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| SIT STAY READ! is a volunteer reading assistance dog program for
children in the Chicago area.
Reading aloud is a critical component of early childhood literacy. Children who
have difficulty reading have an especially hard time reading aloud in front of
peers and adults. This affects their self-esteem as they struggle with a skill
their classmates' easily master. SIT STAY READ! allows children to read aloud
to specially trained and evaluated therapy dogs.
Programs like SIT STAY READ! are showing that children are more likely to
interact with an animal than another person.
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We’re On a Mission
Our mission is to improve literacy skills and foster a love of animals by
partnering reading assistance dogs with children in our community.
During their interaction with the SIT STAY READ! dogs, the children forget
their limitations. In addition, even children who are already skilled at
reading enjoy reading aloud to the dogs. Dogs provide rapt attention and
children can read aloud without fear of criticism or interruption.
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Children In Low-Income Families Especially at Risk
A report funded by the Packard and MacArthur Foundations found that the average
child growing up in a middle class family has been exposed to 1,000 to 1,700
hours of one-on-one picture book reading before entering school. The average
child growing up in a low-income family has only been exposed to 25 hours of
one-on-one reading aloud during this same time period.
For this reason, we are especially committed to reaching children in low-income
families.
Learning while having fun is what makes SIT STAY READ! successful.
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“Watching the faces of the children as they read I knew that the nonjudgmental,
affectionate presence of the dogs was helping them feel successful. The parents
knew it too.”
Kathleen O’Meara
Children’s Librarian
Chicago Public Library
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