Even on four legs, Charley and Wilbur are doing their part to bolster the reading skills of local students as part of the Ruff Reading Program at The Public Library at Tellico Village.
Dogs Charley and Wilbur will surely be all ears as they will visit with children from 10-11 a.m. the first and third Saturday of each month at the library throughout the school year so that children can get practice reading aloud.
Mary Ann Blank, former University of Tennessee in Knoxville professor and current member of the education committee for the Village library, initiated the partnership with UT’s Human Animal Bond in Tennessee.
“I was with the University of Tennessee in the College of Education, and I knew that the program was in elementary schools, some elementary schools,” Blank said. “So when I got on the education committee with the Friends of the Tellico Village Library, I thought that might be something that we would get involved with.”
Blank said students who join the program are primarily from Steekee Elementary School, with some from Loudon Elementary School. Children who are visiting family in the Village often attend as well because the program takes place on weekends and is convenient for them, Blank said.
“It’s done well,” Billie Whitney, director of education for the Friends of the Tellico Village Library, said. “We never have, I think eight is the most we’ve ever had, and usually it’s from one to four children that we will have on a Saturday morning.”
The program is meant to build confidence and skill at reading, as well as make it an enjoyable hobby. Whitney said the dogs act as a nonthreatening audience as the children read the books they have chosen.
“It goes back to reading is a fundamental skill, and at any strategy we try any and all strategies to help students learn to read, and for some students, this is a perfect fit,” Blank said. “Those who love animals and would like to learn to read better, they’ve got to be willing to want to learn to read better. It’s a perfect match for those students.”
Charley’s owner, Norma Aiello, and Wilbur’s owner, Peggy Lethen, accompany the dogs on Ruff Reading days at the library in case the children need some assistance in reading, but that’s often unnecessary, according to Whitney.
Whitney said the dogs are placed through extensive training, and that not all dogs are fit for Ruff Reading. Blank said HABIT currently strives to recruit more owners with dogs for the program.
“It gives children a place to come and read aloud without any grading or judgement,” Whitney said. “It’s just a fun place to come read. You’re reading to a dog who just lies there and lets you pet him, and it’s very nonthreatening.”
Whitney said the same youth attend the program a few months at a time, and when students’ reading improves, a new group typically takes their place. While Whitney said she would like to see more youth coming into the program, having a few at a time helps it run more smoothly and give more individual attention for students.
“It is really a fun program,” Whitney said. “The children that have come have been wonderful to watch. It really seems to be a program that works in helping children to learn to read out loud and feel comfortable reading out loud.”
