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

  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 .

  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; ●        that setting a good example is an easy (and possibly the most effective way) to get your points across; ●        that having a plan and being organized can

🌟   5 Tips for Surviving This Time off of School and in the House!  🌟 To be sure, this is an unprecedented time, and an unusual break from school. Your  kids might feel frustrated they aren’t getting to go to school, see their friends, and engage in their favorite sports and activities right now.   But every time your family chooses to stay home, help your kids see that they are actually being brave and helpful. You can help your kids think of this time not like a punishment, but rather like they are giving their community a great gift. Staying home, as many are, is a true act of solidarity. It’s a sacrifice they can give so that nurses, doctors, and all those for whom it is not possible to stay home and protected (from first responders to grocery store personnel, and many, many others) can continue to do their jobs and keep the rest of us safe and keep our lives as normal as possible. Here are a few ideas from an article I wrote about stopping Summer Slide and from my boo