Massachusetts Pet Partners - R.E.A.D. In the News

R.E.A.D. In the News

D - O - G Spell Read!

This article, by Karen Champney, appeared in The Boston Parents' Paper,
February 2006.

Photo provided by Pat Howes. Lucy is a very smart dog who can help kids like this child polish his reading skills.

Unlocking a child's ability to read opens a world. But sometimes the secret password isn't help by parents or teachers.

For some kids, the password is "woof"!

Patricia Howes, a first-grade teacher from Needham, believes she has the answer to helping timid readers. The key is her dog, Lucy, who goes to Newman Elementary School with her.

"Lucy is a 50-pound, mild-mannered, lab-beagle mix that loves adults and children," Howes says. "Most importantly, Lucy is a R.E.A.D. dog, which stands for Reading Education Assistance Dogs. Lucy comes to school with me, every day, and is active in the reading program for my first-grade class."

Howes and Lucy are one of almost 750 dog-owner reading teams in the country, part of a program created by a Utah-based nonprofit called Intermountain Therapy Animals. They visit schools, libraries and museums where children read books to the dogs.

"Lucy is in my regular education classroom every single day and participates in my morning reading class. She will shake hands with a child and get them to open up to her," Howes says. "Lucy and I do work before and after school and lunch periods with special education students. The children practice reading on Lucy. She appears, to the children, to be listening to the student read her a story."

All this didn't happen by accident. Howes has trained with Lucy to use the dog as a tool to help children read. And Lucy is a registered therapy dog and a member of Massachusetts Pet Partners.

Why Does This Work?

"The dog listens without making any comments, judgment, or criticisms," she says. "I am always right next to the dog when the students are working with her. When a child is done reading, I might say, 'Lucy didn't understand that word, maybe we can try again.' I might use Lucy's paw to cover up a word so they can tell me the word."

Some observers were skeptical at first, including Newman principal Robert Abbey. "I endorsed the 'Lucy project' cautiously, and then realized that the dog is indispensable for children who are reticent to speak and needs encouragement," he says.

Children love the dog, Abbey says, and he would recommend the R.E.A.D. program to others. "Lucy helps build self-confidence in shy children," he says.

The idea intrigues other educators.

Reading First Coordinator Leanne Cafardo of Plymouth's West Elementary School finds the program interesting. "Dogs today are trained to do all kinds of things, and educators need to come up with new ideas to help struggling kids become interested in reading. When children struggle with reading, they tend to not want to read. It seems like the Lucy program is working," she says.

Newman parent Kim Benner says Lucy helped her kids. "Both of my boys loved to read to Lucy and wanted her to understand the story. It is a great incentive," she says.

On weekends, Howes and Lucy visit libraries or museums to read with children. "I love using Lucy as a reading tool. She has a sixth sense about people and children have a way of coming out of their shell around her," says Howes.

School Superintendent Honors Lucy

This article, by Stephen Theall, appeared in Superintendent's Bulletin which is a Friday publication to the educational staff in Needham on December 17, 2004.

Earlier this week, I had a very unique and special opportunity to visit Pat Howes' classroom at the Newman School. What was so unique and special, you might ask? Well, first of all, this visit was from 3:15 to 4:00, after the student day had ended. You see, Pat along with her black Labrador, Lucy, work with several students on their reading skills several afternoons each week. Yes, I know many of you do that as well. But what was truly unique was not Pat's work but that of the children and Lucy. Lucy is a licensed therapy dog and both she and Pat have successfully completed training through Caring Canines and the Delta Society. Pat and Lucy are also certified as a Reading Education Assistance Dog (R.E.A.D.) team. What was so special was that the two students I observed have begun to develop confidence as readers where none had previously existed. This is in no small part due to their comfort in snuggling up to Lucy on the classroom rug and reading smartly not to each other but to friend Lucy the Lab.

Interestingly, Principal Robert Abbey shares with me that this method has worked effectively not only at the Newman but in similar programs across the country. So sometimes, despite all the research and technology, the comfort of a book, a blanket and friendly puppy can be just the remedy that emerging readers need to gain their "literacy footing" and begin the path towards fluency.

Thank you Pat, the willing students, and most of all, Lucy for providing the comfort level in which these two students are able to develop.

A Paws-itively Good Time - Yellow Lab and Owner Encourages Students to Read.

