God's World News {Schoolhouse Review}

My husband makes fun of me because I have NO CLUE what is going on in today's world. I don't read the newspaper. I don't watch the news. I don't watch talk shows. I don't read any news on the internet. I watch all shows after I have DVR'd them so that I don't have to watch commercials. So, unless a news story pops up on the Wii while my kids are playing a game or in the middle of a Criminal Minds or Chopped episode, I don't know about it. I'm clueless as to what a disaster our country is ... and so are my children. They have no idea what is going on in the world today, or any day. And, quite frankly, I don't really want them to know. But "God's World News" has provided us with a product to review that is allowing us to read up on current events with a biblical worldview. Now, that, I like!

We have been receiving print copies of News Flash from "God's World News" for the past couple of months as part of this review. God's World News is a world news magazine, written for kids (and in the case of News Flash, for kids in the 3rd and 4th grade). There are also magazines available for all other ages, like:

• God's Big World, Pre-K and Kindergarten
• Early Edition, Grades 1 and 2
• News Flash, Grades 3 and 4 (we received this one)
• News Current, Grades 5 and 6
• Top Story, Middle School
• Trak, High School

The news stories are short and very interesting. A lot of the stories are inspiring, also, like about the Aymara Indian man who is the oldest recorded living person in the world at 123 years of age. The article provided pictures of him and his words of wisdom for how to live a long life (lots of walking, no pasta or rice, eating lots of barley). He has no health problems. He was quite an inspiration! The kids said, "Uh oh, we eat too much pasta." I've been saying that forever. It took a 123 year old man from a tiny village in South America for them to decide that I might be right.

Or the article about the little 9 year old girl who is the youngest person to ever reach Master Level at Chess! This was something that really peaked the kids' interest since they have been learning how to play chess. The story focused on how hard work can produce good results and extraordinary things can happen to ordinary people!

We always start our morning with our Bible study. We have been using the same product for the past two years, and we really enjoy it. But, now we have been adding "God's World News" to our morning Bible time. After our regular Bible study, we grab a hot beverage and each of the kids choose a story to read aloud. Then we discuss it. It's been a nice addition to our morning!

It's great for me to be able to share with the kids that things do happen outside our little vacuum of a life in small town Missouri. There are good things that happen and bad things that happen. But, through it all, God is there. He is right smack dab in the middle of every single thing happening in every single story. It has broadened our view of God's world just a bit.

Let's take a look at the magazine.

The first article in each monthly magazine is the "A Way of Life" article, which focuses on a story in another country and then includes a Country Profile section for that country.

The "Map-it!" feature shows you a small map of the country about which you are reading, and it provides you with the location of that country on your wall map, that is included in the subscription. This gives you the opportunity to have your child easily locate the country on the map.

The "Bible2Life" feature, found throughout the magazine in various articles, brings scripture right into the story.

There are also history articles included, like about Alexis de Tocqueville and Hank Aaron, just to name a couple.

The "InToon" articles are really fun and give the kids more of a comic strip type story to read.

And, you can't beat fun puzzles!

A feature I especially appreciated was the Quiz sections found throughout the magazine. They include some 5- to 7-question quizzes that relate to articles found in the magazine. This helps with reading comprehension.

As part of the review, "God's World News" also graciously supplied a couple of issues of World Magazine, just for me. So I have had the pleasure of reading about current events at a level a tad older than for 9 and 10 year olds, which has been a blessing to me. Although I don't follow much of the world's events, that doesn't mean I don't need to be informed.

We also received access to all of God's World News digital format with our subscription. And a new feature allows me and the kids to log onto companion websites, theirs being kids.wng.org. There are additional articles and activities under sections called MySci, Creation, Time Machine, People/Places, Know Me?, and Fun Stuff. The kids loved that website!

The cost for a one-year subscription to one of "God's World News" magazines is $28. All you have to do is pick the appropriate age range for you children and order that magazine at the God's World News website. There are magazines for children of all ages, and recommended for ages Pre-K through High School. You will receive 10 issues for your one-year subscription (there are no magazines published in the months of December and May). You will also receive a weekly e-mail newsletter. (There are also school and group subscriptions available.)

You can see a sample issue, answer key, lesson, and biography from the Gods World News website. A really cool feature of the website, once you are a subscriber, is their Lesson Plans! The website has plans available for various articles in the magazines dating all the way back to 2010!!

This is a magazine that we will definitely look forward to receiving in our mailbox!

You can read more reviews about News Flash from "God's World News", as well as about the other available magazines, by visiting the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog.

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