Learn more about helping your child become a better reader.
Dyslexia Fast Facts
Every October, Dyslexia Awareness Month provides a vital opportunity to shed light on this often-misunderstood learning difference. It's a time to educate, raise awareness, and ultimately transform perceptions. In this blog post, we'll dive into some fast facts about...
Nurturing Literacy in Young Minds
In a world illuminated by screens and filled with words, the art of literacy shines as a beacon of knowledge, empowerment, and connection. From the enchanting pages of a novel to the scrolling texts on our devices, literacy serves as the compass guiding us through the...
5 Essential Tips for Starting a New School Year Right
And just like that, summer is over and school is back in session. As your kids gear up for a new year, you play a crucial role in helping them start off on the right foot. With a little guidance and support, you can pave the way for a successful and fulfilling...
Dive Into Summer Reading: The Benefits (and how to encourage it)
With the school doors closed and the sun shining brightly, summer becomes a magical time for kids to revel in adventures both outdoors and within the pages of a book. As parents and caregivers, we have a unique opportunity to nurture a love for reading during these...
Stop the Summer Slide!
How do you prevent the “summer slide”? Read, read, read! When kids are engaged in reading during the summer, they are better prepared for the new school year. Luckily, there are many great opportunities to keep them motivated. 1) Here at Langsford, we have 2 options...
What You Need to Know About Requesting Accommodations on the ACT
Mira Monroe, M.A., Senior Manager of Accessibility and Accommodations at ACT recently shared with us about currently available accommodations for the ACT test. She also shared with us ACT policy for requesting accommodations and what ACT looks for when reviewing...
Psychoeducational Evaluations: The Basics
Dr. Brian Belva recently spoke to an audience of educators and parents about psychoeducational evaluations and everything we need to know about them. Catch the replay of the webinar below. Part 1: What do I (a parent or educator) need to know about educational...
Dyslexia: Beyond Reversals
Seeing letters and words backwards is dyslexia, right? Wrong! In a recent presentation, Stephen McCrocklin, Langsford’s Executive Director, dispelled that long-held belief. In fact, dyslexia is not a visual issue at all. Reversals are simply the consequence of less...
Langsford Lecture Series: Students’ Well-being During the COVID-19 Pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health is more important than ever. Langsford invited Kristie V. Schultz, Ph.D., a pediatric psychologist with Norton Children's Behavioral and Mental Health to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the well-being of...
6 Ways to Keep Skills Sharp This Summer
Wondering what you should do to keep your child’s skills sharp or to better prepare him or her for school next fall? There are 6 key areas you should think about. Each will take only minutes a day. Why not set aside some time each day this summer to keep your child’s...
Reading Transformed: How Langsford Builds Confident Readers
How to Pick the Perfect Book for Your Child
One of the most common questions parents ask is “How do I help my child find a book? How can I find a book that is the right fit for them?” There are 2 different components of that. One is the genre of book. The other is the level of the book. The level of the book is...
The Most Common Letter Reversals and How to Fix Them
A very common issue that children have when reading is the reversal of letters. The most common reversals are the letters “b” and “d.” Some parents are confused about what that means. Parents sometimes think that letter reversals are a sign that their child has...
2 Things to Look For in Multisyllable Words That Make Them Easier to Read
A lot of focus in school is on teaching children how to read single syllable words. So, they learn consonant sounds, vowel sounds, and they start reading. After that, a lot of the time the instruction stops, and it is assumed they will figure out the rest. But when...
3 Simple Rules for Helping Your Child Read Multisyllable Words
"Breaking rules" are valuable tools that your child can learn to help them read multi-syllable words, which are usually the words that are going to trip them up once they start reading. There are 3 simple things your child can do to break a complex word down into...
How to Help Your Child Read More Smoothly
Is your child's reading choppy or robotic-sounding? If so, you will want to focus on the smoothness of their reading. In this case, an invaluable tool is their finger. Having your child read with their finger under the words as they read, touching the book and moving...
How to Help Your Child Understand Punctuation
Sometimes when children read, they do not pay attention to punctuation. They will read right over commas, right over periods, then they get to the end of a paragraph and just keep going to the next sentence. So some children need to be explicitly encouraged to pay...
2 Simple Tips for Helping Your Child Read in Bigger Phrases
Does your child struggle with being able to read in long phrases, rather than word by word or every other word? If so, the best way to help them develop their fluency is to have them read poems. Poems are written in a way where they are grouped in long phrases. They...
What to Do if Your Child Isn’t Reading Fluently
Have you noticed that your child is not reading very fluently? Their reading may be choppy. They may have had to stop to sound out words. Or, they might sound like a robot! If you notice these things, here is an easy thing you can do to help them develop their...
4 Things to Pay Attention to In Your Child’s Reading
Reading is not just about being able to read the words on the page, or being able to read accurately. It is also important that your child becomes a fluent reader. Fluency includes 4 components: Pace - some children think it is important to be a fast reader, but we...
How to Help Your Child Spot Spelling Errors
Does your child write wonderful stories that are riddled with spelling errors? You will want to work with your child on spelling more accurately while at the same time getting their ideas down on paper. Often when we read what we have written and we know what it is...
A Simple Tip for Easing Writing Frustration
Reading is a primary focus at school. We, as parents, are watching to make sure our children are developing their reading skills. At the same time, your child also needs to be developing their spelling skills. Your child will need to do a lot of the same thinking to...
3 Strategies for Mastering Tricky Sight Words
What if your child is working to learn a list of sight words, and there are certain ones that they are struggling to master? What do you do? The best thing to have your child do is to analyze the word. Look at the word. Talk about the letters. What is the vowel? What...
How to Help Your Child Learn Sight Words
While your child is learning to read, you may get a note from the teacher that says “I’d really like you to work on sight words.” Sight words are words that occur many times in a lot of texts. There are actually lists you can find with the most frequent sight words....
How to Help Your Child Blend Unknown Words
Have you ever noticed your child break apart a word into its sounds, but then struggle to blend it all together? Sometimes children who are learning to read encounter an unknown word and they know the individual sounds of the word. However, when they try to blend the...
What To Do if Your Child’s Reading Doesn’t Make Sense
Many times, when children are developing their reading skills and they encounter a word they’ve never seen before, it is very common for them to guess what the word is and keep reading. They’re guessing by either the picture on the page, or the context of the sentence...
How to Help Your Child Be More Attentive to Reading Accuracy
Have you noticed that your child is guessing at words rather than sounding them out? It is very common for children to guess what a word is and keep reading when they are developing their reading skills and they encounter a word they’ve never seen before. They’re...
How to Help Your Child Read More Accurately
Have you noticed your child make small word errors when reading, like “a” instead of “the” or “in” instead of “on?” Sometimes those errors don’t matter because they don’t really change the meaning, but if you leave the word “not” out of a sentence, it will certainly...
A Simple Hack That Will Help Your Child Sound Out Words Easier
Does your child have difficulty recognizing words, or sounding out words that they don’t recognize? One thing that is important for them to focus on is the vowel sound in the word. Generally, when you look at the sounds that make up words, the consonants are pretty...
How to Prepare Your Child For a Different School Year
Is your child feeling nervous about the new school year? Whether your child is going back to school in person, or they will be engaging in non-traditional instruction for the first part of the school year, school will likely feel very different. It is important that...
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9 Simple Ways to Boost Your Child’s Reading Confidence
BONUS: How to tell if they’re struggling to read and what to do about it.
Imagine your child being a confident reader and enthusiastic learner.
Don’t wait another minute to get your child the help they need.