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. #54 Making the Grade   Have your child take responsibility for his grades. Don’t let him say, “The teacher gave me this grade.” Instead, have him say, “I earned this grade.”   Has your child ever come home very upset because of a poor grade on a project or assignment? He might not understand why the grade was so poor and may even think the teacher was unfair in his grading. Before you react, take a few minutes to sit down with your child and go over the assignment or project together. Can you see where he made his mistakes? Can he explain to you the goal of the assignment or project and then decide whether or not he achieved the goal? Together, you should be able to determine where he went wrong. If neither of you can find the errors that brought down his grade, make a list of questions for your child to ask his teacher...

  So appropriate for a week of honoring teachers.... Excerpt from 365 Teacher Secrets for Parents (McKinley & Trombly) -  #364 The Most Important Lessons   The key is taking responsibility and initiative, deciding what your life is about and prioritizing your life around the most important things. ~ Stephen Covey               In this book, we have talked about 363 ways that you can help enhance what your child learns in the classroom, but we also hope that you have learned that inside the school walls is definitely not the only place where learning takes place. Here are a few things we hope you see a little differently now: ●        that there are teachable moments everywhere when you know what to look for; ●        that often it is the questions that matter more than the answers; ●        that practicing can be fun; ...

  Chapter 2: Get Straight As This one has come out of the mouth of almost every parent ever. I’m sure cave parents back in the stone ages groused to their kids about how little Ugg in the next cave over brought down a bigger bison than they did and why can’t they practice hunting more. Once your kid enters school, the obvious goal on everyone’s mind is getting good grades. However, just like all of these sayings, the way you deliver the message can make all the difference. Why We Say It In 2011, Amy Chua came out with her extremely popular book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. [1] If for some reason you spent that year hiding under a rock (or in the North Korea style media blackout that accompanies the attempt to parent any child under four), it’s basically a love letter to the strict discipline the author accredits to a traditional Chinese upbringing. It includes rules such as kids aren’t allowed to play any instruments other than the piano or the violin, they aren’t allo...