10 Reasons to Cover Current Events in Your Homeschool

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The world today is both a scary and exciting place. Our children face both tremendous opportunities and great challenges. Yet, we face a troubling trend. Most young Americans know very little about current affairs. 

Homeschooling families have a great opportunity to correct this trend. To prepare your students for their present and future, it is critically important to bring current events into your homeschool. 

Here are ten reasons why: 

1. Current events increase knowledge: Want to learn something new? Pick up a newspaper! In every article, there is something new to be gleaned. Current events will dramatically increase knowledge about government, history, economics, social studies, world affairs, health and science, business, geography, and more! 
2. Current events make learning come alive: Textbooks can only go so far in passing down knowledge. Current events give real-world insight into what students are learning in their academics. They allow students to delve into what’s happening here and now, helping them make connections between theory and practice. 
3. Current events give students a heart for their communities and world: Students must know what’s going on before they can care about it. What a gift to open students' minds to issues and struggles beyond their walls! 
4. Current events encourage students to make the world a better place: If students have a heart for the world, they will be more likely to devote themselves to making it a better place. In short, studying current events makes students better citizens. 
5. Current events prompt students to share their intellectual struggles: Is your homeschooler puzzling through a moral issue? Did he or she witness something that challenged a cherished belief? Discussing current events provides parents a forum through which their students can talk though big questions and difficult issues. 
6. Current events discussions provide a safe, nurturing space: What better way for students to work through difficult questions than in the warm, caring environment of home and family?
7. Current events discussions bring families together: If done well, current events discussions bring families together, helping them to connect over important topics. 
8. Current events provide a way for families to pass along beliefs and values: Many of us homeschool because we want to be the ones to shape our children’s minds. Perhaps more than any other “subject,” current events bring discussions about beliefs and values to the forefront. 
9. Current events discussions help families make lasting memories: Do your homeschooling dreams include your family sitting around in cozy chairs, discussing articles from your favorite newspaper or magazine? If you purposefully schedule current events in your homeschool schedule, those dreams can become reality. 
10. Current events discussions are purposeful work: We homeschool to build relationships, learn new and fascinating things, and shape worldviews. It is hard work, but it is meaningful work. Current events discussions may seem like one more thing to pile on. But rest assured it is purposeful work. 

Consider making current events a part of your homeschooling week—for children of all ages! 

In our next post, will give you a practical way to bring current events into your homeschool.  

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