You could say that Miss Cathy was drawn to teaching (literally). She loves her job at Ready Set Pre-K and looks forward to each morning with as much delight  as her students: Freda, Percy, Ajay, Emma, Carlos and little Camille.

Although the focus of  Stuart J. Murphy’s I See I Learn stories is on the children (“Freda Plans a Picnic,” “Percy Gets Upset”), Miss Cathy plays a key, though sometimes invisible role, helping them learn the skills they need to be “happier, healthier and more confident.” She beams with their every success and when they struggle, thinks about ways to help.

Miss Cathy is constantly reading books and articles about early childhood education (she is a  big fan of NAEYC’s magazines, especially “Teaching Young Children”). She is also a bit of a geek, regularly surfing the web looking for good resources.

So it was only natural  that when we began thinking about developing resource pages to post on Twitter and Facebook, we thought of Miss Cathy.

She was thrilled! “Of course, I would love to help! Right after class, I shall start to put together some notes.”

Each “Miss Cathy Recommends…” webdoc (a one-page mini-website) includes links to articles, book links and websites about a specific social, emotional, health and safety or cognitive skill.

Miss Cathy also shares an I See I Learn story about how her students have learned specific skills, such as making a friend or dealing with frustration, and includes a link to an I See I Learn pdf poster, perfect for classrooms and libraries.

So far there are 8 “Miss Cathy Recommends…” resource pages:

SOCIAL SKILLS

• Making Friends: I See I Learn’s Miss Cathy Recommends Books & Resources (“Emma’s Friendwich”)

• Teamwork! Miss Cathy Recommends Books and Resources (“Camille’s Team”)

EMOTIONAL SKILLS

• Wow! I Can Do It: Miss Cathy Recommends Resources on Building Confidence (“Good Job, Ajay!”)

• Meltdown! Miss Cathy Recommends Resources on Managing Frustration (“Percy Gets Upset”)

HEALTH & SAFETY SKILLS

• Safety = Fun! Miss Cathy Recommends Resources on Playground Safety (“Percy Plays It Safe”)

• Lost? Miss Cathy Recommends Resources for Getting Found (“Freda Gets Found“)

COGNITIVE SKILLS

• Freda Plans a Picnic & Miss Cathy Recommends Resources for Sequencing Skills (Freda Plans a Picnic)

• Writing Your Own Name! Miss Cathy Recommends Resources (Write On, Carlos!)

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Actually, there is a 9th “Miss Cathy Recommends…” page:

• Miss Cathy Recommends…Stuart J. Murphy’s Fall 2011 Newsletter!

Read the latest about I See I Learn (now in Spanish!), MathStart, the MathStart musical,  The Main Street Kids’ Club, and more…

Thank you, Miss Cathy!

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Do you know a great resource you would like to recommend to Miss Cathy? Please write to feedback@stuartjmurphy.com!