Comfort Dog Program Might Unleash Some Answers for Struggling Students
Though dogs have been in some city public schools since 2016, their roles in the classroom have been evolving, and training them — and their humans — is an ongoing process.
Literacy coach Meredith Loftus sometimes has a special helper for her phonics lessons with struggling readers at P.S. 70 in the South Bronx.
Chip, a 1.5-year-old shih-poo (poodle/Shih Tzu mix), joined her last Thursday, as she worked with a small group of third graders as they sounded out words with digraphs, two letters that sound like one, such as “wh,” “sh,” “ch,” and “th.”