Ruby is one of 16,000 certified therapy dogs participating in reading-assistance programs at schools and libraries across the country, as educators have begun tapping into the calming effect dogs have on us. “He curls up with [the kids] and they read him a story,” says Louisville, Ky., instructor Mary Roberts of a Welsh corgi named Zoom, who is calming worried readers at New Castle Elementary. “You can just see their anxiety disappear.”
As word spreads and test scores improve, requests for visits from therapy dogs have been pouring in. “We get calls every day,” says Ursula Kemp, president of New Jersey’s Therapy Dogs International. Utah-based Intermountain Therapy Animals has close to 1,300 dogs registered in its reading-assistance program, now in 48 states and Canada. That calls for a treat!
title: “Education A Reader S Best Friend” ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-24” author: “Joy Roy”
Ruby is one of 16,000 certified therapy dogs participating in reading-assistance programs at schools and libraries across the country, as educators have begun tapping into the calming effect dogs have on us. “He curls up with [the kids] and they read him a story,” says Louisville, Ky., instructor Mary Roberts of a Welsh corgi named Zoom, who is calming worried readers at New Castle Elementary. “You can just see their anxiety disappear.”
As word spreads and test scores improve, requests for visits from therapy dogs have been pouring in. “We get calls every day,” says Ursula Kemp, president of New Jersey’s Therapy Dogs International. Utah-based Intermountain Therapy Animals has close to 1,300 dogs registered in its reading-assistance program, now in 48 states and Canada. That calls for a treat!
