Black and White… & Read All Over

I don’t care what the pessimists at USC say: I don’t think newspapers will ever die. At least, I hope and pray they don’t.

In my other life – my life before three tiny people started needing me every hour of the day – I watched television news. Even once our children came along, Chris has continued to consume a lot of news programs. I tease that he’s a news junkie; and during election cycles? Holy cow, the man can’t get a fix big enough! But there’s a funny dynamic at our house – on his days off, if he walks into the family room and flips on the TV and selects MSNBC, no one peeps a squeak. If I try to catch the local news on a weekday, it’s meltdown city.

My solution has been to keep the television off in the mornings as often as humanly possible. (Which means that sometimes when we need to get out the door early, I turn on a “kid channel” and let them veg for 20 minutes while I pack up lunches and diaper bags and all the other stuff it takes to get us out the door. Ahem. So sue me.) One side effect of my solution is that I don’t get to see the news. Turns out? I don’t miss it.

Especially since we take the local newspaper Friday through Sunday. I get to read everything from when the paving on Scherm Road is going to be complete, to things happening in Syria (which, honestly, I still don’t understand, but I keep reading because at some point it might make sense!). And after a week like last, when the shootings in Aurora, Colorado were all over the headlines, I’m even more thankful for our paper.

I wanted to know about the story, but I didn’t want radio or television reports to be heard or seen by my children. Yes, Jonas is a reader, and he loves newspapers, but it’s far easier for me to read a story and put that section of the paper out of his sight – than for me to tune in to NPR or watch CNN while shielding my kids from that. NEWSPAPERS WIN.

Which brings me to the other reason I really hope newspapers never die. My son, like a lot of kids, started paying attention to the paper when he discovered the comics. Then, about a year ago, there was an article about the reboot of the X-Men comic series – the art caught his eye, and he wanted to know why Wolverine was in the newspaper. Lately, Jonas reads one or two articles each weekend, and his taste is pretty varied. I love watching it! Reading the newspaper is an excellent way to stretch the vocabulary, to be exposed to writing for different purposes, to gain a glimpse of the world beyond your windows.

Now, he wants to work on writing his own newspaper. Technically, this will be the second issue; the first came out a few weeks before Abigail was born. (Maybe it’s going to be an annual edition? Ha!) Since he’s shown this interest, I decided to find out whether we could take a tour of our local newspaper office. A few phone calls and emails later, our homeschool group has an appoinment for August 23rd! I’m excited for so many reasons. This is the first activity I’ll be heading up for UCHS, and it’s neat to be in that “teacher” role again, facilitating a field trip.  I picked a Thursday morning so that Chris can join us, and he’s never seen the printing setup for a real newspaper. Plus, I think both Jonas and Susannah will really enjoy this tour and will be able to remember it.

So, I’ll post pictures of the field trip as soon as I can after we go. And when the next edition goes to print, I’ll make sure everyone who’d like a “subscription” gets a chance to read the Nebel News. J