How Dogs Can Boost Literacy: The Benefits of Reading with Pets

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Originally published in TEACH Magazine, September/October 2018 Issue

By Meagan Gillmore

One of the best literacy teachers Jane Swire knows is her dog, Blizzard.

About three years ago, the Grade 7 and 8 teacher at John T. Tuck Public School in Burlington, ON, began volunteering with St. John Ambulance’s therapy dog program. Along with visiting nursing homes, she and her nine-year-old Alaskan Malamute also visit the local library once a week during the school year as part of the organization’s Paws 4 Stories program.

As part of the program, volunteers visit libraries or schools with their pets, who have all been evaluated by the organization. The volunteers sit with children while they read to the dogs for half-hour visits. In schools, the programs typically run for 8 to 12 weeks. Library programs may be shorter.

Swire admits that despite 26 years of teaching, she doubted at first how helpful dogs could be to students. “I don’t think I understood it. I don’t think people understand it until they actually see it.”

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Meagan Gillmore is a freelance writer in Toronto, ON.

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Meagan Gillmore
Meagan Gillmore
Meagan Gillmore is a freelance writer in Toronto, ON.

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