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. #101 Mind Monitoring   You may have tangible wealth untold. Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold. Richer than I you can never be –  I had a mother who read to me. — Strickland Gillilan               The last several ideas gave you information about the system for better comprehension called SQ3R. During reading, it is important for your child to be thinking about several different things. Teachers often call this “having a conversation with the text.” Try this out yourself: pick up something and read it. Pay attention to what you are thinking while you are reading. Are you connecting the words to anything you already know? Agreeing? Questioning? Predicting what might be written next? Good readers do this, often without even realizing it. Kids are very focused, e...

Today's tip for parents from two talented teachers comes from  365 Teacher Secrets for Parents  by Cindy McKinley Alder and Patti Trombly.   #67 Mind Monitoring   Reading without sharing is like watching a circus without saying anything— like a commercial without a TV program— like a frame without a picture.  ~Nancy Whitelaw               One big step toward helping your child become a better reader is to make sure she is actively reading, which means paying attention to everything she reads and thinking about it as she reads. Good readers are always thinking as they read. (They make assumptions, predict, question, compare, and connect to their own lives.) You probably do this all the time as you read even though you don’t realize it. Oftentimes in elementary school, kids are working so hard at sounding like a good reader on the outside that they are sacrificing actually being a good reader (compr...