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You are here: Home / Homeschool / Subjects / Reading / Inspiring a Love of Reading with the Love of Animals

Inspiring a Love of Reading with the Love of Animals

May 22, 2016 by Erin Vincent 4 Comments

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Inspiring a Love of Reading with the Love of Animals

Inspiring a Love of Reading with the Love of Animals

Before our son became the voracious reader that he is today, he was anxious and easily frustrated with each attempt to read. You can read about his favorite books here at our Favorite Read Aloud Books. We had a little boy with big ideas that could understand complexities far beyond his years. He knew the sounds that the letters make, but he struggled with letter combinations, blends and sight words. Learning to read is like learning to run. A baby doesn’t just jump up one day and run across the room. Well, I suppose there may be a few exceptions….but generally there are loads of single steps and loads of falling long before any walking happens. Running comes last. Our son wasn’t interested in the mundane tasks of learning to walk. He wanted to run!

Inspiring a Love of Reading with the Love of Animals

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Inspiring a Love of Reading with the Love of Animals

One day at the library we stumbled upon two things: BOB Books and the therapy dog reading program called READing Paws. We were blessed to have a wonderful librarian who seemed to get our sons interesting reading challenge and she is the one that suggested this combination to us. Our son LOVED the idea of reading to the therapy dogs. He found the BOB Books silly but he enjoyed them. Did you know Studies show that therapy dogs provide children comfort while reading, with no judgment? They also help lower blood pressure and reading fluency increases after participating in a reading dogs program. Our son participated in the READing Paws program for 6 months and we saw a huge change in his reading fluency. I highly recommend programs like READing Paws if you have a struggling reader.

Inspiring a Love of Reading with the Love of Animals

Inspiring a Love of Reading with the Love of Animals

After our son’s experience with the therapy dogs, he was overcome with an excitement to read. Often I would find him reading to our own beloved pets! They seem to gravitate toward him when he is reading and he LOVES their attention.

Inspiring a Love of Reading with the Love of Animals

After moving to the farm, our pets weren’t the only ones being read to. Our son, being the bibliophile that he is, began reading to the barnyard animals! Cows and chickens are all subject to his performances. Just this week I discovered him reading to our baby chicks about the Carboniferous time period… I’m not sure who enjoyed this more: him or the chicks. They got as close to him as possible and cuddled together with their eyes closed. Anytime he would stop or pause his narration they would open their eyes and chirp at him until he began to read again!

For our son, reading to animals has truly inspired him both in his reading confidence and fluency. Somehow they have been able to reach him in a way that myself and others couldn’t. His love for them continues to lead him in his education. With their encouragement, he is now off and running on his reading adventure.

Check with your local library to see if they offer free Therapy dog reading programs in your area.

Inspiring a Love of Reading with the Love of Animals


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About Erin Vincent

Erin is a writer, blogger, and homeschooler to two intense kids. She loves nature, farm life, good books, knitting, new pens, and hot coffee. Erin is a contributing writer for Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers. Her work has also been featured on Simple Homeschool and Book Shark.

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Welcome! I'm Erin, a homeschooling mom to two very intense kids. Every day I try to find what works best for me and my family. My blog is filled with information to help you explore a child led education while making meaningful connections with your children. Discover favorite read alouds, seasonal books, games, art projects, hands-on activities, and learn to just breathe through the ups and downs of life. I hope these posts will encourage you on your homeschool adventure.

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