Growing up we always did "news reports" in the morning. A couple kids a day were assigned on a rotating basis to do an oral and written report on daily news from the news paper. You were assigned what category you'd be doing so you'd get a little of everything from the headlines to sports to the weather.
I home school my kids so they're not in a traditional classroom. We make a point of taking a look at the news of the day. We discuss what is happening in the world. We talk about the social ramifications. We talk about the history. We look at the good, the bad and the ugly. We don't sugar coat things for them. We tell it like it is.
My kids will talk to their friends, some go to public school and some go to a private school. None of them seem to know anything about what is going on in the world. My kids bring it up and essentially it's met with blank stares. Their friends are in the same age range as my children.
I remember my elementary school teacher bringing a TV into the classrooms so we could watch the American hostages being released from Iran back in the Regan years.
It just got me curious if they still do this today in classrooms.
at my kids school they do school news, birthdays , what's for lunch, etc.
Not out side school news
I went to nearly a dozen schools and none of them did news reports in the morning as the norm. Current events didn't hit until middleschool in the state I lived in at the time (be we were required to be up to speed), and then when I moved current events was only required my Sr. year of highschool.
This was 80's & 90's.
((We did, of course, watch things like the Challenger explode -none of we wee ones really got that we weren't watching a documentary on something happening ages ago-, and innaugrations... but aside from those blue moon things... not until
Personally (as another homeschooler) I avoid current events with my 9yo, by and large. We do a lot of tech & science & gaming news... but rarely if anything geopolitical. He was an early reader and kept asking things like "What's genocide, mommy?" (headline at the grocery store). That's not something I reeeally want to discuss with a 3yo... but a LOT of things I'd rather not discuss he got fairly bombarded with. Just the other year we had 6 months of problems because of all the news coverage on teen suicides and bullying. It's not 'head in the sand' ignore what's going on... it's NOT intentionally seeking out more than we're already exposed to via osmosis. This is a "my kid" kind of thing. The weight of the world REALLY weighs on his shoulders, and for a loooooong time -I have a personal bet he's either going to be a cop or a journalist when he grows up- so I don't intentionally introduce more burdens for him to carry. I realize most kids -like myself when I was his age!- aren't like he is. I'm not saying ALL kids should avoid the news. But mine should. At least for a few more years.))
Ha! I'm guilty! My boss always tries to engage with me about the events of the day and I give that blank stare. He has even told me there was a big write up in the paper about me and nothing! [cricket chirp]
Most often I don't know what is going on until 11:00 p.m.! I am up at 5:00 a.m. racing around to get myself and the little one ready and can't stop to even listen to the news.
My little one is in kindergarten, so they haven't written any reports about current events.
They do it in my kids school. They turn the TV's on and they always do the news, the lunch, how many peace days they have, how many days of school it is, birthdays, important reminders, etc. They also say the pledge and the school pledge. It's pretty neat!!
I think for big news things they would also turn the TV's on.
I was a teacher for 17+ years and plan to homeschool my son. So I have a unique perspective in this arena.
At about 4th-6th grade many teachers assign current events reports based on newspaper articles, but that occurs only 2-3 times a year.
As some current events come up (such as elections, etc) teachers will use that as a teachable moment, but honestly there is so much to cover, there isn't enough time. Most teachers have about 6 hours a day to impart a broad spectrum of subjects to a classroom full of 20+ very diverse students (students who are learning language, students with learning disabilities, students with NO parental support, etc), and the overall driving force that teachers are working towards is the state test, which in my opinion only evaluates a child's endurance, not his or her knowledge.
Yes, your homeschooled children are fortunate. They are being given the best education possible..one on one. Anyone would thrive in that environment. :)
At our school, kids are part of the media team.
They give the weather and school news - what is for lunch and who has a birthday.
They keep it pretty vanilla and don't discuss news outside the school.
My son's school does a "morning report" of sorts...school news & reminders, lunch choices for the day, weather as it effects indoor/outdoor recess, etc.
As far as "outside news" -- can you imagine??!! People on here were freaking out because their schools were going to let the student body watch Obama's address to school children! So--I'm sure "your news" is pretty tailored to your own beliefs and values. Do you think schools can give an unbiased enough portrayal of today's news, when we adults can get apples or oranges depending on which news source we choose to watch? Not likely!
My son (3rd grade-public school) is very aware of current events, etc., because we discuss current events & news in our household.
We had current events for a short season in the 8th grade. I don't do this with my daughter. I don't know if I want to. I am obsessed with the headlines and often depressed because of them. I'm jaded about people, don't want to go "out there" in any way, and could easily be a hermit. I've been praying about whether or not I need to break the habit and just sink my head in the sand. I don't know that I want to subject this to my 11 year old, homeschooled daughter. I already drive my family crazy when I tell them what I see on the news. My family WANTS to avoid these headlines.
Wow! That sounds like a great idea. My oldest is in PreK, so I'm really not the person to ask. We did not have this growing up. I did have a high school social studies teacher that would ask us about current events at the beginning of each class. I think he offered bonus points, so it was sort of a race to see whose had would go up first.
With "No Child Left Behind" and the huge increase in standardized tests I think it's just really hard on schools to get to everything the "have" to that many of them are struggling to do anything considered extra. Many are having trouble finding a balance. I'm not trying to criticize. Just saying I don't think there are any easy answers.
My 4th graders do current event oral reports in public school, although most of them tend to pick stories about unusual animals or something from various online kids news sites. The whole school has done mock elections around election time
DH still reads the newspaper on a daily basis and one of my DDs who will read just about any printed material within visual range has absorbed quite a bit of current events by reading and asking her dad questions about what's in the paper - I think most of what I know comes from listening to the two of them talking!
My experience has been....... not so much. I think they acknowledged Martin Luther King day once or twice during the entire Grammar School experience. It was disappointing.
