Testimonials from the parents of Langsford students
Real stories. Real kids. Real change.
“Just in the first few weeks you see a change within. We were in the car driving and my daughter looked out the window and read a sign. I was like “oh my, six weeks ago you couldn’t read!”
— Sarah Carroll, Parent of 2 Langsford students
We’re proud of all 3,000 of the kids who have been through our program, but nothing comes close to the pride of a parent seeing their kid accomplish something that seemed impossible before.
We’ve curated some testimonials to highlight parents’ experiences with the program, and the joy of seeing their children gaining their independence.
Tutoring didn’t work for us
“We tried a well-known tutor company with a program designed for kids with dyslexia. It works for some, but it didn’t work for us. When we switched to Langsford, we quickly started to notice our daughter’s excitement for learning. She suddenly had the phonetic skills to break down words, and was sharing that with us. With all of our kids who attended Langsford, we were quickly seeing them finally grasping what we’d been working with them on. My oldest daughter went from a 1st grade reading level to a sixth grade reading level. Now she’s devouring chapter books—like 300 page books—in a week or so. It’s something we never thought we’d get to.”
— Derrick Winkler, Parent of 3 Langsford students
She started asking us to buy books
”[We started to really see results] at the halfway point. We used to have to sit there and go over homework and look at it, and gradually she started saying ‘you don’t have to sit with me—I know this, and I understand it.’ In that short amount of time she took off, and she was reading her math homework, and reading the stories they sent home. She started asking us to buy books and she wanted to read more. It’s amazing to sit back and watch that happen.”
— Sean Carroll, Parent of 2 Langsford students
We found out my son had severe dyslexia
“We found out through Langsford, my son had really severe dyslexia. He couldn’t read anything. In the sentence ‘I see dad’ he could read ‘I’ and that was it. If you read with him, you’d have no idea that was the problem because his vocabulary was really strong and his ability to take pictures and come up with words, he was very good at it. There were no problems at school, no struggles, nothing. He was able to make this story, and it seemed right. When he started at Langsford, he couldn’t read anything. He went through the entire process. It was phenomenal, the change from the beginning where we were in single digits, to the end where he was at the end of the chart. It was like, how can a child make such leaps and bounds in his reading gains? His confidence improved. There is no book he cannot read now.”
— Lindsey Zoeller, Parent of 2 Langsford students
He went from a C in reading to an A
“The confidence was the goal of this, to give him the confidence to not get frustrated going through a sentence. The goal was to give him the building blocks to get through a sentence without getting so frustrated. Langsford has done a fabulous job of improving that. It’s a night and day difference. Reading with him was a struggle a year ago. Now he has errors and mistakes, but he doesn’t get bogged down by them. He doesn’t give up. He knows the basics and the phonics of how to put this word together. That was the goal. It’s been great. He is a way different reader, and a different kid than he was 9 months ago. Everything is so much easier now. It was definitely worth it. It was a big investment, but it’s definitely worth it. He went from a C in reading when we started, to an A now.”
— Margaret Guelda, Parent of a Langsford student
The world has opened up to her
“There was no foundation there. We met with her teacher, and she said she’s a completely different child than she was a year ago. She participates more in class. She’s not afraid to answer things and not afraid to be wrong. In the past she was afraid to raise her hand and participate because she didn’t know. Now she understands that if she’s not sure, she has the confidence to raise her hand and answer. When we drive she’s reading signs and the outside world has opened up to her. It’s really neat to see. We would definitely do this all over again. It’s worth every penny and time to see her grow in confidence and be on level with her reading.”
— Caroline Crofford, Parent of 2 Langsford students
Home life was so stressful when trying to do homework
“The biggest thing was the burden of their lack of reading skills. It fell on me, as their mom and teacher at home. Our home life was so stressful just to get them to do schoolwork. And now, there still are struggles but they’ve gained independence, especially with the two older kids. I can give them their homework and they can do it without frustration and tears. Langsford has given our kids the ability to confidently read, and be able to work on their own. I would do it all over again. We thought it was better to spend the investment now. It’s way more foundational for our children’s future. We haven’t looked back and wondered if we should have gone a different route. We would do it all over again. In fact I wish we had done it sooner.
— Alyssa Winkler, Parent of 3 Langsford students
There was something more to it than just being behind in school
“I’ve appreciated every interaction. The professionalism would be the thing that stands out the most. I feel like every interaction told a story that this was going to be a good place to be, and a good place for my kids. I thank you so much to the whole staff. It was a time and financial commitment. But when I realized there was something more to it than you’re a little behind in school, I began to research. I learned about the Matthew effect, and the notion that the discrepancy will continue to grow. Third grade is a big year, and if you’re behind in third grade, you’re going to be behind your whole life. Thank you, Langsford.”
— Deanna Haskins, Parent of 2 Langsford students
She wasn’t progressing at all—now she’s on the honor roll
“Our first grader was just not progressing at all. We realized she’s going to get further and further behind at home, so we knew we had to get some quick remediation for her. We started at Langsford, and she loved getting that 1 on 1 attention. She progressed quickly and always wanted to go. The experience felt like a miracle. Her little brain was completely rewired. She’s now a fourth grader. She’s on the honor roll. She loves school and learning. It’s because of her time at Langsford. They completely changed the trajectory of what her schooling would have looked like. Now every day she’s excited for school. She’s a slower paced learner, but as far as her reading skills, she’s on grade level. Her spelling is impeccable. She has 100% on her spelling test every Friday. We know that her work at Langsford is why.”
