Labor Day Visit to The Palace

We had a wonderful time at The Palace this past Sunday, September 1st. Sammy and Bernie delighted the Palace residents during their weekly afternoon ice cream social. Even Leo helped out. While he is still too young to be a registered therapy dog handlers, he's not too young to share his loving kindness!

Last Visit of the Year at Coral Reef Elementary

Today was the last day at Coral Reef Elementary School for our therapy dog visits. Today we read to wonderful books including Sitting Ducks by Michael Bedard and City Pig by Karen Wallace and illustrated by Lydia Monks. We had children from Pre-K through fourth grade. Those who wanted to read took turns.


Here are some pictures from today's visit. Happy Summer, Coral Reef Elementary! We look forward to seeing everyone next year.

City Pig is about a pig who lived in a penthouse in the city. She had a big office, a nice car and a lovely home but she was not very happy. When her boss told her that she needed a vacation, the pig jumped in her car and drove to the countryside. She was amazed to see so many other pigs having fun and enjoying life. She decided to take of her business suit and jump in the mud with the rest of the pigs. She was happy. In fact, she was so happy that she quit her job in the city and moved to the country.

After this story, we talked about times where we felt out of place and what we did to feel better. We also talked about why City Pig felt so much better in the country. She could be herself!

Cinco de Mayo at The Palace at Kendall

Today the whole family visited the Palace at Kendall. It was such fun! They were celebrating Cinco de Mayo with an ice cream social. We enjoyed our time visiting with the residents. Sammy and Bernie were exhausted on the ride home.

ASPCA's Humane Education Program

A few years ago I ordered an activity book called I Love Animals: A Humane Education Program of The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The ASPCA's mission is to "provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals."

Included in the book are activities for children in grades kindergarten through third grade. These activities are intended to help children develop a sense of empathy and respect for all life.

On Wednesday, April 24, Jonah, Sammy (our Wheaten Terrier) and I went to Coral Reef Elementary School and met with a small group of children from the Pre-K through third grade. We did an activity with the group that was intended to help them think about an animal with which they are familiar and think about their features, where they live, what they eat, and how they are born and raised.

Children drew pictures of tigers, monkeys, fish, deer, snakes, and butterflies.

Here are a few pictures from the day.

Humane education can start at a very young age  and if each of us does our part in helping promote empathy and respect, the world might become a more peaceful place.

Reference:

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (2000). I Love Animals: A Humane Education Program of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Intercultural Center for Research in Education (INCRE), Arlington, MA.

I Aint't Gonna Paint No More!

The book, I Ain't Gonna Paint No More! was given to Jonah by his grandparents, Jackie and Marvin. It's a lovely book about a child who loves to paint so much that he painted his entire body! The illustrations are whimsical and really make the story come to life. The book is written by Karen Beaumont and illustrated by David Catrow. Today, Maia read this story to a group of Pre-K - 1st grade students at Coral Reef Elementary School. She also read, If You Give A Pig a Pancake by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond. Here are some pictures from today's visit. Enjoy!

Reading with the 2nd and 3rd Graders

This morning before school started we met with a few of the second and third graders at Coral Reef Elementary. We read two stories: Three Little Piggies, written by Monica Chang and Jeff Macon and illustrated by Vivian Minn and Helen Wang and Giraffes Can't Dance written by Giles Andreae and illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees. The children took turns reading and they all did a wonderful job. After each of the stories, we discussed what the stories meant to us.

Some of the comments about Three Little Piggies included:

"If you plan, you build a better house."

"The pig that took the longest time to build the house built the strongest house."

Some of the comments about Giraffes Can't Dance included:

"Anyone can be good at something. They just need to find the right something."

"If you find the right music, you'll be able to dance!"

By the way, this story was about a Giraffe named Gerald who was very clumsy. At the annual jungle dance, all the animals would laugh at Gerald because he couldn't dance. Until one day, he met a cricket who played violin. The cricket said,

"But sometimes when you're different you just need a different song. Listen to the swaying grass and listen to the trees. To me the sweetest music is those branches in the breeze. Som imagine that the lovely moon is playing for you - everything makes music if you really want it to." 

Then the cricket started to play his violin and Gerald started dancing. Once Gerald took the time to listen, he was able to dance!

The children and I talked about what we were good at. Some of the talents we had in the group were:

baseball,
hunting and fishing,
dancing,
cheer leading,
figure skating,
running, swimming,
and even walking!

Each of us had our unique talent!

Meanwhile, Sammy mingled among the children and enjoyed getting his belly rubbed. It was a great way to start off the morning :-)

Easter Sunday at South Dade Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center

Today Jonah, Maia, and Marti along with Sammy and Bernie visited the South Dade Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center. It is Easter Sunday and many of the residents celebrate Easter so we also brought an Easter basket with candy. We left it at the front desk because many of the residents have dietary restrictions. We had a lot of fun and visited several people. Here are a few pictures.

Happy Passover and Happy Easter everyone!

Our Visit to South Dade Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center

Today we took Sammy and Bernie to the South Dade Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center. We had a wonderful visit with many of the residents there. So many of the people shared their stories about having pets. Here are some photos from our visit. Sammy and Bernie were so gentle with these folks but after about an hour, they were pooped and slept all the way home.

Maia's and Bernie's First Visit

On Wednesday, February 27th we met with the 2nd and 3rd graders. This week, Maia got to go along with Marti, Sammy, and Bernie. This was Maia's and Bernie's first visit. Woo hoo! We read, Little Miss Spider and then we talked about pets and who has what. One boy had a flying squirrel. Others had cats and dogs.

Here's a picture of Bernie getting his belly rubbed. Looks like he's really enjoying this therapy dogs stuff. Maia did a fantastic job on her first visit as well. She's a real natural.

Today's Visit to Coral Reef Elementary

Today was Jonah's first official therapy dog visit at Coral Reef Elementary School. We met with the kindergarten and first graders who come to school for "before care." We met with them from 7:30 a.m. - 8:00 a.m. They loved the dogs and we also read them an interactive story using our iPad. The story was about an otter named Edwin.  Edwin did not feel he was special so he tried to be special by making and wearing a red cape. The other sea creatures did not like the red cape and preferred Edwin just the way he was because Edwin was nice, kind, and helpful. The interactive story was a free download from iTunes from the Seattle Aquarium.

Here's a picture of Jonah with Sammy and Bernie in the front breezeway of the school.

Career Day at Coral Reef Elementary School

Today I went to Coral Reef Elementary School to participate in their career day. Here I am with Sammy in the Pre-K class. We had a lot of fun and Sammy did such a good job! He let the kids pet him and he showed them how he could sit, stay, and come on command. Right now, he's exhausted. We were there from 9 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. and visited five classrooms!

It's official!

It's official. Today we received our member packets from Therapy Dogs International and we are good to go with scheduling our therapy dog visits. As a warmup, I (Marti) will be going to Coral Reef Elementary School tomorrow to participate in Career Day. While volunteering isn't my full time career, I plan to talk about how volunteering is an important aspect of many professions. For example, in my career as a professor, I focus my efforts in three distinct areas: teaching, research, and service. The service piece can be subdivided into service to the university, service to the profession, and service to the community. My work with therapy dogs is how I provide service to my community. Sammy, our Wheaten Terrier mix, will join me tomorrow as I speak to students from Pre-K to 5th grade about my career and my volunteer efforts!

More to come :-)

Marti