Therapy Dogs Lend a Paw to Help Teach Children How to Read

On Tuesday morning at the , education went to the dogs as Simon, an 11-year-old Bichon Frise helped a group of young local residents their A-B-C's and 1-2-3's in a fun and educational environment.

Simon, and his owner Phyllis Mandelbaum of Marlboro, spent a half hour on Tuesday reading stories to the children and going over the sounds the letters make as they improve their vocabulary. Ms. Mandelbaum said Simon has been a Therapy Dog for the past three years and is following in a friend's four footsteps. "I had another Bichon that we had to put down two years ago," she said. "I always felt that he would have been an amazing Therapy Dog. So when Teddy passed away he was mourning the loss of Teddy so we wanted to have some bonding time and special time with him so that's what we did."

But Simon does more than just work with children as Ms. Mandelbaum said his skills can help with people of all ages. "They really do boost people's spirits," she said of the role of a Therapy Dog. "When he used to go to nursing homes, they say it lowers the patient's blood pressure and it brings them back to a point where they might have had a dog that they loved and missed."

Ms. Mandelbaum recalled one particular patient who would get on her hands and knees to get close to Simon and remember a dog she used to have in her past. When it comes to working with the little children, Ms. Mandelbaum said it is a combination of a fun activity for them and a unique opportunity for them to learn. "He has got a following and so do the other dogs that come here," she said. "Very often children when they're learning to read are nervous to read in classrooms and they're going to be judged by their peers. Simon is certainly not judging them and I think that gives them comfort."  

Veronica Chris, the Children's Librarian said having the Therapy Dogs is an important educational tool that the library enjoys bringing to the children. "We're doing phonetic programming with the dog so they learn to read with the dog," she said. Lessons that the dog can help with including the alphabet, colors and numbers.

For a full list of activities at the library, go to the website for the Monmouth County Library system at www.monmouthcountylib.org