Magazines

Greetings!
It’s been a while since I talked about magazines. I know they can be quite expensive, but if you choose carefully, they can be as good as or better than a book in the library.

It is a good idea to have magazines that help support your curriculum such as science, history, and health. It also is great if you can have magazines that support the interests of the students in your school. For example, if you have a number of boys that all ride bikes or are interested in model airplanes; find a biking magazine or a model airplane magazine. If I were choosing magazines to fit the interests of my students, I would talk with them and let them have a say in what magazines they would like to read at school.

If I had to choose only five magazines for my library I would choose the following ones.

Kids Discover - $26.95 for a year (12 issues)– Each issue tackles one subject and the entire issue (approximately 20 pages) focuses on the one subject. The current issue is all about Simple Machines. Sample subjects include Cells, Roman Empire, Ancient Greece, immigration, American Revolution, Ecology, How America Works. The magazine is appropriate for students in grades 4 – 8. Issues can also be downloaded on the iPad. Keep back issues to use in the future.

Cobblestone – $33.95 for a year (9 issues) - This one bills itself as a history magazine for children in grades 5 – 9, but they also say ages 9 – 14. Which is it? I guess probably both depending on your students. Cobblestone is from the Cricket Group and they also choose a theme for each issue. The latest issue is on March on Washington, and other themes include Thomas Jefferson, War of 1812, The White House’s Historic Neighbors, The Manhattan Project, The Great American Road Trip, A Look at the Library of Congress, becoming American: The New Face of Immigration. This is also one to keep for future use.

Faces – $33.95 for a year (9 issues)- Faces is another magazine from the Cricket Group and is similar to Cobblestone, but the main themes are about People and Places or world culture rather than history. Sample themes are China in a Day, Vietnam, Ghosts and the Spirit World (I just don’t put in appropriate issues in the library), How Religion Rules the World, Australian Aborigines, Texas and the Southwest, Nigeria, Top 20 Cities of the World. Even though there is one issue that is listed in this year’s themes, this happens so seldom. I think this is the only issue in the past 12 years that has not been appropriate for our school. This is also a keeper for the future.

National Geographic Kids - $15.00 for a year (10 issues) This is a nature magazine for kids ages 6 – 14 which likely cover your whole school. Since it is from National Geographic, you know the photography is superb and the information is trustworthy. Again, keep back issues for reference.

American Girl - $22.95 for a year (6 issues) – I like that the magazine is for girls ages 8 and up and is also age appropriate. Girls dress like girls not high fashion and the focus is on friendship, crafts, stories and more. We actually keep these for years and our girls pour over them no matter what year they are. I only discard them when they fall apart!

For an out lay of about $130.00 you have 46 issues all of which can be kept for many years. The information is timely and current. I put them in the computer like I do the books and it is easy for us to find the particular subject we want. When a teacher needs materials on the Civil War, the books and any magazines appear in the list.

You may have noticed that I have not included Listen or Winner. I assume you already know about those and receive them. I also did not include National Geographic. This can be quite pricey, but still great for schools. However, I would imagine that there are parents or other people in your school or church community who get this and would be happy to donate it to the school when they are finished reading it. That is how we got our subscription for a few years. I did not get the magazine right as it was printed, but that was not a problem for me. Unfortunately, that family has moved away, so I need to find another person who would be happy to donate their issues when they are finished.

There are still plenty of other options for magazines that you might use in school. These are just my top five.

Money is a problem for you?! You aren’t alone in this. We all could use more money in our schools and libraries. See if you have any parents or church members that might be willing to donate a subscription or money towards one of the more expensive ones. Have a list of the magazines you would like to have and the cost of each. If you include any of the ones above, make sure to include the fact that they will be kept for years in the future as if they were a book.

One small issue we have had in the past is with some of the magazines such as Motocross Action, Mountain Bike Action, and Model Airplane News. These magazines are really geared more toward adults and some of the advertisements in the magazine have scantily clad women in them. We noticed small groups of boys huddled around one now and then and we would find the issue and quietly remove the offending page or pages later. We usually page through each issue ahead of time to check and pull out anything that might be inappropriate before putting it out for students to check out. I will say that this has not been quite as much a problem as it was a few years ago.

I hope this information has been helpful to you.
Have a great week.
Audrey