Looking for current events for kids? The Juice Learning is a great way to incorporate current events and news for students in your homeschool curriculum. It helps students understand why it is important to stay informed regarding current issues (and helps spot fake news examples for students) and works to develop critical thinking skills on issues going on in the world. Use our homeschool coupon code discount and get even more savings on a homeschool subscription for one low price for up to five students!
Teaching Current Events with The Juice Learning
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Wondering about teaching current world events awareness can seem overwhelming. Where do you start? How do you pare down all the world events into homeschool lessons? How do I find unbiased news so my homeschoolers know the information they receive is accurate?
Current events high school class curriculum or middle school current events curriculum can sometimes be difficult to add to your homeschooling.
But, before I tell you about a great homeschool course alternative for this, let’s start at the beginning…
What is a current event?
Current events are things that are happening with people, events, or issues in the news. Current events are constantly changing and happening on a local level, national level, and global level.
Why is it important to keep up with current events?
You may be wondering why is it important to study current events in homeschooling? Studying events, issues, and people in the news will help homeschool students:
- Become aware of local and national issues
- Understand current global issues
- Practice critical thinking skills
- Learn to spot fake news
- Understand how issues going on in the world may affect them
- Develop an interest in the news
- Become motivated to get involved in helping with local, national, and global activism
How do you study current events?
When studying current events for kids, you want to:
- Study in quick snippets, like 10-20 minutes, so kids can stay aware but not get overwhelmed.
- Include a mixture of current event topics. While you may want to study current events for kids science or politics, also be sure to include fun current events for kids.
- Look for non-biased news story sources so kids can practice critical thinking and come to their own conclusions.
- Use an interactive format to keep kids engaged.
- Help kids with any vocabulary or phrases that may be confusing.
- Give kids a way to quiz what they’ve learned.
I’m so excited, because we’ve just been introduced to The Juice online learning program, which gives us a way to do all of this and more!
ABOUT THE JUICE
What is The Juice Learning?
The Juice is an online subscription current events-based learning platform that provides diverse, non-biased current event news to kids.
Features of The Juice:
- Daily current events (updated daily at 6 a.m. EST.!)
- Unbiased news reporting
- Mix of news and inspiring stories
- News written for kids at four different reading levels from late elementary school, to middle school and through high school, covering grades 5-12+
- Accessibility features, including audio playback
- STEAM videos
- Parent / teacher tracking, including quizzes for kids
- Access for computer, tablet, and phone
From the website:
“The Juice is written by master educators and award-winning journalists. We’ve anchored Good Morning America, championed students of all backgrounds and ages, and won teaching awards alongside 12 Emmys and a Peabody.”
Can I use The Juice as a complete homeschool current events curriculum?
Yes. The Juice platform can easily be used for your homeschool current events curriculum with no need for additional lessons! It covers updated events, complete with reading comprehension, vocabulary lessons, and critical thinking, all done through a variety of engaging ways including reading, audio, videos, and even interactive quizzes. All progress can be tracked through the parent or educator account for each student.
Ready to get right to it and try The Juice?
Grab our online homeschool program coupon code JuiceHSSF and get 25% OFF! CLICK HERE to get the discount!
How much does The Juice cost?
There are two very affordable subscription plans for the platform, paying monthly or yearly.
Monthly Subscription Cost
If you want to pay monthly, the cost is $6.99 per month (which comes out to $83.88/year) and includes one educator (parent) account and up to five children’s accounts linked to the educator account.
Annual Subscription Cost
The annual subscription cost is really the better deal because you get 39% off by paying for one year. It makes the subscription only $50.99 (which comes out to just $4.25 per month!). You still get one educator (parent) account and up to five child accounts.
How does it ensure non-biased news for kids?
The Juice Learning works diligently to provide non-partisan, balanced, and diverse news stories for kids and takes pride in providing multiple viewpoints. Their team of educators and journalists actually meet daily and determine stories that are important, educational, and engaging.
Can I use The Juice in the classroom?
If you are a teacher, you can also use The Juice in your classroom for standards-based current events learning. You can keep track of student progress and receive automated quiz grades for reporting. The Juice learning platform works with public schools, private schools, charter schools, international schools, and even home schools (so, contact them about using it for your homeschool co-op!).
THE JUICE LEARNING REVIEW: OUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
My daughter and I both tried out The Juice, from the parenting portal and also from the student login area.
My daughter (age 13) found the platform very easy to use. I didn’t give her any direction (aside from providing her the link and login info), and she navigated around and figured everything out on her own.
She has been super excited and has logged onto the website on her own to check the daily news. She’s enjoyed being able to pick the news that most interests her and we’ve even had interesting discussions from her findings from the online program.
There’s one quiz question for each piece and my daughter said they are difficult at her level. (The questions are written at the reading/grade level.) However, she didn’t list that as a “con” because she said it pushed her to be more engaged with the topic.
She LOVED (all caps) the life hack videos and talked a lot about those.
My kid also appreciated that she could listen to the articles on audio as well reading them.
She tried the “Extra Juice” area that goes into more detail on some of the topics. She found some of those articles too long for her taste (“Especially about politics,” she said). However, as the parent, I can see how having the more detailed options on a topic could be good for a research project or even group discussion.
Pros Of The Juice Learning
The Juice advantages from our personal experience:
- Very user friendly and easy to navigate.
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All the work is done for you! Covers current events/history, reading comprehension, vocabulary words, and critical thinking practice.
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Content is short, engaging, and interesting, but there is an option to dive deeper into the topic if you want with the “Extra Juice” on the topic.
- There is an audio option for those who have trouble with reading or prefer that medium.
- News is non-biased, without sensationalism or opinions.
- Access to past issues if a student needs to go back for research or clarification.
- You have the ability to set the reading level of each child so they are served the best news to meet their needs and can adjust up or down to meet needs.
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Parents can easily track progress and completion.
- Cost is extremely affordable and covers 5 linked child accounts under one subscription, which is unusual. Most online learning programs are charged per student.
Cons of The Juice Learning
The Juice disadvantages from our personal experience:
- Checking in on the news daily may be overwhelming for some students. I recommend doing short 10 minutes each day to avoid your homeschoolers getting overwhelmed.
- There is only one quiz question per reading, so if you want a more detailed quiz option you will need to make your own.
- The featured news slider is great for a news overview, but if you click on the slider story it takes you to the first story and you have to scroll down. This is minor and probably a personal preference, but my daughter and I both found that annoying.
Will we use The Juice for home school?
YES! We will definitely continue using The Juice for homeschooling to cover current events learning and critical thinking discussion. It has been an easy addition to our daily studies without adding any extra homeschool parent prep work from me. And, for the price, it’s a great online homeschooling program!
DON’T FORGET TO USE OUR DISCOUNT CODE JuiceHSSF FOR A DISCOUNT TODAY!
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