MSI Press Blog

  Today's book excerpt comes from 10 Quick Homework Tips by Alder & Trombly . Introduction            Have you ever felt frustrated with your child and his homework?  If so, know that you are not alone.  In our 40 combined years of teaching, we don’t think we’ve ever met a parent who hasn’t felt frustrated, overwhelmed, or just plain confused about how to end homework battles at one time or another.                In our previous book, 365 Teacher Secrets for Parents: Fun Ways to Help Your Child Succeed in Elementary School , we offered some homework tips scattered throughout the themed chapters.  It is our hope, here, to gather the 10 most helpful strategies, all in one convenient place for you. Overall, we have discovered that the main reasons for family stress about homework seem to come from two things: # 1.       When and where to do the homework and # 2.       What to do when your child doesn’t know how to do it           To help you conquer these problems, we have put

  Today's excerpt comes from 10 Quick Homework Tips by authors Cindy McKinley Alder and Patti Trombly: TIP # 2 TYPE UP AN OFFICIAL HOMEWORK AGREEMENT     Like anything worth doing in life, happiness takes time and patience and consistency. ~Mark Manson   Why is this Important?  That idea of heading off stress by being proactive about homework is perhaps best used in the creation of a Homework Agreement.  Quite simply, this is an agreement your family makes that states when, where, and how homework is expected to be done. Having a plan before school starts in the fall allows you to avoid that “you against them” feeling that so often is attached to homework.  If the year has already begun, though, there is still no time like the present to make a great change for the better! What You Can Do: Have you ever realized that it is easier to get out of something if you can "blame something else"?  “Sorry we can’t come to your son’s piano recital; we have a family reunion that d

Released today: 10 Quick Homework Tips . with special advise for activities during a quarantine. Written by two teachers with 40 years of combined experience: Cindy McKinley Alder and Patti Trombly.   Check out their other book that also has many activities that can be done during a pandemic: 365 Teacher Secrets for Parents . And here is another source of hood activities to help during quarantine from Black Parenting Magazine: click here .

  Just in -- great review for 10 Quick Homework Tips from Readers' Favorite: "an excellent manual for all parents" Read the full review HERE . Read posts about Alder & Trombly and their other book, 365 Teacher Secrets , HERE .

  Many MSI Press authors are teachers -- and a number of them write some darn good books for parents, award-winning books, in fact. Here are some of their works that might interest you: Cindy Alder (K-12) 10 Quick Homework Tips   365 Teacher Secrets for Parents Franki Bagdade (K-12)   I Love My Kids, But I Don't Always Like Them TL Brink (university) How to Argue with an Atheist Ekaterina Filatova (university) Understanding the People around You Christina Fisanick (university) The Optimistic Food Addict Tom Garza (university) Practices That Work Julie Gentile (private) 108 Yoga and Self-Care Practices for Busy Mamas How to Stay Calm in Chaos Emily Graves (university) How to Be a Good Mommy When You're Sick Geri Henderson (university) Healing from Incest Noah's New Puppy Darius Husain (K-12) Road Map to Power Muna Imady (private) Damascus amid the War Road Map to Power Omar Imady (university) Erasures  - affiliated The Celeste Experiment  - affiliated The Gospel of Bethany:

  Excerpt from 10 Quick Homework Tips (Alder & Trombly) TIP # 1    HEAD OFF STRESS BY BEING PROACTIVE "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now." ~ Chinese Proverb   Why is this Important?   One of the biggest reasons, if not THE biggest reason, that kids and parents alike feel stress about homework is that their family simply has no concrete plan for how, when, and where homework will get done.  Kids may not act like it, but they need, and even like, having rules.  They feel better, safer, if they know exactly what is expected of them.  Think about your daily life, at work or at home.  Do you feel more confident, more calm, on days that you are unsure what your boss will want from you, when you don’t know what you are expected to do, or where you should do it and with what tools… or on days when you know exactly what is expected of you, where you know just what to do, where, when and how?  Most of us feel best when there is a routin

  In honor of National Homework Day, our daily excerpt today comes from 10 Quick Homework Tips (Alder & Trombly) -  TIP # 5 REMEMBER ALL KIDS ARE DIFFERENT Why fit in when you were born to stand out. ~Dr. Seuss Why is this Important?  As parents, we so often find ourselves comparing our kids to other kids, to their siblings, to ourselves at their age, and - of course- to the outcomes on their report cards.  It is so important to remember, though, that all kids are different.  Here are a few things to keep in mind. What You Can Do:  For this tip, we just want to remind you, give you permission to go easy on your child.  If he isn’t reading as soon as his older sister, or doesn’t have his multiplication facts memorized as quickly as his best friend, or even if he doesn’t have all the top marks on his report card, that’s OK.  Again, balance is key.  It is important for you to be able to recognize if a bad grade is just that, a one-time thing. Was