Our local newspaper is great and always on the kitchen table, so my kid (12) catches pieces from that. I think my spouse and I are the main sources of news, though. My kid hears us talking and asks about it and we answer. Or kiddo will join us to watch news clips. They asked to see a clip from a MAGA rally recently, after seeing Harris-Walz speak: “I really want to understand for myself the vibe of the other side.” So, a little curated YouTube will join the mix.
Wow. That is so incredible that your kid already recognizes and understands that there are multiple perspectives and sides of a story. Kudos to you for such a thoughtful kid!
My kid is still a toddler so these conversations aren’t happening quite yet but something my teachers would do when I was in school was open up TIME Kids and we’d all pick a topic to discuss from the magazine. I LOVED my TIME Kids subscription (and getting them young works because it was the first publication I subscribed to as an adult lol) and plan to do it for my kid too.
Another subscriber to The Week Junior. And our 13-year old definitely still reads it because he shares interesting bits unprompted. When discussing current events between us, we’ll fill him in on the historical context if he’s around, like at the dinner table. We never watch the news. My husband worked in tv news and is pretty disillusioned about it. We also often listen to Wait Wait together.
Mostly they hear about things from us or ask questions when we are listening to NPR. That said…we just started getting the local paper delivered in print because our kiddo was constantly asking us for our phones/the computer to look at sports stats. Now he can spend as long as he wants with the sports section. But he’s paying attention to the rest of the paper, too, and had started asking questions about some articles. And my daughter (who is 4.5 and not yet reading) asks about some of the pictures she sees in it. Fwiw, we are also LOVING having a print newspaper! We read so many more articles than what the algorithms show us and we can read the news in front of them without them feeling like we’re ignoring them/feeling guilty for being on our phones. It has been a total delight.
Print papers for the win. We do the same. Also, we play NPR in the car in the way to school, and it’s been a great source of discussion. Just this morning, we heard it was the 10th anniversary of Michael Brown’s murder and had a discussion about race. My kid is 7 next week. My daughter, who turns 4 next week, hears it all, too.
Listening to NPR in the car has been great for us too. I think car rides in general have been great times to have deep chats, both with my son who is now 8 and my teen nephews. What I have loved about NPR is that I don't force conversations on him. He listens while doing other things and asks questions about the things he's curious about. This week, we've had discussions about Michael Brown and the whole system of political parties.
My MIL is with my kids after they get off the bus stop and she’s always got NPR on- they ask questions based off that and I listen to some podcasts too- we listened to Pod Save America ep about Tim Walz a couple days ago. We cancelled our print newspaper subscription a few years ago but I read our paper regularly around age 10-25 and my oldest is 7 so I’ve considered it. I like our local paper but we just weren’t reading the print like the digital.
We get People, New York, and the New Yorker magazines at our house. The NYT and WSJ too. We leave them out and the kids (9 and 12) look through them, and I have NPR on sometimes too when I feel like dealing.
We also recently started getting The Week Junior and really like it! I grew up listening to NPR in the background and assumed my kids would do the same. I regularly had it on in the mornings and then there was a period when *all* of the major stories were about the Ukraine invasion and abortion, and I just couldn't handle answering my 6-year-old's questions. She got very upset about some descriptions of violence. I got out of the habit of having it on but she's 8 now and maybe I need to get back to it. (Not saying this was the right response on my part, it's just what happened.)
I take in so much of my news on my phone and via podcasts and I feel like it distracts me so much. I need to think about these options more! Good discussion topic.
Another vote for the NYT kids section. Although my 11 year old wants the real deal. I highly recommend getting at least one Sunday national publication (or your regional/city if it is robust) in print. That way it is around, you don’t have to be on a screen and they can see adults reading it. I get NYT, WaPo, WSJ, Sundays. Atlantic in print (although these long form articles are a pretty high bar for young ones). I let my kids (11 and 8) play NYT games in the NYT app and they are allowed to read or watch or listen to anything that is within the NYT universe.
They like listening to Ezra Klein and Hidden Brain. We aren’t huge podcast or radio people so that’s about it there.
But we also just talk a lot about it. I work in public policy and my husband is a prof of international relations so it’s a common conversation from multiple angles, no way around that. Mostly we just want them to be curious, informed, and feel like they can at least know trustworthy sources. We gently correct on facts and explicitly teach the difference between opinion and news, but try hard to let them process and evolve their own thinking even when it is super hard and cringeworthy 😭
My oldest, who is almost 13, loves the news. When we first got The Week Jr, he would read it cover to cover and he still does, but now also reads The New York Times on his phone daily. It spurs a lot of conversations!
Another print newspaper subscriber here! My son (12) hasn’t shown any interest, but I’m holding on to the hope that he will get curious one of these days … (I read the local paper daily and get the WSJ and NYT weekend editions.)
Perfect timing. Has anyone here listened to the Ten News podcast for kids? We just heard an advertisement for it (during Nat Geo's Greeking Out podcast, which is a family favorite!) and decided to give it a try on our next drive. I work in a school and there are always extra copies of Scholastic News that I bring home. I see all the recommendations for The Week Jr and will subscribe to that as well!
We love the week Jr too in this house!
We love the week Jr too in this house!
