MSI Press Blog

Exceptional teachers Cindy McKinley and Patti Trombly have put together a book that can help any parent through this extended period of sheltering in place. Packed with home activities for learning, readers can pick any number that appeal to them or fit their personal family circumstances. Here is one example that is bound to make the time spent in lockdown more fun: #144 Steal the Beat From a very young age, parents and teachers use song and rhyme to teach children information. From teaching the different sounds animals make in “Old McDonald” to learning the letters of the alphabet in the “Alphabet Song,” children grasp concepts and information easier when it’s presented in rhyme or song or both! Keep that in mind when you see your child struggling with a difficult task or concept. Try brainstorming with your child a rhyme that might help her spell a certain word or remember a definition.  It is usually easiest to utilize a song that everyone is familiar with. Songs su

Exceptional teachers Cindy McKinley and Patti Trombly have put together a book that can help any parent through this extended period of sheltering in place. Packed with home activities for learning, readers can pick any number that appeal to them or fit their personal family circumstances. Here is one example that is bound to make the time spent in lockdown more fun: #231 What’s the Matter? Matter is everywhere, but what exactly is it, anyway? Matter is something that is observable with some of our five senses. Matter has weight and takes up space. It is all around us. To help your child understand the concept of matter, as well as its various phases, here are some facts to share and activities you can try: (1) Discuss what is and is not matter. (For instance rocks, milk, and air are matter; ideas, words, and feelings are not.)  (2) Make a chart of what you come up with. Look around your home, even take a walk or a drive to find examples around you.  (3) Further

Exceptional teachers Cindy McKinley and Patti Trombly have put together a book that can help any parent through this extended period of sheltering in place during the current covid 19 pandemic. Packed with home activities for learning, readers can pick any number that appeal to them or fit their personal family circumstances. Here is one example: #203  Bug Off!  (Game for +, −, ×, ÷) Materials: a new fly swatter; flashcards, or note cards. 1. Hand your child the fly swatter and tell her she’s going to practice math. Already she’s interested and ready to enjoy this game to help improve basic math facts in addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division. 2. Place cards with the answers to math facts she is working on in school or struggling with, face up, spreading them fairly far apart. Then, simply ask a question such as, “What is 3x4?” and have her slap the fly swatter on the index card with the correct answer. Variations: • Use another fly swatter and play the

  Excerpt from 365 Teacher Secrets for Parents by Cindy Alder-McKinley & Patti Trombly.  Introduction How To Make This Book Work for Your Family: Congratulations! You have just taken the first step in helping your child improve not only his academics in elementary school but also his attitude toward school this year and for years to come. 365 Teacher Secrets for Parents is jam-packed with fun ways to work with and help your child. No longer does school have to be tough. Who says practicing things at home can’t be fun? We have written this book after years of teaching elementary school and many more years working closely with individual ele mentary-aged children. We’ve spent over ten years collecting 365 of the very best ideas and the most helpful activities that we have ever used successfully to help remediate and/ or enrich young children’s learning experiences, and now we are sharing them with you. We’ve spent over ten years collecting 365 of the very best ideas, the most helpf

What is a  book jewel ? A sometimes-overlooked book with remarkable insight and potential significance. Each month, we share near-daily, or as often as possible, reviews of the monthly book jewel - short, succinct reviews that can be read in 1-2 minutes with links to the reviewer by reviewers whose words are worthy of being heard and whose opinions are worthy of being considered. Sometimes a couple of minutes contains more impressive thought than ten times that many. We will let you decide that. This month's book jewel is  365 Teacher Secrets for Parents  by Alder & Trombly.  Description: This reference book, written by two experienced and successful (and, frankly, brilliant and talented) elementary school teachers, provides a day-by-day set of practical ideas and activities that parents can do at home with their elementary school-age children to help them become better students while also having fun. Review by Jessie on Amazon: Great for homeschoolers, too! I was so pleased to

  Patti Trombly has a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education and a Master’s Degree in the Teaching of Reading.  Even after 20 years of teaching in elementary school, middle school and college, she still looks for teachable moments in everyday life and for new ways to help children learn. She is a parent of two, a teacher and a business owner.  With Cindy McKinley Alder, she co-authored two books:         365 Teacher Secrets for Parents: Fun Ways to Help Your Child Succeed in Elementary School . 10 Quick Homework Tips  (one of the books in our pandemic series) Check out the 365 Teacher Secrets  website  for more "fun ways" to help learners -- and get a workbook that goes with it. For more posts about Patti and her books, click  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: