Testimonials from the parents of Langsford students

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 three 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 two Langsford students

Langsford made day-to-day in the classroom so much easier.

“Before my time as a student at Langsford, school was pretty difficult. I struggled with comprehending what my teachers were asking me on assessments and homework. I struggled to conjure up what I had to say, to grasp thoughts and put them on paper.
At Langsford, I had more one-on-one time with my specific person that I was working with instead of just having one teacher at school who had to bounce from person to person. I felt like they really tried to understand where I was coming from and see what issues I was having with learning.
After working with Langsford, homework felt a lot easier to do, and it wasn’t as stressful or so draining. The strategies Langsford taught me made things a lot easier when I was struggling to try to understand concepts the teachers taught in class on a day-to-day basis. I was able to get work done a lot quicker and do things I enjoyed, and not spend so much of my time on homework, feeling stuck for hours on end.
I would tell the other kids coming to Langsford to embrace it and give it all your time and energy because it pays off in the long run. It’s made my life a lot easier.”

– Kymani Turner, former Langsford student

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 two 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.”

— Courtney Crofford, Parent of two 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 two 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 two 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

Langsford’s process is specific, detailed and comes with a timetable.

“Often, at other places, you go in for services like this and it feels indefinite. It was NOT that way with Langsford. Instead, we were told, “Here’s the issue we see. Here’s the potential solution. Here’s when we will reevaluate and decide whether or not we need something else or something more.”
We tell anyone who is on the fence about using Langsford to just go ahead and get the evaluation done because it will be accurate and they’ll be honest about whether or not they can really help. We know this because we have another son who was evaluated, and Langsford determined that the services were not right for him. He just needed more practice. Instead of, again, just saying, ‘Sure, we can help!’ and keeping our family going on indefinitely, Langsford was clear and honest with us.”

– Paul Levitch, parent of one 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 two 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 two Langsford students

My son’s homework took hours. Langsford was life changing.

“Prior to coming to Langsford, my son experienced challenges with reading, math, and homework. Literally, it took hours.
I had tried things like a sight word wall in my house and making learning fun. However, I didn’t have the tools to help him in the way that he needed. Langsford customized and tailored a plan to meet my child’s specific needs.
Since his time at Langsford, my son has a new willingness to go out and face challenges. He went out for the quick recall team at school. He wasn’t really comfortable, but having mentors like his Langsford teachers let him know, ‘You are smart. You can do this. All you have to do is put in the work.’ And they actually won state and regionals.
It is truly life-changing. With Langsford, I got a family. I got people who I don’t see every day, but who are there when I need support. I can always circle back to them. They’re truly here to meet the needs of all the children.”

– Keyonda Turner, parent of two 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 three 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 two Langsford students

He went from being very behind to completing assignments first.

“We started our child at a private school kindergarten and at the end of the year they basically said he was not able to come back because they didn’t think he was academically strong enough.
We didn’t realize exactly what was going on until we had an evaluation with Langsford and it all became apparent. He was memorizing things without actually learning the sounds or learning the pronunciation of the words.
The change in our child once he started at Langsford was dramatic and very emotional for everyone. The first video that we got from Langsford when we first started coming here – it was the first time we saw him actually reading something. That was amazing. He went from being very behind in reading to meeting his grade level. He was actually first in his class to complete some reading assignments last year.”

– Steve Pahner, Grandparent of a Langsford student

We’re not fighting about homework

“Langsford is just so unique and so different than we were taught in school. It was amazing.
As our daughter went through the program, I would drive her over every day. I could see the world expanding in front of her. She would ask me, ‘Dad, why does that sign say this?’ or ‘What’s ATM mean?’ I could see her immediately learning and decoding as we were going. Before, she just sat in the car and was quiet.
It’s made things just so much easier for our lives. When she comes home, we’re not fighting about homework—she’s ready to do it.
At the beginning of second grade, she was hesitant to raise her hand. By the second half of second grade, they were telling us, “She’s engaged, she’s been participating much more!” Everything we get home from the teachers now is that she works harder than almost any of the students. She’s always engaged and participating in discussions. That kind of leap from the beginning of second grade to where we are now in third grade? It was just a complete overhaul.”

– Dustin Crofford, parent of one Langsford student