5 Things You Can Teach Your Child as You Read Can I Be Your Dog?

Feb 10

Extend the Learning with
Story-Based Play

Adding an element of play is another way to deepen your child’s understanding of concepts within and beyond a story. According to Hall (1991), young children often develop advanced literacy skills when they engage in play related to a familiar story. Many complex literacy skills develop naturally when the story and play intersect, setting the stage for your child to learn to read and write.

It’s easy. Take a great story, gather toys that align with that story, and get out of the way. Your child will do the rest. The goal is to allow the play to evolve naturally. You’ll be surprised by the amount of learning transferred and reinforced through this type of play.

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They have direct connections to the book.
They reinforce new vocabulary.
They encourage imaginative play
They make it easy to re-enact parts of the story.
They often take learning beyond the confines of the story.
Few require batteries, screens, or electricity.

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Additional Titles by Troy Cummings

Can I Be Your Dog? by Troy Cummings is a heartwarming picture book that offers educational value along with its charming story.

Listed below are 5 educational concepts to sneak in as you read this book with your child.

Empathy
Arfy's letters express his desire for a home and a loving family. This can serve as a starting point for discussions about empathy and understanding the feelings of others.
Imagination & Creativity
Arfy’s struggles take him to many different types of “homes”. Work with your child to deconstruct the story. Imagine who saw the letter first at each stop. Who wrote each of the responses and was that a difficult task?
Problem Solving
Just about every story has a problem and the goal of the story is to solve that problem.
What was the problem in this story and how was it solved?
Communities
The letters in the book are each addressed to various community members. Reading this story can help children understand the concept of community and the different roles people play within a neighborhood.
Reasons We Write
There are many types of writing. The three main reasons for writing are to Persuade, Inform, or Entertain or PIE. This story features all three types. The letters Arfy writes are meant to persuade, the last pages inform the reader about animal adoption and the entire story is meant to entertain.