[etni] FWD: dogs make the best reading companions

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From: "Tom Balazs" <etnimail@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: dogs make the best reading companions
 
Getting their paws on a good book 
boston.com News - April 14, 2005 

For some children, dogs make the best reading companions 

Karissa Ellard, a third-grader at Medford's Columbus Elementary School,
is getting some help in learning to love reading from a four-legged
listener named Connor. 

Karissa's reading starts at 8 a.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, half an hour
before school time. She is one of eight children who eagerly sit on
blankets and read books to two trained canines who lazily lounge while
a child reads to them in the company of a volunteer. 

When the dogs are there, the children say, the exercise is hardly
exercise. 

"I really like it. I've gotten to see a dog, a big dog really close up,"
said Karissa, who reads at least one chapter a day. In five months, she
has learned to love mystery books. 

Karissa said what she likes about mysteries is ''figuring out things.
When you hunt for something, that's my favorite thing." 

Last October, Karissa and seven other children in grades 1 to 4 were
less cheerful about reading. But then, a teacher decided to adopt the
dog-therapy program a nonprofit group has been practicing in Utah for
nine years. 

(To read the whole article, go to - www.etni.org/news/goodbook.htm )


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