We come into the world eager to understand it. Maturing from early childhood to adulthood is a process that involves accessing information and learning to filter and apply it. WORLD News Group recognizes the stages of development in that process and offers age-appropriate current events products to maximize not only knowledge acquisition but the development of biblical wisdom.

As adults, our primary source of knowledge about the world and culture where God has placed us is news media. But so much of the news is tragic, discouraging, and even misrepresented. How do we consume the news appropriately, sift it for truth, and find ways to apply it to real life effectively?

All year ’round, our editors bring readers current events with specific biblical applications for leading pre-readers to discover, young independent readers to explore, young teens to discern, and those approaching adulthood to apply. The good news underlying every story is that God is working out His purposes in all things, and He uses His people to bring about His kingdom work on Earth.

Elementary students from age seven to 10 are gaining an understanding about how big their world is. They are thinking outside of themselves more readily. Abstract thought, such as understanding how maps represent real geography, is forming. But ideas still need to be mostly concrete for them to grasp.

This is the stage of exploration. Kids in this age bracket love to read about real things: animals, places, people, machines. Hands-on projects that let them do something with the material is a helpful tool for making a relationship with new knowledge that imprints, lasts, and grows.

That’s why WORLDkids offers excellent, fleshed-out story content that examines a subject and sets it in context, and then also gives young readers more to do online at the website.

• Perspective: Biblical thinking is worked into the content of WORLDkids with clear references to what scripture says. Our editors choose current events that provide opportunities to show how God is working in the world, through people, and how our hope is always directed back to Him who loves us and is in control.
• Regularity: WORLDkids in print arrives every other month. This rhythm is adequate to keep elementary-aged children engaged without overwhelming them with too much content. Online, kids find the complete magazine content, plus they can access a fresh new story every weekday, Monday through Friday, in the News Shorts section. With this pace, you as a parent or teacher can move your children toward a regular discovery of what’s happening in the world.
• Expanded content: For pre-readers, God’s Big WORLD offered short stories that focused on discovering something new. But elementary-aged students want to dig deep and explore the content, adding context to their discoveries. WORLDkids groups current events under six topic areas. Each topic includes multiple stories, often going beyond the current news story to include historical background or scientific support, graphic interpretation, or to show the event’s impact on people. This allows readers to understand the topic more fully, with greater depth and breadth than a single story can offer. Consider covering one topic area per week. Set aside time to read the content, find locations on a map, explore the additional online content, and discuss the stories later in the day.
• Age Appropriate: Kids are still visual learners, so each story includes bright, colorful, interesting pictures. There’s always a topic about animals—but so much more! Science, history, civics, geography, and exploring systems and machines are always covered as well. Engaging, descriptive language that ties in the familiar with the new makes the text fun and accessible for even reluctant readers.
• Tools: Short quizzes in print and online test students’ reading comprehension and grow their vocabulary—without overloading the experience heavily. An online video component or interactive activity for each topic allows kids to click and explore more—adding to their knowledge. The Teaching Guide, available as a PDF for each issue of the magazine, provides parents and teachers with helpful suggestions, reading and vocabulary quizzes, additional resources, and printable worksheets.
  
  

1) Read your Teaching Guide first. It will help prep you for discussion and understanding the biblical purpose in the story selection.

2) Based on your child’s abilities, read together or let the child read alone. Children of this age are developing some independence. Give them opportunity to see what they pick up on if they read the material by themselves first.

3) Prompt kids to tell about what they’ve read. Ask leading questions, listen, and respond. Affirm the positive and gently correct or redirect if there are omissions or misunderstandings. Your comments might include, “Do you remember…? Why did that part interest you? What do you think would happen if…? I didn’t know that part; did you? How?”

4) Expand your kids’ experience with the material by encouraging them to use the online interactives, videos, and quizzes. Consider structuring your news weeks as follows: Cover one topic per week. Read the online News Short plus one story in the topic each day, Monday through Thursday. On Friday, read the next News Short online, plus have your child work the interactive or watch the video, and take the quiz.

5) Look for opportunities to bring stories back up again as you go about your week. “This is like what you read in WORLDkids…”

6) Use the additional resources in our Teaching Guides and weekly email newsletters for more ideas.

7) Listen to Concurrently: The News Coach Podcast for gentle guidance on creating an environment that’s open to discussion with your children of all ages.

8) When possible, extend the learning experience even further with books from our new Recommended Reading list.