The Pony Express
Fun in First Grade
Caterpillars, Chrysalides, and Creativity!
The Little Ponies Outside
Beatrice sliding
Elijah, Zyir, and Henry climbing together
Mr. Chris and Tramel
We have a blast playing outside together!
Mr. Chris and Tramel enjoying the sunshine
Our First Nature Walk - Searching for Butterflies!
Butterfly Wings
Fiction and Nonfiction Read Alouds
Butterfly Life Cycle
Mustang Math
Lovin' Literacy
Lucy is Here!
Second Grader Kai helps introduce Lucy to her new class
Houston and his classmates greet Lucy
Ms. Ellen teaches us how Lucy can help us become better readers
Ellen Braun
PO Box 130
Crozet, VA 22932
Dear Mrs. Ackenbom’s Littles,
I am looking forward to bringing my therapy dog, Lucy, into Crozet Elementary to help your kids with their reading. Here’s some background information about how therapy dogs can help kids learning to read and information on Lucy’s training.
Therapy dogs have been used in reading programs since about 2000. The logic of using therapy dogs this way was an extension of their success in helping at nursing homes. Research showed that people in contact with dogs have reductions in stress hormones and blood pressure. Many of us know that intuitively – we feel calmer and more centered with unconditional love from a friendly dog.
Using therapy dogs in a reading program works by having the child read out loud at their own pace to the dog in a quiet setting. Because the therapy dog is attentive and listening to their voice, the atmosphere is calm and non-judgmental –intentionally different from when a child is reading aloud in class. The child can pet or snuggle the dog or have no contact at all. The handler (that’s me) keeps the dog fully engaged and helps out on difficult bits of reading when needed. And, I challenge the child to explain the story to the therapy dog, using that elevation in role to build the child’s confidence in the difficult task of learning to read.
Lucy is a smallish black-lab mix that we adopted when she was one year old. She is almost five years old now. Lucy responds very well to children. She is friendly and calm around kids. We first noticed this when she helped out in a discussion on dog training with a group of girl scouts at the Charlottesville Albemarle SCPA. This is where one of her two owners works. Even when surrounded by a vocal and enthusiastic group of more than 20 kids, all wanting to pet her, she was serene, calm and engaged.
Lucy and I started training as a therapy dog team in 2013 and she gained her Therapy Dogs, Inc. certification in 2014. The training included lots of obedience work and a series of nursing home visits with an experienced dog trainer/ evaluator. After certification, we did a few nursing home visits and worked with the Crozet Library to set up reading sessions.
My personal reasons for wanting to help kids learn to reads stems from how reading has been the center of how I learn for my entire life. I’m partly retired after lots of years as an IT consultant and operations manager. No doubt that undergrad and graduate degrees helped my career, but the education most important to me was learning to read in first grade. Learning to read (and learning about libraries) made me feel like I could learn anything.
Regards,
Ellen
About Mrs. Ackenbom
Email: sackenbom@k12albemarle.org
Location: 1407 Crozet Avenue, Crozet, VA, United States
Phone: 434-823-6470
About Us
Location: 1407 Crozet Avenue, Crozet, VA, United States
Phone: 434-823-4800