PAWS For A Story

PAWS For A Story is an animal assisted reading mentor program to enhance literary skills and to encourage the joys of reading.  A comfortable reading environment is achieved with the assistance of handler and companion animal therapy teams as reading mentors.  While reading to pets in a relaxed environment, school aged children develop/build confidence as oral readers.

PAWS For A Story Library Program Winter/Spring Schedule 2010

This program may be implemented in preschools, elementary schools, healthcare facilities and local libraries.

The PAWS For A Story objectives include:

• To experience the joys of reading
• To create a relaxed and fun environment in which children can practice reading
• To develop/build reading skills
• To reduce stress and anxiety
• To improve confidence and self esteem
• To create a favourable reading experience

In libraries, the program celebrates the joys of reading and provides an opportunity for kids to have fun while reading.  In the school setting, this program is intended to enrich the literacy skills of children in an effective and comfortable manner.  Literacy specialists acknowledge that children who are below their peers in reading skills or who struggle with reading are often intimidated by reading aloud in a group and view reading as a chore.  Research with therapy animals indicates that children with low self esteem are often more willing to interact with an animal than with another person.  The basis of the PAWS For A Story program is that children will find reading to an animal less intimidating than reading in other situations.  The program provides a positive environment in which learning is facilitated.

Research has also shown that:

• Animals brought into a human context are powerful reinforcers of human attention and behaviour
• When the child is given the opportunity to interact with the animal as well as watch it, there are more positive changes in behaviour and they are more persistent
• Human speech and the nonverbal expression of emotion are facilitated by the presence of animals

The Pet Therapy Society is proud to currently offer the PAWS For A Story program at 14 of the Edmonton Public Library’s 17 branches.  PAWS For A Story volunteer teams also visit local schools.  Additional programs can be run from our Centre.

For more information about how you can get involved in PAWS For A Story please call 780-413-4682 or e-mail info@pettherapysociety.com