Many a dog has been the childhood friend and listening ear for a young person with a problem. When that problem is learning to read, dogs can help with that too. Their secret? Something that many humans find difficult and that’s being patient and nonjudgmental.
How Dogs Help Children Learn to Read
Dogs, the great listening partners that they are, help kids relax and make reading fun. Dogs will not laugh or tease if the child reads too slowly or mispronounces a word. More than one study has shown that the presence of a dog can lower blood pressure and ease anxiety, anger, and depression.
Origin of Reading Education Assistance Dogs
Pets make great listening partners for kids learning to read but specially trained dogs are called reading education assistance dogs or READ. The idea originated in 1999 with Sandi Martin, a nurse and member of Intermountain Therapy Animals in Utah. Sandi had seen the healing benefits of therapy animals on patients and felt that children struggling to read could also benefit from therapy animals.
Dogs Improve Students’ Reading Skills
Many schools and libraries are now adopting READ programs such as Reading with Rover in Washington and Sit Stay Read in Chicago to enhance their curriculum and improve literacy. According to Washington’s Woodmoor Elementary School, students have responded to their Reading with Rover program with:
- An increased comfort in reading aloud
- The achievement of higher reading levels
- More empathy and enhanced social skills
- Improved confidence and less shyness
The Reading with Rover website quotes Marlaina, “He (her son) was very excited about going and reading to them more. It is so great to see how excited he is…”
Eve speaks of her own young daughter on the Reading with Rover website, “We have seen a big improvement in her fluency and she has even started to read a little to her own puppy now…”
Qualifications of Reading Assistance Dogs
Pierre, a scruffy blonde terrier mix, is just one of the many dogs in the Sit Stay Read program. He is a specially trained reading assistance dog and also lies down and spins, crawls, and shakes hands with his young readers.
Dogs of all sizes, colors, breeds, and mixes take part in reading assistance programs. A good reading assistance dog like Pierre will be calm, reliable, obedient, groomed, and fun. He will also be a registered and insured therapy animal with certified proof that he has the skills, temperament, good manners, health and cleanliness to do the job. Both dog and handler must qualify.
Students read stories to dogs like Pierre while sitting beside them on the floor or holding them on their lap. And if the dog dozes off, the handler explains to the child that he is simply closing his eyes in order to understand the story better. Often, children pause to explain parts of the story to the dog, which improves their comprehension skills. The session usually ends with the child spending a few minutes petting the dog and feeding him a treat.
Readers who enjoyed this article may also want to read about the dog who inspired the Sit Stay Read program in Chicago.
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