Current Events: Tips, Tricks, & Resources to Engage Your Homeschool

Current events are a must in our family. But how do you use them in your homeschool? And what resources are out there?

The lights go out, the snacks come out, and paper & pencils stand ready to fulfill their purpose as note-takers. The sound that is somehow both scratchy & smooth is heard as the teacher loads up the favorite tool in elementary schools all over the land.

The filmstrip projector.

Every Thursday & Friday, right before lunch, was Current Events. It was the highlight of my geeky gifted class in elementary school. (Guess how many politicians & scientists we had as costumes for Halloween 1988?!)

We’d follow ongoing news stories – the Iran/Iraq war, the Savings & Loan crisis, the Cold War. (I’m really dating myself here!) We’d follow one-time stories, learn about scientific discoveries, and often a bit of pop culture, too.

I didn’t know it at the time, but those filmstrips began a lifelong love affair with the news.

Recently, I was with a group of homeschool moms when the topic turned to news sources for kids. One mother incredulously asked, “Why would you study current events in your homeschool?” 

Now, something you should know about me is that I have no poker face. Delight or disgust, love or fear. It all shows. So, imagine what my face likely looked like when she said that. I tried to answer diplomatically, but I’m pretty sure I failed.

Today’s current events are tomorrow’s history. And, as George Santayana quipped, those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it. My kids will understand it, even without the filmstrips.

In one survey, a startling 63% of kids got yesterday’s news from family, teachers, or friends. 70% said that consuming news makes them feel “smart and knowledgeable.”

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Where do young people get their news from?

In one 2017 survey, 63% of kids got yesterday’s news from family, teachers, or friends. While 46% also said/or said traditional news sources, 49% also/or get their news from social media platforms.

In the six years since that study, social media use is even higher among teens, and consequentially, so is their reliance on social media sites for their news. (Instagram is the #1 choice, followed by TikTok and YouTube.)

News that comes from social media platforms isn’t inherently bad. And I don’t discount ‘citizen journalism’ wholesale either. But kids need to understand what makes good journalism and how to evaluate news articles & sources.

If teens don’t already have the habit of consuming quality news at home, they aren’t likely to learn it as they scroll through their social media platform of choice. Teens are notorious for following along with their peers — and the news isn’t a place I want to hand my kids off to learn from other inexperienced news consumers!

In one study, “TikTok users who took part in the study said they get more of their news from ‘other people they follow’ (47%) than from news organizations’ own accounts (24%).”

And that is where you come in. When we build the habit of consuming quality news at home, we set our kids up to be savvy consumers of the news.

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Incorporating news into our homeschool

When my kids were younger, my main goal was to build the habit of consuming news. I also wanted to build exposure to names and places. With that familiarity would come recognition as we studied history and as we consumed other news stories.

With exposure and habit in mind, I became more conscious of choosing wise news sources for myself and consuming the news around them. NPR plays on my kitchen radio all day long. We regularly listen to world news in the car, including the podcasts Africa Daily & Focus on Africa from the BBC, France 24, Al Jazeera, and AM/PM from Australia Broadcast Corporation.

As my kiddos have grown, I’ve been more intentional about incorporating it into our homeschool days.

Practical Tips

1. Just turn it on!  

When you’re preparing meals, when you’re cleaning, when you’re getting your school room ready for the day, pop it on, and you’ll be amazed at how much news you (and your kids) hear, even when you can’t give it 100% attention.

2. What do they already know?

“What do you know about the culture of France?” “Can you remember the last solar eclipse?” “What can you tell me about General Eisenhower?”

Prompting kids to pull out the knowledge they already have makes it easier for them to put a new story in context or make connections. It also builds an understanding that the stories we read today have a history — and that’s why it’s important to learn history and pay attention to current events!

3. Get out the maps!  

I love maps almost as much as I love current events. Any reason to pull out a map is a good one, and finding locations of current events is an excellent reason! Sometimes, I pull out a paper map or one of our wall maps; other times, I utilize Google Maps. A benefit of Google Maps is the ability to drop that little orange man into the location and “walk” around it. News stories feel very different when you can imagine being there!

4. Relate it to other subjects.

I set up Google News alerts each year with keywords from the coming year’s studies, particularly history and science. Some of those articles are ones I’ll share; others I read & glean information I can sprinkle into our conversations.

Now, some topics aren’t likely to get many new current events stories. (Looking at you, ancient history.) But you can set up news alerts for pyramids, Mesopotamia, Fertile Crescent, ancient, etc.

I also pull current event stories from many of the countries we will study this year. Even if there isn’t a direct tie-in with the stories we learn this year, it’s a way to tie together today and thousands of years ago.

5. USE NEWS ARTICLES for writing projects.  

If you’ve ever asked one of your kiddos to summarize a book or a movie, you know that you’re likely to get one of two responses.

