God’s World News – Top Story (Review)

God’s World News is a series of magazines designed to deliver current world events from a Christian perspective to different grade levels from Pre-K through High School. There is even a magazine called World for adults. I was sent two copies of Top Story with a map for reviewing purposes.

Top Story is for Middle School students, and along with reading interesting articles, news snippets, and activities, your student will also find lessons related to the current magazine edition on the website. It’s educational news covering science, geography, cultures and more. Each edition is chock full of colorful photos and lots of information.

We accidentally received a copy of Trak which is for High School students. Again, you will find lots of articles, news snippets, and color photos throughout the issue. Some of the articles and news snippets are on the same subjects as the other grade level magazines. If you had different ages reading different issues, you’d be able to have some cross discussion on the same topics even though the articles are different. From Tech talk to Bee Beard Competitions, your student will read a variety of topics.

Besides the magazines for kids, we also received two adult World magazines. Again, such a wide range of articles and snippets along with color photos. I read articles about Common Core Curriculum, thoughts on busyness, and a lost Van Gogh painting that has been found and authenticated. There are even movie and television reviews.

How We Used It
I let my kids have the magazines for their ages, and browse them on their own. I also checked out the corresponding lessons on the website, and if I thought they would enjoy it, I had them read over that, too. For example, the October issue of Top Story talks about the Ames Room while the lesson on the web explains the science behind the illusion. So my son studied the photo, presented his theories on how the illusion works, and then read the explanation.

Mostly, we each read the magazines, and shared interesting stories with each other. Sometimes a story sparked an interesting discussion. Plus, it’s neat to look on the map, and see where the people in the articles are located.

What We Think
We have mixed thoughts. None of us watch a lot of news, so this was an interesting review for us, and definitely out of the norm for our reading. Our first instinct is: news is boring and depressing. However, some news is interesting, and even uplifting at times. The children’s versions seemed to be presented fairly light on serious topics whereas the adult magazine is a little heavier. I skipped some of the articles because I tend to be sensitive to too much yuck in the world. Yes, it’s important to know how the world is shaping up, but I don’t need to plod through my day with a heavy spirit either. There needs to be a balance. Thankfully, there aren’t a lot of heavy topics in World, so I found several things I could enjoy reading about.

Each of us tended to skim through our respective magazine stopping to read more in depth when a topic caught our attention. We also enjoyed sharing some of the things we read about and showing each other neat photos like the aircraft that can fold up its wings, and drive like a car.

When you are watching news, it’s harder to skip certain stories, and even trickier to keep young ones from absorbing them. Magazines allow for easier choosing, and you can definitely keep younger ones from seeing certain stories a little easier.

Overall, I like that the news is presented from a Christian perspective, and I think its a good way to discuss world issues, and learn about other cultures. I also liked the access to the online material which adds to the magazine content with more information, quizzes, and a biblical life application segment.

Pricing and Other Information
A full year (10 issues) of Top Story is $28.00.

If you’d like to see samples, click on the links on the right hand side of the Top Story page.

*Pricing and information is accurate to the best of my knowledge at time of posting.