The Edward Primary School in Elsies River selects a group of children every two weeks, to visit the Animal Anti-Cruelty League, where they get to read to the animals.
Cape Town, South Africa (01 March 2023) – Learning to read is a vital part of education but sometimes, the idea of reading in front of people can be overwhelming; to combat this, teachers at the Edward Primary School on Elsies River, take their learners to the Animal Anti-Cruelty League (AACL), so they can get practice by reading to the animals instead.
The cats at the Epping branch of AACL are visited by a group of children every two weeks and they get to listen and be cuddled, as the children practice reading out loud.
“Our Epping cats are lucky every 2 weeks to have some special visitors.
Edward Primary School in Elsies River bring a few children at a time to our Epping Branch for the kids to read to our cats. Ms Smith selects a few of the children to practice their reading in an exciting environment to motivate the kids and encourage their literacy skills.
Our cats absolutely love the reading time and we are more than happy to help with the encouragement of literacy in our younger generations, the kids even get to receive an Animal Superhero Certificate to motivate them further”
Reading out loud has several benefits, namely helping grow children’s attention spans, building confidence in their abilities and learning to sound out words correctly.
We love seeing volunteers heading to animal welfare organisations to read. Just last week we shared a story about a young woman doing the same in Benoni. Not only does one get some good reading in, they offer a presence and kind voice for the animals to listen to.
If walking dogs and cleaning kennels is not within your capacity, perhaps see if your local animal rescue would welcome a reader.
The AACL is based in Epping and welcomes support from the public. If you would like to get involved with the animals, you can reach out via Facebook here.
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