Paws for a Story helps children’s literacy skills
By Katrine Sørensen
CALLINGWOOD — They are an ideal audience: quiet, non-judgmental and they have fur.
Children between 6 and ten years old flocked to Lois Hole Library Saturday afternoon for a chance to meet the two therapy dogs Angel and Biscuit and tell them a story.
- Taylor Van Delden is narrating a story to the therapy dog Biscuit and Biscuit’s owner Catherine Savoie at Lois Hole Library in southwest Edmonton, Saturday March 5, 2011. Photograph by Katrine Sørensen.
The two dogs lent an ear to everything from Walter the Farting Dog to Fables as a part of Paws for a Story program, run by volunteers from Pet Therapy Society of Northern Alberta.
The reading mentorship program aims to improve children’s reading skills by involving an animal in a reading session.
And combining reading and pets seems to be a hit.
Michelle Wiley has brought her three children to the library for the second time to participate in Paws for a Story, something her children have been very excited about every since their first visit.
“They have asked every week if they could come back and see the dogs,” Wiley said.
The presence of a pet is supposed to be soothing for the children, lowering their blood pressure and removing the fear of making mistakes, Biscuit’s owner and kindergarten teacher Catherine Savoie said.
“Often when these kids read with normal adults, they feel judged and so they are shy and they are scared,” Savoie said.
Most pets such as dogs, cats, rabbits and even ponies can become a part of the reading program. The pets will go through a screening process where they are going through a number of tests to make sure they are not prone to have aggressive reactions or are too restless. If they pass the screening, a weekend seminar will make them a therapy animal.
The therapy animals are not only used to improve literacy skills, but are also regular visitors in hospitals, senior homes and the Edmonton Remand Centre.
The children each get 15 minutes with the dog and its owner.
Library assistant Christine Barr kept a steady flow of eager storytellers coming through the doors. Barr even had to turn away some curious children, who watched the dogs with their hands and noses pressed against the glass windows.
Next Paws for a Story session at Lois Hole Library is Saturday April 2 at 2 p.m.
Great article! Thanks so much for covering our event. You did a great job. I passed the link on to the PAWS co-ordinator so that the volunteers willget to read it. It is such a nice way to give them well desreved recognition and it is great advertising for us. Feel free to contact me if you need more articles. Things are happening here all the time.