Smithsonian Magazine
Special-Interest Magazines Help Reluctant Readers Develop Learning Skills by Aldene Fredenburg
From art to archeology, from math and science to Sports magazines, special interest children’s periodicals can turn reluctant readers into enthusiastic ones. Young people who resist reading assignments and other homework will read their favorite magazines from cover to cover in one sitting, and then wait impatiently for the next issue to arrive.
Consumer magazine publishers have become savvy to this, creating an additional market for themselves by aiming magazines at children. Sports Illustrated, for instance, also publishes Sports Illustrated for Kids, which combines the latest national sports News with games, puzzles, and other kid-specific content. Both National Geographic and the Smithsonian also have publications aimed at children. Nickelodeon magazine, a spin-off from the Nickelodeon TV channel, features celebrity news and the latest info on their TV programming. And of course there are magazines focused on other aspects of pop culture; Amazing Spider-Man brings the latest news about the self-effacing superhero to his fans monthly, while Sparkle World features stories about Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake.
Educational publishers have taken kids magazines a step further, deciding to combine entertaining features and dynamic artwork with curriculum-based content; they provide material which engages children while giving teachers and parents tools designed to enhance learning skills such as reading, writing, and math and meeting curriculum requirements as well. Dig is popular among budding archeologists; published by award-winning publisher Cobblestone and Cricket, the magazine is written and edited by some of the top archeologists around the world and presents information about many cultures, past and present, as seen through an archeological point of view. Two other Cobblestone
publications – Faces, specializing in information about people and cultures around the world, and Calliope, a literary magazine aimed at teenagers – appeal to students’ curiosity and creativity while supplying teachers with rock-solid educational content.
Including magazines from Cobblestone and Cricket in the classroom have the additional benefit that lesson plans and other supplementary materials are provided free online for teachers; this material gives teachers hints as to how to incorporate the magazines’ content into the core curriculum, and provides fun activities to supplement each issue.
Including a wide variety of specialized magazines for kids as a normal part of their classroom environment gives them easy access to written material on subjects they want – a kid reading about Spider Man is still reading, after all. And once a reluctant learner has developed the habit of reading his favorite magazines, he will become open to other interesting written material. Exit one resistant student, enter one kid excited about learning!
About the Author
Aldene Fredenburg is a freelance writer living in southwestern New Hampshire. She has written numerous articles for the Internet and for local and regional publications. She can be reached at amfredenburg@yahoo.com.
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