newsong Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 What does it look like at your house? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momof2boys Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Well we are constantly discussing the state of the world in our home from Obama, politics in general, the health care reform bill...you name it and we discuss it. I also get World magazine and the boys read articles in it and the ones they want to talk about we do. Gloria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoggirl Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 political cartoons. When I was in 9th grade, we had to turn in a political cartoon every Wednesday. You had to explain the subject matter of the cartoon, why it was funny, and whether or not YOU thought it was funny (meaning did you agree or disagree) and why or why not. Typically, there won't be enough info from the cartoon alone, so additional research (reading the actual paper!) or discussion will be required. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Breakfast at our house comes with the newspaper. We use national and local articles as vehicles to launch discussions. For international news, I keep an eye on the BBC's website and often point out stories of interest to my son. Further, I think it is really important to keep abreast of science news. NPR's Science Friday is great for this. We love political cartoons in our house as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXMary2 Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Right now we read "God's World News" for teens. We also use the local newspaper, FOXNEWS.com and CNN.com. Sometimes we discuss a story specifically, sometimes we discuss how the use of propaganda affects the facts of the story being told. We sometimes compare two versions of the same story and then try to conclude what the truth might be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXMary2 Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 political cartoons. When I was in 9th grade, we had to turn in a political cartoon every Wednesday. You had to explain the subject matter of the cartoon, why it was funny, and whether or not YOU thought it was funny (meaning did you agree or disagree) and why or why not. Typically, there won't be enough info from the cartoon alone, so additional research (reading the actual paper!) or discussion will be required. HTH I love this idea! Thanks~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Keep suggesting it. There are new people on the board all the time. And some of us like the reminder so we can keep it in mind for when we have more time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 I tagged the thread with Current events. If you click on the tag, you can find an older discussion. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janice H Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Somewhat akin to using political cartoons, reading opinion pieces assumes the reader knows something about the topic. (And just like cartoons, they don't amuse all of the people all of the time.) Furthermore, current events essays can also be part of rhetoric/composition as we evaluate the logic, structure, tone, and truth of the premises in the essay. Dd and I recently read a Thomas Sowell essay. Its opening paragraph was a paraphrased Aesop fable--very much like we write for Classical Writing progym. exercises. Also many essays reference famous people and events from history, myths, and references to the great books. I had no idea what I was missing from the editorial and opinion pages until I had homeschooled for a few years. King Canute was referred to in the Wall Street Journal no less than three times last month; that would have sailed right over my head last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in MN Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 What does it look like at your house? For my 8th grader, I'm just having him make a page each week. Basically like this: Date of event ____________________ Place of event ____________________ [Highlight location on map.] Current Event: [Describe event or paste article here.] It's a great discussion starter & keeps him looking at the bigger world. Hopefully by 9th, we'll expand it to include more depth. I like the cartoon idea. Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 I am very happy that our history curriculum, through Connect the Thoughts, covers current events at the same time as it covers history. It is quite clever how it is done. Also, some of the other CTT courses specifically cover modern issues...dd15 is doing a course on Emerging Third World Countries. There are others such as on Terrorisom, Poverty, Current Wars...they are basically a series of research assignments. connectthethoughts.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choirfarm Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Well, I have so much on my plate, that I don't TEACH current events. However, my 9th grader reads the paper every day on his own and will often bring me an interesting article he found and ask if I read it. He has also watched World News Tonight every night for years and we are often talking about it as we watch it. He would probably be a cable news junkie if we had cable. Christine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelbe5 Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 We use two different levels of "God's World News" here. But I am going to add the "political cartoon" idea! That is a great idea and I know my 9th grader will enjoy that! Thanks! Adrianne in IL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seraphina71 Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 My 13yo daughter and I love the Holt McDougal current events website at hmcurrentevents.com . It's colorful, interesting, and IMO provides just the right amount of depth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maryalice Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Here are some links to quizes, etc.: http://www.studentnewsdaily.com/ http://speechgeek.com/extemp/ http://www.izzit.org/events/index.php http://www.nytimes.com/learning/students/quiz/ http://www.cnn.com/studentnews/ and I coach NCFCA Extemp Speech Club (Limited Preparation speech on current events) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 I am teaching a US government and Economics class and I have my students bring in a news article every week and we discuss those. The students seem to be more interested in current events due to both this and the class in general. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGin Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 2 or 3 times a week, 14 yo dd browses a major news website, once a week she reads our local (medium sized town) newspaper, and picks a letter to the editor to discuss with me when we have our weekly conference. That's what it looks like and so far I am very pleased with the results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vida Winter Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 I usually print several articles out each week on a variety of topics. After my dd reads an article we will discuss it as well as background information and vocabulary she is not familiar with. Then it goes into her binder so it can be referenced later if needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessedwithboys Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 My oldest is taking a political science class at our local Co-op and my younger two are using God's World News. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lllll Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 (edited) Sources: Radio news and radio talk shows. NPR for news and "Star Weather", as our dd calls it. Internet when we get to the library. World News on my cell phone, occasionally. Dh. Neighbors. Game warden. Barber. Chatty librarians who talk constantly as I sit here typing ... and seem to have forgotten how to WHISPER. Patrons who talk to the librarians. And on and on. No TV or newspapers (except our tiny local paper) or magazines, however. Haven't seen those in years. Procedure: Discuss, discuss, discuss. Think "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss. ... in a box, with a fox, .......... All the time, anywhere, constantly, with anyone who will listen. Connect current events to their history. Recently, our whole family visited our senator's office to voice opinions on current political items. Ds's sounded a whole lot more intelligent than dh or I did simply because they really knew their history and dh and I didn't, so much. It makes a difference. Spend the day in court. We had to go to court to prosecute trespassers last fall. While we were waiting for our turn, we sat and listened to a whole slew of different things done by those in the community and beyond. Very revealing. A ds recently connected a description of a city in Plato to a photo of ruins on Google Earth which they found under the shallow waters off the coast of somewhere around Europe or somewhere. He was excited. :) Edited October 2, 2009 by ksva Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonibee Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 For my 8th grader, I'm just having him make a page each week. Basically like this: Date of event ____________________ Place of event ____________________ [Highlight location on map.] Current Event: [Describe event or paste article here.] This is a very good idea! I will be adding this to my 8th grader's schedule next week. Love it. Joan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolally Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 in the car is a good way to squeeze in current events for us. It's a great springboard for discussion. World Magazine has a great news page we check out regularly-- http://www.worldmag.com/index.cfm Another great one-- http://newsforchristians.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lllll Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 I forgot an important resource for discussing current events. We read articles from the HSLDA magazine and discuss them. We just did this with the article about hs'ing in England. Kathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicole M Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 Like others have said we don't do formal current events study. We do listen to the radio, BBC or PRI's The World. My oldest reads the newspaper (shamefully, I don't). I recently got my son a subscription (student rate!) to The Economist. Here's a cool thing about that -- if you subscribe you can get audio downloads of the whole magazine! My son downloads the interesting articles to his iPod and listens on the bus on his way to his classes at the community college or walking to his music lessons. Neato! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAMom Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 Right now, for us, it involves all of the research my kids are doing for debate (which is US environmental policy this year) as well as the research the oldest one does for extemporaneous speaking.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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