By Matthew Tracy
More and more kids today spend less time reading and more time laughing and aww-ing at YouTube videos of cats or dogs. The solution? A program where kids read to these adorable critters in real life.
The Animal Welfare League of Arlington’s Paws and Read program does just this, allowing schoolchildren in the Northern Virginia and D.C. metro area the chance to read to shelter cats. The program kicked off March 2 with a selection of “The Cat in the Hat” and other Dr. Seuss classics in celebration of Seuss’s birthday.
According to AWLA’s Jennifer Pickar, director of community programs, “some of the parents say their kids don’t like to read, (but) they love cats, they love animals. They’re hoping that will be the incentive for their child to practice.” The Paws and Read program gives children who have trouble reading in front of their classmates at school the opportunity to practice reading in a relaxed environment for a judgement-free animal audience.
One of the goals of the Animal Welfare League of Arlington is to provide “nurturing animal care and community outreach.” The Paws and Read program helps accomplish both of these.
For one, the cats get some time out of their kennels with a potential owner. “They have a positive interaction with the child, and they enjoy the sound of a child’s voice when they’re reading,” says Pickar. “They get to interact with kids in a setting that’s not scary for them. They’re sitting there reading versus chasing them around trying to pick them up.”
The program also opens the door for increased community awareness and involvement. Many people brush off animal shelters as gloomy places full of wild and unwanted beasts. The program helps debunk this myth. “When a lot of parents and children visit they’ve been surprised by the shelter, that it’s so nice,” Pickar says. “That it’s a nice place to visit, a good resource for the community to get information, and that the shelter has so many great adoptable pets.”
The Paws and Read program is open to kids from kindergarten to 5th grade for 20-minute reading sessions. After this month, Pickar and the AWLA hope to expand the program to other area shelters year-round , eventually including dogs and other shelter animals.
Paws and Read
Animal Welfare League of Arlington
2650 South Arlington Mill Drive
Arlington, 22206
(703) 931-9241
