[Muncle]

Originally Posted by 784caroline

Muncie and others

You can make a joke of this program all you want ...I hope you are fortunate enough not to have children or moreso grandchildren that desparately need help in reading, when there are volunteers through programs such as this, who spend their time trying to help kids learn in school or bring a smile to their face by visiting local hospitals at a time when things may not be going all that well for them. Most grandparents are not even aware of educational issues their grandchildren face that most of us all take for granted..and slow reading ranks near the top.

Rather than riidicule and joke, your suppport and better understanding of this the program for the children involved would be more welcomed rather than your misplaced comments.

I'm sure this is a wonderful and worthwhile program. There's been remarkable advancements in the use of therapy animals, be they dogs, rabbits, or whatever, over the last several years. There were certainly no formal programs like this around in our youth. And this program at Barnes & Noble is typical of the many extraordinary opportunities available throughout The Villages area, both on and off campus, where one can contribute.

I regret, however, that you do not see the incipient humor in the concept that the human will use the dog to make "direct corrections" should the child make mistakes. Perhaps a result of a warped childhood, but the sentence immediately brought to my mind a Gahan Wilson cartoon.




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[Keedy]

I immediately saw the humor and after the worst spring and now summer weather in my memory, I can appreciate any humor thrown my way.

[oatmealgirls]

Reading is amazing gift! What I find so interesting is when someone interprets the same words, written the same exact way, differently. That's the beauty of our uniqueness.

I love when you see a child "get it" about reading - wanting a book read to them, or when they first "pretend" to read a book, or when they really do read a book (either to themselves, to others, to a pet, you get the drift). Wow, a whole new world opens up to them. How exciting!!

Kudos Boomer for your enjoyable Suess style writing!

Originally Posted by Boomer

..... for some reason, this morning, I am suddenly in the mood for green eggs and ham instead.)

Did you try green eggs and ham?
Was that, tell us, really your plan?

Or could you not resist the o's?
Those tasty, good for Boomer, Cheerios?

LOL LOL LOL


Have a great day everyone!

[Boomer]

Please, everybody, get thee to Barnes and Noble and look for a series "Hank the Cowdog" by a guy whose last name is Erickson. The first one in the series is a wonderful read for kids who have a sense of humor. (And for adults with a sense of humor, too.) The author is supposedly writing about a dog's life on a ranch in Texas. But the guy is really writing about human behavior.

There is a part where the dog and his sidekick dog jump into the back of the ranch hand's pickup truck when he is not looking because they know it is worth getting yelled at for sneaking on-board to get to go to town. The part where the dogs get into what would be in human terms "words had in a bar" is roll-on-the-floor funny. They are in the back of the truck while it is parked in front of a saloon and they start in on a dog in the next truck. It is human behavior for sure. And a situation Hank would never have gotten himself into had he not had a sidekick. Just like real guys do in bars sometimes.

And then there is the part where Hank falls in love with a coyote. Forbidden love. When he goes to meet her parents they serve him special rancid meat for dinner. Poor Hank. He loves her so. But he just cannot understand her family's ways.

The writer, if I remember right, has a PhD in theology from one of the biggies, Harvard or Yale or something like that, as I recall. But that is beside the point. He writes human behavior perfectly, through anthropomorphism, in these silly books. -- They can be a little politically incorrect in places. The coyotes talk with an accent like the Indians in the old cowboy movies did.

(And I must also warn you that there is even a chapter about farts in one of the later ones in the series. Oh my! Hank has gone camping with the ranch hand who has beans for supper. Poor Hank.)

It's not great lit, but it's the book I was glad I had with me when I ended up huddled down under a tornado warning with a whole bunch of teenagers. I read to them about Hank the Cowdog. Voices and all. We were in the basement. We were ready. And we laughed. While the sirens blew. What else could we do?

So anyway, this post is all about books and kids and reading and dogs and a sense of humor. That pretty well covers it for me I guess. And so now, maybe I really will go pack my suitcase.

Happy Reading!

Boomer

[nONIE]

:QUOTE=Muncle;212339]Now Caroline, you've got to be putting us on. The implication here is that if little Sally mispronounces a word, some huge rottweiler goes for her throat. I'm as big a fan of tough love as the next guy, buy say it ain't so. This is carrying reward/punishment training a bit too far. Or not.

Im afraid you have the implication bass ackwards.

This is not tough love. There is NO FEAR OR PRESSURE with dog therapy reading.The child is not being judged by a human and is free to read with mistakes because noone is judging them.

The dog trainer is only there to watch the dog. and the children form a bond with the dog. They actually are excited about reading because the dog is not critiquing their reading skills. It is a completely safe reading environment.

Sounds like a great idea to me!





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[katezbox]

Somehow I missed a few of these posts.

Boomer, you are witty as usual. Oh, to have had you as a friend when I was another awkward bookworm with the least amount of athletic ability possible. Of course, I am still that way... but more comfortable in my own skin I guess. Definitely going to look up Hank.

Muncle - I know you to be a true bibliophile - and more of a kinder, gentler Peeves, than a dementor taking all the joy from a great reading program. Or in this case, maybe I should say more who than Grinch. As Boomer said, you don't need me to cover your back, but I want to all the same.

Caroline - I agree wholeheartedly on how effective this program is. As I said earlier, at the age of 4 my son read to his cat. I have to think that her gentle purr was encouraging. At age 7 he lost his grandfather - and read Ecclesiastes to the entire congregation.