Hey Doggy, what’s your story?
Story Dogs are making reading fun for children and building confident young readers. Story Dogs are an Australia wide literacy program partnered with schools in all states. The program is based on an Amercian model called R.E.A.D. that was launched in Utah 1999.
Children can find reading aloud a little intimidating but by getting practice reading to a dog, the non-judgmental setting helps improve focus. Both dog and child gets to relax during a session. The ideal age for students using the program are generally Year 2. A dog handler is also part of each session and encourages the child reader to elaborate about details of the story to the dog. In being able to describe what they have read, kids get to demonstrate their comprehension and gain confidence. Reading is not assessed in the session, which also helps alleviate pressure on the student, but the school notes any overall improvement.
Kids participate in the program with parental consent and get input into the material they read. Sometimes they write letters to the dogs between sessions. The goal is to help reduce the gap in literacy, which can appear when a child finds difficulty in reading. Dogs participating in the program need to pass an accreditation test in order to join. Story dogs that began in 2012, help over 1,860 children weekly using more than 300 volunteers and believe that ‘No child should be left behind in literacy’.
Story Dogs is a registered charity. If you’d like to know more or would like to support this wonderful program visit their website at…
And if you really want your heart warmed, make sure you open the ‘Dog Teams’ tab and read a few of the doggy profiles. Adorable.
Leah & Angela O’Meara
Hound Dog Day Care (Specialists in Dog Minding & Dog Boarding, Pet Sitting Brisbane & Doggy Day Care Brisbane)