Our mission is to make reading fun for children so they become confident lifelong readers. No child should be left behind in literacy.
Story Dogs Inc was formed in Murwillumbah, in March, 2009 by Janine Sigley and Leah Sheldon. It operates in the Tweed region of northern NSW.
The dogs are tested and accredited by Ann Whyte from the Tweed River Canine Club who is an accredited Dogs NSW trainer, with 35 years experience. This ensures all dogs going into schools are obedient and well behaved. In 2009 a trial was conducted with one school in Murwillumbah and four dog teams. This trial was deemed a success by the teachers, students and the principal involved. The program has grown to 18 dog teams visiting 8 schools in the Tweed Region. Our dog teams are now helping over 90 students become lifelong readers! Kids love us, schools want us and volunteers are keen!
Both Story Dog founders are passionate about children and reading.
Leah says that her experience teaching literacy to adults in a correctional centre reinforced her desire to teach young children to read and write, and to enjoy both. She believes that literacy is fundamental to success in our culture and is a wonderful and necessary skill for both children and adults.
Janine notes that the driving force for setting up Story Dogs was seeing the joy reading brings to her children, and being part of the wonderful, limitless world of ideas found in books. Through Story Dogs, she gets to share the love her dog gives to everyone he meets.
We believe that..... “Education is not the filling of a bucket but the lighting of a fire” William Butler Yeats
In the USA, comparisons have been carried out between students reading to dogs and those who have not. The results were:
Students reading to dogs - increased reading rate by 24 words per minute
Students without the dogs - increased reading rate by 9 words per minute
(source: www.sitstayread.com)
Story Dogs is seeking more volunteers who have a well behaved, obedient, child friendly dog and would like to spend a few hours a week helping kids discover the love of reading.
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©2010 The magic of Story Dogs Inc (ABN: 368 515 735 34) Last Updated: 19-August-2010 |