K-9ForKidsReading

Providing an environment where dog owners, working together as a team with their dogs may contribute worthwhile services to the community, in particular forming a partnership with participating schools, educators and curriculum specialists to provide these teams of Therapy Registered Dogs & Owners for educational enhancement and remedial reading programs as provided by the
school faculty and administration.

K-9 Reading Program In The News

May 2007

One of the local TV stations featured an exciting concept in education recently on one of their broadcasts; using dogs for area school's reading programs. Teams of specially trained and certified dogs along with their trainers visit schools that have pre-approved the project. The dogs are brought into the reading classes where children will read out loud to the dogs.

Those in charge of the program say that children are less inhibited and are more likely to read to a dog than they are to the teacher or in front of the whole class. Reading specialists say that improvement in reading skills can be documented by the use of this K-9 to Kids reading program.

Upon viewing the segment on WTVJ recently, it was my extreme delight to see that both dogs used in this upstart project were Chambray dogs. One of them is owned by one of my closest friends and Partners Program participant, Maki Nieto with Chambrays Greenhead Caramela CGC TDI SARA. Maki is one of the local program's founders and now provides testing and evaluations for certification for new dogs and owners that are interested in joining this wonderful volunteer activity.

Stay tuned for more information on this K-9 For Kids Reading Program in the months to come. Maki may be contacted at MCNieto@aol.com for more information.

Way to go girls!!!!!

By Maki Nieto-Menendez
Project Creator & Director

May 2007

In several programs, nationwide, it has been shown that Therapy Dogs used in reading programs improve reading skills by encouraging children to read one-on-one with a trained volunteer.

There are physiological benefits to interacting with dogs that encourage a more relaxed learning environment, including increased relaxation and lower blood pressure. Children find that reading to a dog is less intimidating. Participation in a therapy dog reading program is a helpful activity and can transform the formerly feared reading experience into a positive environment in which learning is facilitated.

Children tend to focus better on an activity or discussion when a dog is present. An additional advantage is that the child is very inclined to forget his/her reading limitations while working with the dog. Reading to the dog is far less intimidating than standing up and reading to their classmates and teachers. Children are often more willing to interact with an animal than another person.

This past school year, our own Caramela (Chambrays Greenhead Caramela) and I participated in the initiation of this type of program at a local elementary school. For 9 weeks, Caramela and another therapy dog visited this school and sat quietly while the children read to them. Both dogs were very well received by the administration as well as the faculty and children at the school. Improved reading skills were noted, even in such a short period of time. The experiment was a success as has been found throughout the country with other canine assisted reading programs for children!

Now, we hope to encourage and enlist other dog/handler teams to participate in other neighborhood schools. In order to be eligible the team must, first, be registered with a therapy dog organization. Caramela and I are registered with Therapy Dog, Inc., which is a nationwide organization, based in Cheyenne, Wyoming. I am a Tester/Observer for this organization and I am authorized to perform the official evaluation and testing of potential therapy dog teams.

The second step for dog/handler teams is for the handler to obtain the official volunteer clearances from Miami-Dade County Public Schools. After the clearance is obtained, the team can be assigned to volunteer at a school.

Stay tuned, and we will be updating this section to inform any one who is interested on how they can get through the process and begin participating in this wonderful volunteer activity.

Back to K-9 For Kids main page

K-9 For Kids Teams