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June 16, 2014 by: Ashley Greenwood

Summer Fun: Reading with the Therapy Dogs

Some of my friends are blessed with children who adore books. They can’t keep books in their hands because the children read so quickly. I admire those children and their parents for instilling a love of reading. And I’m a wee bit jealous.

Reading is not a skill that has come easily to our boys. They would rather ride bikes, dig holes to China, or play games on their kindles.

In effort to encourage them to pick up a book we visit our local public library once a week during the summer. This week when we stopped by, our boys were invited to participate in “PAWS to Read”. library time

The program is sponsored by the library. It provides struggling readers a non-judgmental partner that patiently listens as they read aloud. It was perfect practice for my not very excited about reading boys.summer reading

My heart swelled watching Big Boy smoothing and patting Sophie’s coat as he read a Magic Treehouse book aloud to her. summer reading

Little Boy was just as thrilled to read to his pooch, Trixie. Isn’t she the cutest thing ever?

summer reading

Honestly, these were the sweetest moments. Both boys read aloud for over 15 minutes to their puppy companion. They loved spending time with the dogs and were very excited to get their names on the list for the next session.

I’m amazed the incentive of reading to a dog worked so well. Wonder if our sweet Yellow Dog would lay nicely while they read to her? It just might work as long as they don’t leave a book nearby for her to bury in the garden. 😉

yellow dog

I’d love to hear your ways of keeping the learning train going though out the wonderfully lazy months of summer. Please leave your suggestions or routines in the comments.

                       Your comments totally make my day! They give me huge motivation to                    keep creating and having fun with my 3 Little Greenwoods! 

~ Ashley

 

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Comments

  1. 1

    Lindsay Eidahl says

    June 16, 2014 at 1:45 pm

    I love this! How great is this!!!!

    Reply
    • 2

      3littlegreenwoods says

      June 16, 2014 at 9:52 pm

      Seeing the boys read to those sweet days totally made my day! And I think their’s too!
      ~ Ashley

      Reply
  2. 3

    Cindy says

    June 16, 2014 at 4:39 pm

    Awe…that is so sweet and what a clever way to get children excited and involved with reading. I love to read and always have. I have 3 grown daughters in which two loves to read and one despises it! Funny you said what you did about boys! My grandson does not like reading at all….however his mom gives him no choice! She prays daily for him to WANT to read (LOL) My oldest two grandgirls love to read and the Dr. told my daughter just recently that the best thing she could do for our youngest grandgirl would be to read to her as much as possible. She does not have a speech problem but tends to not finish her sentences. Anyway…enjoyed this post and passing it on to my daughters! Hugs and blessings, Cindy

    Reply
    • 4

      3littlegreenwoods says

      June 16, 2014 at 9:51 pm

      My boys love for me to read to them. Right now we are working our way through The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. But getting them to read all on their own is so hard! We are definitely going back to see the therapy dogs again!

      Thanks so much for the comment love!
      ~ Ashley

      Reply
  3. 5

    Gloria // Simply Gloria says

    June 16, 2014 at 7:03 pm

    What a cute idea, Ashley! Out of 3 of my boys, only my oldest (23) LOVES to read and still reads on his spare time… but the other 2, could care less. I’ll have to look into our county library to see if they do this. 🙂

    Reply
    • 6

      3littlegreenwoods says

      June 16, 2014 at 9:45 pm

      It was a wonderful surprise to discover the read to a therapy dog program! The boys were excited enough about it to tell their friends. 😉
      ~ Ashley

      Reply
  4. 7

    Amy says

    June 16, 2014 at 11:03 pm

    Too cute! You know Ansley loves to read–
    She often has a couple books going at the same time–how, I don’t know! Never have to worry too much about her.
    This summer I made a smart basket.
    The younger two pick something out of it
    (Inexpensive workbooks, flash cards, educational games) or they pick a mom approved computer/iPod /iPad game, a board game, or a book. We are shooting for 45 minutes a day for 4/7 days.
    The kids also have to be in my sight –just in case! 😉
    Last week Owen made a math bingo game where I gave a math problem and they had to figure out the answer.

    Reply
  5. 8

    Marti @ SewliciousHomeDecor says

    June 17, 2014 at 5:44 pm

    What a great idea reading to the dogs. I’m glad your boys enjoyed it! 🙂

    Reply
    • 9

      3littlegreenwoods says

      June 18, 2014 at 8:20 am

      Thanks Marti! They loved it!
      ~ Ashley

      Reply
  6. 10

    Heather {Woods of Bell Trees} says

    June 18, 2014 at 4:15 am

    Haha pup burying books! LOL This is such an amazing idea! My boy was fine with reading up until about a month ago and now we struggle to get him to read, but I think he would love reading to our pupper. Dogs are such amazing animals!

    Reply
    • 11

      3littlegreenwoods says

      June 18, 2014 at 8:12 am

      I might have to buy her some doggie treats to sit with them but I think the boys are going to start reading with her soon!
      ~ Ashley

      Reply
  7. 12

    laura says

    June 25, 2014 at 12:01 pm

    Ashley- I love this!!!!! Neither of my boys are big readers, and my younger son was diagnosed with mild dyslexia in kindergarten, and is now my best speller! But, he read to our dogs because dogs don’t correct mis-pronounced words or get impatient! Love this story! Way to go to the library for this program! laura

    Reply
    • 13

      3littlegreenwoods says

      June 25, 2014 at 11:28 pm

      It is wonderful for the library to host this reading program. Trust me… we need all the help we can get! 😉

      And I just have to say spelling words are the devil! HATE them!
      ~ Ashley

      Reply
  8. 14

    Laura@Baking in Pyjamas says

    June 29, 2014 at 10:57 am

    Such a lovely idea. Thanks for linking up to Sweet and Savoury Sunday, stop by and link up again. Have a great day!!

    Reply
    • 15

      3littlegreenwoods says

      June 29, 2014 at 9:42 pm

      My boys loved reading to the dogs! Thanks so much for the sweet comment!
      ~ Ashley

      Reply

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