Our local newspaper is great and always on the kitchen table, so my kid (12) catches pieces from that. I think my spouse and I are the main sources of news, though. My kid hears us talking and asks about it and we answer. Or kiddo will join us to watch news clips. They asked to see a clip from a MAGA rally recently, after seeing Harris-Walz speak: “I really want to understand for myself the vibe of the other side.” So, a little curated YouTube will join the mix.
Wow. That is so incredible that your kid already recognizes and understands that there are multiple perspectives and sides of a story. Kudos to you for such a thoughtful kid!
Yeah - well done!!!
My kid is still a toddler so these conversations aren’t happening quite yet but something my teachers would do when I was in school was open up TIME Kids and we’d all pick a topic to discuss from the magazine. I LOVED my TIME Kids subscription (and getting them young works because it was the first publication I subscribed to as an adult lol) and plan to do it for my kid too.
Oh! Thanks! I've heard of it and have been wondering about it. That's great to know!
Another subscriber to The Week Junior. And our 13-year old definitely still reads it because he shares interesting bits unprompted. When discussing current events between us, we’ll fill him in on the historical context if he’s around, like at the dinner table. We never watch the news. My husband worked in tv news and is pretty disillusioned about it. We also often listen to Wait Wait together.
Mostly they hear about things from us or ask questions when we are listening to NPR. That said…we just started getting the local paper delivered in print because our kiddo was constantly asking us for our phones/the computer to look at sports stats. Now he can spend as long as he wants with the sports section. But he’s paying attention to the rest of the paper, too, and had started asking questions about some articles. And my daughter (who is 4.5 and not yet reading) asks about some of the pictures she sees in it. Fwiw, we are also LOVING having a print newspaper! We read so many more articles than what the algorithms show us and we can read the news in front of them without them feeling like we’re ignoring them/feeling guilty for being on our phones. It has been a total delight.
Print papers for the win. We do the same. Also, we play NPR in the car in the way to school, and it’s been a great source of discussion. Just this morning, we heard it was the 10th anniversary of Michael Brown’s murder and had a discussion about race. My kid is 7 next week. My daughter, who turns 4 next week, hears it all, too.
I love this. Magazines are great too! I sometimes catch my 10yo reading New York Magazine and I'm like .... whoa
Listening to NPR in the car has been great for us too. I think car rides in general have been great times to have deep chats, both with my son who is now 8 and my teen nephews. What I have loved about NPR is that I don't force conversations on him. He listens while doing other things and asks questions about the things he's curious about. This week, we've had discussions about Michael Brown and the whole system of political parties.
My MIL is with my kids after they get off the bus stop and she’s always got NPR on- they ask questions based off that and I listen to some podcasts too- we listened to Pod Save America ep about Tim Walz a couple days ago. We cancelled our print newspaper subscription a few years ago but I read our paper regularly around age 10-25 and my oldest is 7 so I’ve considered it. I like our local paper but we just weren’t reading the print like the digital.
We get People, New York, and the New Yorker magazines at our house. The NYT and WSJ too. We leave them out and the kids (9 and 12) look through them, and I have NPR on sometimes too when I feel like dealing.
Ha, I was just writing another comment about how I sometimes see my 10yo reading New York mag. I'm always kind of gobsmacked, but I love it.
I mean, it has swear words in it so it's exciting!
We also recently started getting The Week Junior and really like it! I grew up listening to NPR in the background and assumed my kids would do the same. I regularly had it on in the mornings and then there was a period when *all* of the major stories were about the Ukraine invasion and abortion, and I just couldn't handle answering my 6-year-old's questions. She got very upset about some descriptions of violence. I got out of the habit of having it on but she's 8 now and maybe I need to get back to it. (Not saying this was the right response on my part, it's just what happened.)
I take in so much of my news on my phone and via podcasts and I feel like it distracts me so much. I need to think about these options more! Good discussion topic.
Another vote for the NYT kids section. Although my 11 year old wants the real deal. I highly recommend getting at least one Sunday national publication (or your regional/city if it is robust) in print. That way it is around, you don’t have to be on a screen and they can see adults reading it. I get NYT, WaPo, WSJ, Sundays. Atlantic in print (although these long form articles are a pretty high bar for young ones). I let my kids (11 and 8) play NYT games in the NYT app and they are allowed to read or watch or listen to anything that is within the NYT universe.
They like listening to Ezra Klein and Hidden Brain. We aren’t huge podcast or radio people so that’s about it there.
But we also just talk a lot about it. I work in public policy and my husband is a prof of international relations so it’s a common conversation from multiple angles, no way around that. Mostly we just want them to be curious, informed, and feel like they can at least know trustworthy sources. We gently correct on facts and explicitly teach the difference between opinion and news, but try hard to let them process and evolve their own thinking even when it is super hard and cringeworthy 😭
My oldest, who is almost 13, loves the news. When we first got The Week Jr, he would read it cover to cover and he still does, but now also reads The New York Times on his phone daily. It spurs a lot of conversations!
Another print newspaper subscriber here! My son (12) hasn’t shown any interest, but I’m holding on to the hope that he will get curious one of these days … (I read the local paper daily and get the WSJ and NYT weekend editions.)
Perfect timing. Has anyone here listened to the Ten News podcast for kids? We just heard an advertisement for it (during Nat Geo's Greeking Out podcast, which is a family favorite!) and decided to give it a try on our next drive. I work in a school and there are always extra copies of Scholastic News that I bring home. I see all the recommendations for The Week Jr and will subscribe to that as well!