This article, by Shaun Moriarty, appeared in the Worster Telegram & Gazette.

Southbridge - How much is the doggie in the window? Well, if your child is learning to read, that dog may be invaluable if it's anything like Thompson.

The yellow Labrador retriever and his owner, the Rev. Judith Brown Osgood of Uxbridge, visit schools, libraries and hospitals to help children develop their reading skills. Osgood and Thompson are part of the Reading Education Assistance Dogs (R.E.A.D.), which gives children the opportunity to practice and enjoy reading.

The puppy pair presented program to 30 Eastford Road School students yesterday morning. The students, including 22 first-graders, were enrolled in the classes of Susan Frabotta and Mary Skrzypczak and sat together for the hour-long interactive presentation in Skrzypczak's classroom.

The classroom was decorated with laminat4d paw prints on brown construction paper that lead a path from the hallway to the front of the class, where Thompson ultimately set down for his day of work. When asked if any of the children had dogs at home, nearly half of the pupils raised their hands.

The first-grade students each read a short story to the 75 pound dog while the kindergarten pupils worked on sound symbol relationships and phonemic awareness.

Thompson and Osgood lay on a rug and blanket at the head of the classroom where, one by one, the children joined them to read to the canine and show him the photographs and drawings in their books.

As they read, Osgood would quiz the students about the chances of Thompson being able to act out the storylines. "Do you think Thompson can sing?" or "Do you think Thompson would go on the merry-go-round?" she said to the class.

Osgood also showed the class some of Thompson's tricks, including sitting, speaking, shaking hands and jumping up. The dog has also been trained to ride on elevators, activate electronic handicap access doors and much more. "He'll do almost anything for a cookie," Osgood quipped.

The audience was the largest that Thompson has worked with to date, as he usually is part of smaller programs at the Uxbridge Free Public Library, where children read to the dog for 15 minutes at a time every Thursday. The presentations in Uxbridge stared as a pilot program just after Osgood and Thompson finished their training together.

As each child finished their story to the relaxed dog, Osgood gave them a business card. "They think they're little executives," joked Frabotta as some of the kids marveled at the cards.

The premise of the program is the belief that children will be more comfortable reading to a dog then they would be reading to their teacher, peers or family members. "The program is designed for one on one," Osgood said. "There's no peer pressure or parental pressures. Just being with the dog and petting him, their blood pressure goes down. It's very therapeutic."

Thompson, who is 2 1/2 years old, was raised in a Connecticut prison along with his brother Brooklyn. The dogs, named after various towns in the area of Connecticut where they were raised, are trained to become assistance dogs to those who are handicapped. Brooklyn has been assigned to a blind man. Thompson, however, did not make it all the way through the program and eventually found his way to Osgood's home in Uxbridge. When she is not taking Thompson out on a good will reading missions, Osgood, works as a part-time Unitarian Universalist minister in Storrs, Connecticut. Thompson is the first dog Osgood has worked with in this capacity. "After he was placed with me, we had more training," she said. "Actually, I'm the one who needed the training."

The presentation also falls under the umbrella of Paws To R.E.A.D. [a program sponsored by Massachusetts Pet Partners, Inc. - an Affiliate of Delta Society Pet Partners], a national reading program that stared in Salt Lake City in 1993. "It encourages kid to read. It's a wonderful program," Osgood said. [To be eligible for the R.E.A.D. program, Osgood and Thompson are Delta Society Pet Partners] "We had to pass a test, and he and I will be re-tested every two years. They have very strict guidelines and rules."

According to Osgood, the program works, as teachers who hosted the R.E.A.D. program have noted decreased absenteeism, improved self-confidence and self-esteem, more respectful and gentle interactions with animals, an increase in the number of students that volunteer to read aloud in class, and more frequent library checkouts. The R.E.A.D. program works in 32 states and Canada, and there are nearly 200 registered R.E.A.D. teams like Osgood and Thompson.

Frabotta and Skrzypczak said they were thoroughly pleased with the way their students acted, and how smooth and entertaining the program was.

Thompson is scheduled to make a return appearance in the spring. The children promised to practice their reading and show improvements on their skills, while Osgood asked students for recommendations on what Thompson should work on. Their suggestions included learning shapes, numbers, the alphabet and racing around the classroom.