(Long Island, N.Y.) The Current Events, the national newspaper for kids, announced today that it is launching an online edition to expand access to its educational news reports. In addition, The Current Events is unveiling a complete redesign of its Web site, featuring significant improvements to content, resources, tools and navigation.
“Our redesign marks an important milestone for The Current Events, which for the past ten years has grown into an increasingly essential part of educational curricula at schools around the country,” said Suri Roth, executive editor and founder of The Current Events, in a prepared statement. “We are very excited to provide a new option for subscribers to receive the newspaper electronically via our Web site, an expansion into the online arena that will greatly improve access to our powerful educational content in the classroom and at home.” This alternative, in addition to the use of recycled paper for the print version, is another step in The Current Events’ effort to lean green.
As a devoted supporter of literacy programs at the state and national level, The Current Events is simultaneously rolling out a national sales and marketing campaign in order to provide the newspaper to students in schools across the country.
The Current Events publishes weekly to report the latest current national and world events for kids in grades 2-8. Available in three reading levels (primary, intermediate and advanced), The Current Events newspaper keeps children informed while preparing them for academic achievement and real-world success. Used by over 45,000 students nationwide, the newspaper serves children, teachers and parents in private, public, home, and parochial schools by empowering children with a framework to understand current world events.
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I recently caught up with Suri to learn what prompted her to create a newspaper for kids. As a young mom and former teacher, Suri knows firsthand that reading comprehension, vocabulary and writing are the building blocks for learning and for instilling academic confidence in kids.
For most children, a large part of their everyday life is school. Connecting the world to what they learn about in school is a powerful combination. In 1999, Suri left the classroom to start The Current Events – a sort of “living textbook” if you will. Based in Brooklyn, the paper reports the latest national and world events to over 45,000 students in grades 2-8 every week.
As an educator, Suri recognized that children’s natural curiosity about the world turned everyday news events into powerful learning experiences. To improve her students’ reading comprehension, she created a “newspaper” with four articles and printed the first issue off her desktop computer, making photocopies for other teachers in the school.
“Every teacher knows the best way to hook children is to make something real and alive to them,” says Suri. “If I’m going to teach children about, say, government, the best way is to introduce a topic or a concept that adults in their life are discussing.” She says that’s the best way to reinforce content learning–be it social studies, science, or literacy.
What do the kids think about having a newspaper designed just for them? Suri says children are excited about it because it’s just like a newspaper like mom and dad reads.
“They feel so empowered”, says Suri. “They like to read information that’s real. We can tell by the questions and the letters we get that the kids are comprehending–what’s going on with the pirates in Somalia–they want to know and they want a follow up. The feedback we are getting is tremendous.”
Suri says children are eager to know more about real events and issues in our world. They want to know what’s happening in Iraq. They can detect when you trust them, empower them, and speak to their intelligence.
Not only can our kids handle the truth, clearly–they want it.
With the redesign, The Current Events offers many new features on its Web site, www.thecurrentevents.com. Educators, parents and children will find more exclusive article content, educational tools and games designed to boost students’ literacy and foster the development of critical thinking skills. The redesigned site also includes sections that spotlight student artwork and stories, chosen by The Current Events editors to promote and encourage the intellectual creativity of students around the nation.
