A while back Community Impact sent me to spend some time in an elementary school library with two dogs who help kids read. That’s right, the dogs help kids read.
Kevin and Julie Romig of Pawsitive Energy and their dogs, Moses, Lazarus and Magellan, founded a program that brings dogs in to schools to offer encouragement and support to students who need a little extra help reading.
The students are chosen by teachers and counselors and are offered about 20 minutes to go to the library and read a book of their choice to a volunteer dog and a volunteer person. The idea is that kids get excited about spending time with a dog during school hours and they read to someone who doesn’t care how many mistakes they make. It provides a positive atmosphere for them to concentrate on reading.
Funny enough, the dogs really seem to enjoy hearing the kids read. It’s almost like they know whether or not the book is about a dog. In fact, the dogs have been trained very well to choose which book they’d like to read when two books are placed in front of them. Clifford books are, of course, the favorite.
Anyway, here are the pictures.
