Teach Effectively!

Dogs as reading monitors

Wouldn’t it be great if kids would learn to read by reading aloud to dogs? According to Yolanne Almanzar of the Miami (FL, US) Herald, that is what’s happening in some Florida schools.

Writing under the headline, “Dogs lend ears to young readers: A program helps elementary school children improve their literacy skills by reading out loud to dogs,” Ms. Almanzar reports that advocates have many explanations for why the program works, though there is a dearth of data about the effects.

The experimental folks among us might wonder if reading to some other animal (cats, gerbils, parakeets, sloths, wooly mammoths?) would cause greater gains in reading performance. Of course, such a comparison would require that someone actually measure reading performance in a somewhat systematic way and make a comparison between conditions.

But what’s the use in that, one might wonder. Why not just believe it and get about the business of implementing it? Sigh….

So, read for yourself: Here’s the link. Flash of the electrons to Maria Carlo, who showed me another, different picture from coverage of this story. If you have links to additional stories about this innovation, please post them in the comments.