“It was about a war.”
“It starts off….” and ten minutes later, you’re only five minutes into the movie.

Hand over a news article for today’s writing assignment and work on writing a good summary. Or write a critique of the article. Or challenge your kiddo to write the article from another point of view. Practice research skills as you learn more about the topic.

Online News for Kids

In the years since this blog post was first published & I put out my first video about current events, a lot has changed in the kids’ news industry. Just like the wider news industry, many of the longtime news favorites for the classroom, like Channel One & Kids Post, have shut down. Other news websites, like Tween Tribune by the Smithsonian, have reformatted or changed course, while Newslea has become a subscription service.

Still, there are several options for introducing age-appropriate news stories to kids and a healthy way to become informed citizens. From major news headlines in the United States and around the world to lighter stories covering pop culture and other ‘lighter’ stories, if you look around, you’ll find resources that fit your homeschool.

News Sources for Middle & High School Students

CNN 10

As the name suggests, CNN 10, formerly CNN Student News, is a 10-minute daily news program. While it is aimed at kids in middle school and up, we have used this in younger grades for exposure. You’ll get a range of news stories that keep it fast-paced and engaging to kids, no matter their interests (The week of 3/17/25, for example, included stories about recent tornadoes, deciphering ancient scrolls, breakfast in China, and the strategic importance of the Black Sea.
I appreciate that they follow topics over time, building on them.  

Regular Order

Another resource for middle school & up is Regular Order, a Substack publication This daily e-mail is written by Jamie Dupree, a veteran journalist who has covered Congress for 30+ years He doesn’t provide much context for for the stories, but that’s why I like it He gives the facts & just enough info to know what’s going on (Long stories are great, but I love ‘just the facts’ to start my day.) This is a paid subscription of just $8/month Every Friday, his issue is free.

Youth Radio

News created by Youth for Youth is what you’ll find on Youth Radio And despite the name, the news isn’t just in audio format The topics & formats are perfect for Gen Z. They cover the latest news, health news, tech news, arts & culture, as well as a (clearly identified) opinion section.

Teen Kids News

Each week, Teen Kids News has a video broadcast featuring stories that are both current events and lighter stories In production for more than 20 years, you’ll also find a deep library of shorter one-topic videos, too.

Science News Explorers

Formerly called Science News for Students, this site covers a wide range of science topics in a variety of formats Well-written science news — written for the average person — is hard to find On SNE, though, the journalists are highly trained in the art of explaining science to anyone Many of the writers even have Ph. Ds in their scientific fields There aren’t a large number of new articles each week — in this case, quality over quantity.

New York Times Learning Network

You won’t find but a couple of new articles here each day, one of them being a word of the day And you won’t find current events either (Weird since it’s the NYT, right?!) Still, I think this one is worth recommending because the articles are written with teens in mind Many articles get teens to think and analyze what they’re reading and seeing in images and graphs — a much-needed skill  The articles are also not too long, which is especially good if your teen is reluctant.

Our Favorite Sources for Young Readers

Science News Explorers

Yes, another resource I’ve already mentioned But I’m including Science News Explorers in this section, too, because of one of their stated goals “All are written with a vocabulary and sentence structure appropriate for readers 9 to 14 years old.” The stories are interesting & well-written for adult readers but quite accessible to younger readers as wel In addition, they also have a ‘power words’ section at the bottom of every article that defines keywords.

Newsround

You won’t find a plethora of articles on Newsround by BBC, but they are well-written and engagin If you like videos, they have weekly news roundups videos, and many of their stories are in video format.

Time for Kids

When kids visit Time for Kids, the first thing they’ll be asked to do is choose a grade level (from K – 6 The weekly round-up of articles they see are curated for their reading leve Because the same article can be read on multiple levels, it’s easy for families to discuss complicated topics with kiddos of all age There are no ads, which I lov The margins are blank, which makes it easy for kids to stay focused.

DOGOnews

DOGO News has some great features, including the option to read most stories in Spanis In addition to current events, there are news filters for topics like civics, science, fun, and the worl You can even filter by word count — a great option for your reluctant readers.

News Sites with Resources for Parents/Teachers

New York Times Learning Network

Of all of the news sites I’ve explored, the NYT Learning Network may be my favorite for educator resource I appreciate that they have different ideas depending on the subjec Every day, there are two writing prompt There is a short quiz on that week’s current event There are lesson plans that include background informatio A series of ‘conversations with journalists’ that form an excellent foundation for discussio They even offer a free writing curriculum.

Science News Explorers

If you register for a free account, educator resources include discussion questions, word puzzles, a higher-level version of the articles, and more.

PBS Newshour Extra

For middle & high school students, PBS Newshour Extra is my top choic Their section on teaching media literacy is excellen Each day, you’ll find new lesson plans to use with storie If you have a budding writer, they can submit their own articles in the student voice sectio The breadth of their topics means there can be interesting topics for everyone.

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