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?

Sarah's Got Talent!

While this may look like a new singing group auditioning for "America's Got Talent," the show in this picture is all about Sarah! One of Sarah's many talents include winning the hearts of the Middletown Langsford Staff. On Sarah's last day of sessions, everyone wanted to get into the act for her celebration!

In this picture, from left to right, are Sarah's supporting cast: Fran, suffering a little stage fright but excited about getting into the act; Toni W., trying to steal the show; Claudia, Sarah's Learning Coordinator and Ringmaster of this crew; and Toni H., another instructor, who would sing, dance, or juggle to have more students like Sarah!

Sarah, we think you're a winner and your talent will take you far in life!

Successful Sisters

Several months ago, we posted a blog entry about Mallory having some fun in her session. You can read it by clicking here. We received the following update and letter from mom:

Dear Langsford,

As you know, we were very pleased with the results we had when we brought our first daughter, Courtney to the Langsford Center. She came to Langsford in the summer after second grade and you really made a difference. She still needed extra help for a time, but after 5th grade, she needed no help at all. She is in the 8th grade now and doing well.

So of course we came to you when her younger sister, Mallory, began having similar struggles with reading. Mallory has really improved! Like Courtney, she still needs some assistance but her confidence has changed so much and she knows she can do it.

Every teacher Mallory had at Langsford found a way to click with her. Mallory needs time to get used to new situations and once she realized you were going to take her where she is and move through at her own pace, she relaxed. She never complained about going to her sessions.

Both of my children did continue to need assistance after the bulk of work at Langsford but that was no surprise because from the beginning you helped my husband and I understand that this is a process and not something that necessarily gets ‘fixed’ immediately.

All of that was explained so well in the consultation we had to discuss the results of the testing. Certainly there are always concerns about whether or not something will help, but realizing that it is a process made all the difference to us.

We were also fortunate in that our daughter’s teachers also attended the consultations. Mallory’s teacher was so supportive of the additional assistance and worked well with us. She was great. That is priceless to us.

I definitely recommend The Langsford Center, it did wonders for my daughters. So thank you. Twice!

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.

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.