MSI Press Blog

  I call it “cheating,” but really it’s ninja brainwork. The grocery list becomes a game: Rhymes : “Beans and greens, don’t forget the means” → beans, greens, rice. Stories : The cat drags a loaf of bread while juggling apples → bread, apples, cleaning supplies. Journeys : Milk waits at the top of the stairs, carrots line the hallway, tea sits at the table. Chunks : Produce in one hand, dairy in the other, pantry items balanced like weights. Every list is a kata — rhythm, imagery, and recall. My brain stays limber, my memory sharp. The dojo isn’t just the kitchen or the stairwell; it’s the mind itself. Visual created with AI; text AI used at times in editing. Grandma’s Ninja Training Diary  is the inspiring true story of a septuagenarian grandmother who dared to dream big—by training for  American Ninja Warrior . Teaming up with her coach and trainer, she embarks on a three-year journey to build strength, resilience, flexibility, balance, and endurance—starting f...

  Today's tip for parents from two talented teachers comes from  365 Teacher Secrets for Parents  by Cindy McKinley Alder and Patti Trombly. #27 I Just Forgot!   If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear. ~Winnie the Pooh   Do you find that when you ask your child to do more than one thing at a time, the task may only get partially done or not done at all? Perhaps it is less an attitude problem than you might be tempted to think. Children need practice building their memory and multi-tasking skills. One way to improve your child's memory is by asking him to do a series of tasks. Use the words "first," "then," "next," and "finally" or number them 1, 2, 3, 4. Give him directions such as "First, go get your book bag. Second, put on your shoes and, third, wait by the door for me.” It may be helpful to have a younger child repeat the dire...

  Most people use calendars, apps, flashcards, sticky notes. I use something else—something harder to explain and impossible to hold: a memory system that's lived-in, patterned, and quietly persistent. When I was a scholarship student at Penn State, I participated in three memory experiments. I liked being a subject—it paid, and money was tight. But each time, I ended up skewing the data. The researchers weren’t sure how to process results that didn’t show the typical learning curve. After the third experiment, I was gently asked not to participate further. They weren’t allowed to ask follow-up questions, according to protocol. But if they had, I could’ve told them exactly what was happening. One experiment presented 52 three-word sentences in a made-up language, each translated into English. The first ten sentences introduced new vocabulary; the remaining ones simply rearranged or repeated those words in different combinations. Afterward, we were asked to translate additional se...

  Precerpt (excerpt prior to publication) from My 20th Language by Betty Lou Leaver, Ph.D. --  Chapter 1 The Incredibly Important Role of University Studies By the time I graduated from Penn State University shortly after my twenty-first birthday, I was definitively fluent in five languages by any reasonable definition of fluency: English, French, German, Russian, and Spanish, listed in order of proficiency at that time (though today Russian would rank right after English). I had completed advanced courses in literature, stylistics, linguistics—including morphology, syntax, and advanced grammar—and composition in all of them. I had also taken teaching methods in Spanish under a professor widely considered the best in foreign language pedagogy. My proficiency extended well beyond basic communication. I could write essays, poetry, and fiction in all five languages, tailoring my language use to specific audiences. I could read virtually anything and grasp cultural implicatio...