With tight school budgets allowing only bare-bones necessities, the Kelly School in Holyoke, Massachusetts has embraced a special, highly effective reading intervention program that doesn’t cost them a dime. The Tails to Read Program, started in the 2014-2015 academic year, utilizes certified Bright Spot Reading Buddy dogs to motive struggling readers. And, test data proves – the dogs really work!
Seven Bright Spot Reading Buddy teams meet weekly with their assigned students throughout the school year. Each Reading Buddy Team comes on a particular day, at a set time, and meets with one child at a time. During this time, the child reads aloud to his non-threatening, gentle Reading Buddy. All students participating in the program are tested at the beginning of the school year, and again at the end. The 2014-2015 test data showed the average jump in reading level was 4.4, with some children jumping 9 levels.
Last Thursday, I had the pleasure of observing Wayne Desroches and his Reading Buddy dog Max has they conducted three individual one-on-one sessions. Each student greeted Max with a hug, and pet him often as they read aloud to him. At the end of the session, there’s a reward for both student and Max: Wayne produces a plastic fork from his treat pouch with one of Max’s favorite treats. Gleefully, the child holds the fork and feeds the treat to Max! With the 20-minute session over, Max gets a hug good-bye from his pal!