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 (yes, those are the two talented teachers). #4 Setting Goals   Goals not written down are just wishes. ~Unknown   To encourage your child to care about her success, have her set goals for herself. Ask her what she'd like to improve upon. For a younger child, encourage her to start with something simple and attainable such as learning her address and phone number so she'll feel successful right away. For older children, the goals could be complex, such as learning the multiplication tables, writing in cursive, or long division. Have your child set new goals each week, month, or whenever the previous goal is achieved. Keep track of her progress in a visible place, such as a refrigerator, so that everyone can be proud of her success. You may even want to have the whole family try this! Wouldn't it be great if everyone had a ...

  MSI Press author, Gewanda Parker ( It Only Hurts When I Can't Run ) recently posted a very helpful and interesting video, " What Do You Want? " on Linked-In.  For more posts about Gewanda and her book, click HERE .

The long slog through five years of preparing to be able to take on a set of ninja obstacles can get discouraging. Little improvements are not exciting. Moreover, little improvements are rarely seen. It is like climbing a mountain. You climb and climb or hike and hike, and the top still seems pretty far away. But, if you stop and look down, you can often rejuvenate your enthusiasm not because the top of the mountain is close but because the bottom of the mountain is now visibly farther away. Small progress...great injection of motivation. So, too, this week I passed a goal I did not even know I had. After all, who has a goal that the bottom of the mountain will be X amount of distance away? It was a goal that became a goal only after it was achieved. As I was going my homework--and adding repetitions to it--I realized that I had surpassed the number of push-ups, sit-ups, and planks that I was able to do when I was in the Army years ago. Yes, finally, something!! And to mark th...