the support of her mom, that makes her so Outstanding.

Even so, Mom continues to credit our Director, Stephen. She says Stephen's willingness to be available for continued support and advice through the years has been invaluable.

Now Rachel's been accepted to at least 5 colleges and has received some amazing scholarship offers. She plans to major in International Studies.

When Rachel was notified that she could invite two people to attend the awards banquet, she knew immediately who she wanted to be there with her in addition to her mom: Stephen.

Stephen accepted with pleasure and reports that it was a wonderful event showcasing the achievements of 47 local students. (You can read more about the winners here.)

Since attending the banquet, Stephen says he can't help but wonder what the future holds for the students attending Langsford this summer. After all, three months can sometimes make all the difference in the world.

Rachel and her mom at the banquet:



Rachel and Stephen McCrocklin, Langsford's Director:



Rachel and duPont Manual Principal Larry Wooldridge:

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!

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

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.

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.

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

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!

Welcome To Our New Blog!

Hello and welcome to the Langsford Learning Acceleration Centers' new blog. We are excited to be able to use this new form of communication! We plan to post information on education and reading and another goal is to give readers a peek inside our centers and the people who work here.

Last night we had our first parent training of 2008. These trainings are offered to parents of current and past clients and the training reviews the strategies for reading, spelling and language comprehension that we teach in sessions.

Parents often tell us how helpful these trainings are because the information they learn helps them understand what is going on in our sessions and makes them better at helping their children at home. We also encourage parents to observe sessions to learn even more about how we are helping their child.

Informed parents are an important part of the team too!