God’s World News ~ TRAK {Crew Review}

Several years ago we subscribed to the weekly magazine, WORLD.  WORLD also publishes magazines for students. At that time a high school version of the popular God’s World News magazine did not exist. Our social studies curriculum suggests assigning 3 current event reports each week for high school students.  Trak, the high school level of God’s World News, is perfect for finding news events for these assignments.

God's World News Logo

What is God’s World News (GWN)?

GWN is published by WORLD News Group. This organization publishes news articles, both digital and print, from a Christian perspective. You can read GWN Mission Statement and the Doctrinal Statement on the website.  The Mission Statement ends with this statement: “The goal of all our products and services is to assist in developing a biblical worldview for all aspects of life, consistent with our organization's doctrinal statement.”

More about Trak:

Cover photo image of Trak from God's World News

We received two back issues (August and September) as well as the current October Issue. The publication is 32 pages each month except  August has only 24 pages. The magazine itself is printed on lovely glossy newsprint just like other magazines, but there are two additional heavier paper covers.  These covers contain some family friendly advertising aimed more at the parents. These covers are easily removed so that the student can have the magazine.  (Save that outside cover though with your customer number!) Sections in the magazine include (but are not limited to):

  • SideTraks ~ short one paragraph news “bytes”.  Photos are numbered to match the newsy paragraph
  • BusinessTrak
  • DesignTrak
  • Behindtheheadline
  • BigIdeas
  • SportsTrak

What’s Included with a subscription?

A one year subscription includes 10 issues.  Trak is published once a month except May and December. In addition to the print subscription, you’ll receive access to the brand new, just released on September 24th, website God’s World News Teen.  It is for grades 7-12. On this website students can log in and read articles from different categories such as Beliefs, Must Know, or Art and more! Visit God’s World News Teen and click on a tab such as Art and you can get a free preview of the the article.

Teachers/parents also have access to the gwnews.com site which contains digital copies of past magazines, as well as teacher resources such as biographies.  At this site you will also find Explain It! and This Day in History resources.

 What We Like:

  • Turtlegirl really likes that on the gwn.org site there is a “this day in history”
  • I really love the SideTraks section of the magazine. Lots of interesting little tidbits
  • The girls and I both appreciated that the magazine articles cover a broad range of subjects.
  • I like that there were no inappropriate ads in the magazine. I only saw one and it was for a college which is completely appropriate.

Some Things We Noticed:

  • On the website, when you click to change the grade level, the articles do not change. The articles appear to be the same for every grade level.  [teen.gwn.org]
  • The Activities and Resources for each level were all the same.  For example, I had expected that the Explain It! articles would be different based on age. [gwnews.com]

My Thoughts:

For Turtlegirl, age 16, 11th grade, I can hand her the magazine or give her access to either website and she’ll come to me with anything she wants or needs to discuss. For Tailorbear, I need to be more involved. She’s only 14 and in 9th grade. She’s very sensitive and the world with its grown up issues is a very scary thing. Part of the reason we home school is so that we can introduce the world to our daughters at the perfect pace for their maturity. God’s World News provides me the opportunity to pick a time and an article and read it with my daughter or pre-read it, have her read it and I will be available immediately for discussion.

As part of the launch for the new website, World Publishing Group has provided us with a complimentary subscription to WORLD magazine online and I’ve received two WORLD magazines. My 18 year old college student has been devouring those. She remembers when we had our subscription years ago and is thrilled to have access to the website!

I want to provide my children with a variety of resources for understanding the world around them, God’s World News with it’s unabashedly Christian perspective provides a nice counter to other sources for current events.

 

The Details:

  • Vendor: God’s World News
  • Product: Trak
  • Price: $28 for full year (10 issues) subscription
  • Age Recommendation: High School (grades 9-12)
  • FAQs

Visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog to read what others have to say about the different subscriptions from God’s World News.

This Graphic contains the FTC Regulations statement for Reviews.

All information is correct and accurate as of the date of this review.

You can read my other Schoolhouse Review Crew Reviews by clicking here.

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