Sit, Stay, Read!

<p dir="ltr">Finalist - Visualise Your Thesis 2025 International Competition</p><h4>Transcript</h4><p dir="ltr">(0:00) Kids reading to dogs can spark positive reading interactions, but for many children with reading challenges the story is different and might feel embarrassed, angry and sometimes give up.</p><p dir="ltr">(0:11) Then we introduce a dog. A furry cheerleader. Suddenly their engagement, willingness and participation in reading improves and it's not just kids who benefit. Volunteers and even the dogs experience well-being improvements too.</p><p dir="ltr">(0:28) So what did my research show? Connection. Children felt more connected to the volunteers, their school, their local library. Community bonds grew stronger.</p><p dir="ltr">(0:33) Resilience. Kids became more willing to tackle reading in the classroom and across the school.</p><p dir="ltr">(0:39) Joy. They enjoyed reading to the dogs. It was fun and they spent time with their peers and it made them happy.</p><p dir="ltr">(0:45) So what comes next? Programs like this can complement standard reading instruction including explicit phonics teaching by adding warmth and motivation because sometimes the reading partner has four legs and a wagging tail.</p>