Kids want to spend their summer vacations having fun in the sun with their friends. Reading may not even be on their list. But if you add a lovely dog, that could make reading a pleasant activity.
Now a new study found that reading to dogs helps to improve reading ability because dogs provide a nonjudgmental and supportive atmosphere(氛围).
Three educators from the college decided to look at new ways to get kids to read more after the Education Ministry expressed concern over a great drop in reading scores in fourth-grade students.
These students had reading difficulties because they did not go through school in person during the last three years. They missed out on reading practice with their peers(同龄人)during the second and third grades.
“We want to find an original way that would encourage students to practice their reading,” Har-Zvi, head of the special-education track and senior lecturer at the college said. “And to create that encouragement, we decided to do experiments with dogs.”
Reading to pets encourages kids to acquire confidence and interest in reading, according to the pet food company Purina. That’s not only because the practice of reading to dogs is used in home-schooling to help the kids acquire reading ability, but also because pets are comforting and nonjudgmental. Einat Artzi, whose daughter took part in the experiment, told Ynet that her daughter Michaela ”has loved dogs from a young age. Her experience of reading to dogs greatly increased her desire to read, and in her opinion, it improved her reading abilities. All in all, the experience of introducing dogs into the classroom made her feel comfortable and safe, and she began to enjoy going to school. Michaela is now considered one of the top readers in her class and has a very rich vocabulary. Thanks to this, we also took in a dog.“
【小题1】What led three educators to try to get kids to read more?| A．Kids’ difficulty in making friends. | B．Teachers’ passive teaching methods. |
| C．Their worry about students’ health. | D．Concerns of education leaders. |
| A．The quiet listening of the dogs. | B．The kids’ love for the dogs. |
| C．The parents’ joining them. | D．The guidance from the teachers. |
| A．It made her fall in love with dogs. | B．It bettered her reading ability greatly. |
| C．It improved her relationships with others. | D．It allowed her to take a dog to school. |
| A．Dogs Are Good Friends to Kids | B．Kids’ Reading Scores Are Dropping |
| C．Dogs Help Make Kids Better Readers | D．Kids Studying at Home Brings Problems |
