Thursday, April 2, 2009

Homeschool Magazines

At our homeschool support meeting the other night the topic was Favorite Homeschooling Magazines. They could be for moms or kids or both- whatever you use in your homeschool. So, I brought along a few of my favorites and I got to see some other fun publications as well.

Take a look at these and see what you think. Some magazine offer online versions as well as print versions. Some are online only at this point, such as Heart of the Matter Magazine. At our Area Coordinator training for MOPS out in Denver, CO in February, we talked about their current media options with the director and she said that more and more print editions of books and magazines are going digital. Some of it is cost and some is due to decreased readership. So, if you still like the feeling of a magazine in your hands, it's time to renew that subscription! Or else you'll be spending more time on your computer!

Don't have time for a magazine? Do what I do...read them while walking on the treadmill!

Cobblestone Magazine is for kids 9 and up on American History. I LOVE this magazine. It devotes a whole issue to one topic in American History and is a joy to read. When you visit the web site you and see what the upcoming issues will be so you can be prepared. They also have Calliope which is world history for the same age group. You can order back issues which I have also done. I've been able to pick these up at booksales as well.


This is a staple of every household whether you homeschool or not. Am I right? You can check out the NWF website for additional fun activities. I save old issues for cutting up. Where do you think I got all the animals for our classification game?

The same is true for Ranger Rick magazine. E10 really enjoys this one when it arrives.

Homeschooling Today
- I do not subscribe to this one currently, but you never know...how long I will hold out before trying it.

Homeschooling Enrichment- I've been getting this one for almost a year. I love it! It always has a fun unit study and lots of ideas on how to enrich your homeschooling experience.

The Family Handyman- this one is new to me, but one mom of many boys said it is a favorite at her house. Lots of projects in here for them to do and I have to say flipping through it that it might be a fun diversion. This one has Father's Day written all over it!

God's World News- this one is a world news magazine for kids that is published at different levels. We get Top Story. Just a warning that this one has an extremely conservative point of view. That's not all bad, but we like to provide a bit of balance in there with it. This will provide you with plenty of fodder for current events discussions and debates. Trust me...it is a nightly dinner time ritual.

The Old Schoolhouse- I've been getting this one since the fall when they had scrips for $7.95. I love it! My only complaint...it comes out just four times a year. This publisher also hosts a store which has free shipping all the time. I have happily used it several times.

Zoobooks came highly recommended by a few moms. Lots of great pictures perfect for animal lovers. I've seen a lot of these at used booksales.
Another popular genre was food magazines. One mom's kids love to cook and will comb through magazines looking for fun things to prepare for the family. Those are the same boys who enjoy The Family Handyman. We're talking well prepared young men here ladies!

The homeschooling magazines featured above all have a decidedly Christian perspective on homeschooling. Home Education is more unschooling in nature and is decidedly secular in nature. I just signed up for a free sample of the magazine just to see what it's like.

We had a great time chatting and encouraging one another on the things we have used. We decided it would be easy to homeschool well with just a pile of good magazines arriving every month!

5 comments:

carriejoy said...

Thanks Heather. I've gotten several free issues to sample. I liked Homeschool Enrichment too. There's another mag I REALLY like, but can't think of the name at the moment. I'll let you know though.

That Handyman mag has MOTHER'S DAY written all over it imo! Look at those cabinets! Fun to see something outof the box a bit. And sadly we subscribe to NONE of the kids' mags you listed. No one suggested Highlights?

I could easily do my whole budget in kids' mags.

Julie said...

Great magazines, thanks Heather. I bookmarked Cobblestone to order some back issues when we do a Civil War unit study next year!

Rebecca said...

Hi Heather, I found your blog while searching for workbox ideas. Thanks so much for all you've posted. We are currently tweaking our system a bit, trying to find out what works best for us. Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks...and I'm off to check out Cobblestone...

Debi said...

Heather, you are again such a weath of information. I am going to be looking into most of these for us. Thank you again for your blog.

Dana Leeds said...

I was just thinking I needed to get another homeschool mag subscription and wanted to ask friends what they read. And, I'd love to get something for my daughter! I might ask the grandparents for one for Easter - instead of candy and stuffed animals!