MSI Press Blog

Today's tip for parents from two talented teachers comes from  365 Teacher Secrets for Parents  by Cindy McKinley Alder and Patti Trombly. #213 It's a Cake Walk   Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me and I may not remember. Involve me and I’ll understand. ~Native American Proverb   Materials: index cards or flash cards   Objective: to walk around, finding answers to math problems   Some children are very good visual learners. They only need to see information, and they can understand. Other children are auditory learners. By simply listening to information, they can comprehend. Many children, however, are kinesthetic learners. These children need to move around or touch physical objects to help them understand. If you have a kinesthetic learner at home (or even if you're just looking for another fun way to help your child practice math), try this game to get her moving and touching and increasing her comprehension of any basic math facts. ...

  Today's tip for parents from two talented teachers comes from  365 Teacher Secrets for Parents  by Cindy McKinley Alder and Patti Trombly. #211 Roll of the Dice   Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game. ~ Michael Jordan   Materials: two dice, paper, pencil, calculator (for younger children)   Objective: to be the first to reach 100 points (or other agreed upon number) by rolling the dice.   Sometimes the best part of playing a game, for children, is rolling the dice or spinning the spinner. Use your child's love of dice to play this game that helps practice addition and subtraction. Here's how to play:   1.      Everyone playing picks a number from 1 to 6. That number will be his or her unlucky number. 2.      The first person rolls the dice. If her unlucky number does not show up, she adds the dice together and writes the sum down on paper. 3.      Now, she h...

Today's tip for parents from two talented teachers comes from  365 Teacher Secrets for Parents  by Cindy McKinley Alder and Patti Trombly. #202 Cereal Box Math   The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled. ~Plutarch   There's a multitude of math waiting on your child's cereal box or favorite snack box. Here are just a few questions to ask older children:   ●       If there are 120 calories in one serving, how many calories in two or three servings? ●       How much more Vitamin C is there than Vitamin A? ●       If you need 100 percent of vitamin B6 in a day and your cereal only gives 10%, how much more to you need? ●       Pour a normal bowl of cereal. Then, pour the cereal into a measuring cup. How many servings do you actually eat in a day?   Try these with younger children: ●       ...