5 Days of Homeschooling Essentials: Educational Magazines & Memberships

Welcome to Day 2 of the 5 Days of Homeschooling Essentials blog hop! Today I am going to talk about a couple of my favorite homeschool essentials. We love our monthly educational magazines and our annual memberships! They enrich our children’s minds and give us fun, impromptu field trips!

Magazines

Let’s talk about our magazine subscriptions. There are lots of wonderful children’s magazines out there. I can really only talk about the ones we actually have, since I haven’t gotten any others yet! What is great about our subscriptions is that they are the same magazines that I grew up reading! Magazine subscriptions make awesome gifts. If you have grandparents asking what to get your child for Christmas or whatever, suggest a magazine subscription. Both of ours are gifts from grandparents!

Highlights:

I grew up reading Highlights. It is a great magazine for little kids. We are currently subscribed to the High Five magazine for kids from ages 2-6. My kids absolutely LOVE the hidden picture puzzles that are in every edition. That is usually the first thing they find when their magazine comes in the mail. There is also always poetry and a couple of stories in each magazine. At the end there is always a fun recipe or craft to do with your kids. We love snuggling up on the couch and reading this one together every month!

National Geographic Kids:

I really loved animals and science as a child and I looked forward to getting my National Geographic Kids magazine every month. Now my kids get it! Last year Bug got the National Geographic Little Kids magazine which always focuses on particular animals. There are lots of pictures and fun facts. There are also puzzles and games you can do together. We keep these on our shelves to go back and reference. This year he is getting the big kids version of Nat Geo. We just sat down and read his first magazine together the other day. We learned all about jewels and gems. We learned what stone represents each month of the year. I love that these magazines can spark interest in something that the child would have never known existed otherwise.

Memberships

We love memberships to local educational places. These also make great grandparent gifts. Currently we have a zoo membership. It is so much fun to just be able to go the zoo whenever we want so the kids can observe their favorite animals. You know what else is great about homeschooling? We can go during a week day when the places are not busy and really enjoy ourselves! My children absolutely adore the penguins at our local zoo, so it’s great to be able to go and just watch them and not have to fight any crowds.

Science museums, children’s museums, and art museums usually offer memberships, as well. We have been to two local science museums and a children’s play museum. The kids always enjoy their time there! One of the local science museums even offers workshops and classes just for homeschoolers, so we will probably take advantage of that as our kids get old enough for them!    

What are your favorite magazines and memberships?

Now go check out some of my friends’ homeschool essentials.

• Rebekah @ There Will Be a $5 Charge for Whining
• Nicole @ Schooling in the Sun
• Leah @ As We Walk Along the Road
• Heather @ Thrift Schooling
• Lisa @ Home to 4 Kiddos
• Amy @ Homeschool Encouragement
• Monique @ Living Life and Learning
• Jenn @ Fresh Start Academy
• Lori @ Special Connection Homeschool