— Audrey Partin, Parent of 3 Langsford students
Langsford helped beyond reading—it helped with math and science
“It’s really helped in school with other subjects. Now he can read the instructions on his math and science problems better. He’s always been very good at math and science. The way math works in his brain is no problem, but he would miss a lot of math questions because he wasn’t reading correctly the instructions on the problem. The reading has also connected his math and science and other scores better because he knows what to do on a problem now.”
— Ben Hoehler, Parent of a Langsford student
From frustration with school work to a scholarship
“We noticed my son’s frustration with his school work. We had some recommendations from a special needs director, but it didn’t fit what we wanted for our son. We didn’t want to separate Eli from his friends [to go to a specialist school]. He’d already established himself in this great community. With Langsford, they didn’t give up on him. And now he’s self sufficient. He does his school work. He gets good grades. And I don’t know anything about it. All his teachers just compliment him. He has a 3.85 GPA in high school now, and just got a scholarship to Indianapolis University because of his grades.”
— Kevin Oetken, Parent of a Langsford student
Making your child’s entire life easier
”You don’t want to look back [at your kid’s life] and say ‘this could have been different had we just spent the money.’ There’s no investment too small or big that makes your child’s life easier and helps them succeed in life.”
— Sean Carroll, Parent of 2 Langsford students
It was three or four grade level jumps
“I’ll be honest, sometimes we thought one of our daughters may just not be able to read well for the rest of her life. Maybe she’ll learn to read, but never at the level she’s supposed to.
We started with Langsford and did the assessment that showed us where she was. They did it again at the end and it was three or four grade level jumps. We were more than impressed. We heard people say Langsford say they’re the best and now we know. We’re 100% satisfied. It wasn’t just the process, but the people. They are very warm and welcoming. They involve the whole family. The kids never left and said it was hard or that they didn’t want to go back. They enjoyed going.”
— Derrick Winkler, Parent of 3 Langsford students
We struggled at home with our daughter just to do elementary school reading
“We went somewhere else for probably a good year. Our daughter made some steps in the right direction but it was clear that she was falling behind and things just weren’t connecting. Langsford is the Ferrari or the Porche. It made all the difference because beforehand for several years my wife struggled at home with our daughter just to do the elementary school reading. It was a bear at home but Langsford is really doing God’s work, working with people and changing their lives forever. Now our daughter is reading on her own. She loves to do creative writing. As I’m driving around town, she’ll ask me about certain signs. I think that that’s important just because she’s doing it for fun. It’s not work for her now.”
— Thomas Jones – Parent of 2 students
Let’s create your success story
When your child is struggling with homework or falling behind in school, the root of the problem is often much deeper than what you see at the surface.
We offer a free 30-minute consultation designed to assess your best next steps for your child. This is an excellent, no pressure first step toward giving your child independence and the joy of reading. If Langsford is not the right fit for your child’s needs, we’ll be the first to tell you, and will even do our best to help you find the resources you need.
Commonly Asked Questions
Shouldn’t my child’s school be responsible for reading instruction?
Langsford isn’t a replacement for classroom instruction. We collaborate with our students’ schools the whole way to ensure your child gets the comprehensive, personalized help they deserve.
In short, Langsford will help your child catch up with their fundamentals so they can then keep up with the instruction your school provides.
Does online reading instruction really work?
We test all of our students at the beginning, throughout and at the end of their time at Langsford. The results data is clear—online is equally as effective as in person.
How do you know the instruction is working?
Finally, we include a wrap-up assessment so you can see your child’s transformation. (Although you won’t need a piece of paper to notice the difference; you’ll see it in their attitude and behavior!)
I’m a parent, not a teacher. What’s my role?
When asking parents about their experience with Langsford, many do not even remember having any role at home in the process. When your long, painful nights of doing homework become easy because you have a confident reader, it’s apparently easy to forget a few reading assignments along the way.
How long will it take to see results?
While many parents are amazed to see how quickly their young learners improve, we move at the pace each student requires. Typically a student will take between 50 and 150 hours of instruction, but again, every student is different.
Do I have to commit to a certain number of sessions?
Is Langsford expensive?
To properly address the question, you must consider the expensive alternatives of other programs or the cost of inaction.
Tutoring will often not help a child catch up—a child who needs a tutor today will often fall further behind because of an undiagnosed underlying difficulty. They may always need a tutor, which is a large investment.
Many parents who have evaluated Langsford vs. specialist schools find that these programs are much more expensive, less effective and also remove the child from their established school community.
Finally, many Langsford parents have come back around to say the best way to think of this is an investment. Just recently a parent told us his investment into Langsford helped his child not only catch up, but go on to get an academic scholarship to college, which would have never been possible had he not become the confident reader he is today.
How does it work?
Langsford implements all five pillars of the Science of Reading. This approach is grounded in a large research portfolio of nationally recognized studies, showcasing and utilizing the statistical significance of education tactics and processes.
We use adaptive instruction combined with personalized learning to help students improve their silent reading fluency. As a Science of Reading program, we use research-based practices (word repetition, scaffolding, and engagement, as examples), proven to help the student advance. Finally, Langsford is using differentiated instruction, addressing unique learning profiles, interests, and readiness levels of each student to optimize their learning outcomes in reading and beyond.