Would buying magazines encourage my child's education?

[baileyboo1234]

My 7 year old son is always on his tablet. I was thinking of buying him some magazines but would these help at all? Would it help him with this education?
How would they help him? I haven't bought magazine because I didn't know if they were worth it because of the price.

It cant be good for him to be on his tablet all the time!

I would encourage him to read books. If he won't/can't, comics or graphic books can be a good way forward. Some children prefer to read facts rather than fiction, so if your son is like that I would consider buying a magazine related to his interests.

Why don't you limit the time he is on his tablet? Bake, play a game, have a friend over, do crafts instead! Most of us struggle with kids wanting lots of TV & tablet time, so limit it.

Books books books - fiction or non foction it doesnt really matter

I can also recommend First News which is a newspsper written for children

RSPB or National Geographic do good magazines for that age - though Star Wars, Lego, and many other magazines also exist and help encourage reading.

National Geographic Kids & Horrible Histories are good, and a new science one called WhizzPopBang has been a hit here.

If you sign up to the Lego VIP club you get a free magazine sent regularly too.

DD just turned 11 loves her National Geographic for kids (and has done for about three years) and the new Week magazine for kids - the latter is news for kids and better than the school weekly newspaper style thing we did try that bored the socks off DD. It was so boring I've now forgotten its name! DD passes these onto her younger cousin who is 7 and he enjoys them too.
DD is so full of facts, partly from these magazines, she was recently the Head teacher's 'secret weapon' in a senior inter school quiz even though most girls were two or three years older than DD who is only in the junior school in Y6.

Hope it isn't seen as advertising - but is really is a great read: theweekjunior.co.uk

My DD loves the National Geographic Kids and the Horrible Histories comic.

We had an annual subscription to discover box via tesco club card vouchers, they are brilliant and now my youngest is reading them. secure.tesco.com/clubcard/boost/discoverybox-magazine/UK-004115.prd We get Nat geo kids too which was a special Amazon deal I think. But get in the habit of visiting the library, there's a huge range of children's non fiction which can extend their learning from school topics, and totally different things too, obviously.

They get really addictive with tablets and games; I had to stop my daughter using during the week; she is only allowed it once a week; I hide it and some weekends she forget about it; it was getting ridiculous; you need to set some rules. She still watches tv everyday but is only allowed one hour during school days.

I would add no point in just buying the magazine, the child needs to want to read it. Most have a trial subscription period to test the waters. We ration DDs tablet. Not during the week and at weekend anything Minecraft related is rationed. Not within one hour of bedtime due to how the close up glare (tv being more distant) interferes with melatonin production and therefore sleep patterns. DD has actually thanked me for this but on occasion has also been a tad more than mildly grumpy when she really wants to catch up on some Stampy videos.

Head to the library ,become a member,get a library card! Mslevit your routine: go on the same day each week and take out ten books. Swap them each week. Best habit ever! Free!

If you try out a couple of them and find he does like them, then if you can, get a subscription rather than just buying them randomly in the shops - I used to love the idea of getting post addressed to me (well, and my siblings), and knowing a new one was coming was exciting too. That gives an added incentive to read it. I devoured books, but enjoyed occasional magazines, too, because it was something different - we used to get Owl, which was a junior one, and then World. I think possibly both were national geographic, but not positive. They had articles about all sorts of different things - places, people, science stuff, and puzzles, and science experiments to do at the back, and sometimes things to make. Because the articles were short, you could read just a bit at one sitting.

I always chuckle when I see First News mentioned. I told the kids I was going to subscribe and they both groaned and moaned and said they get it at school and it's boooooooring

all three dc read books like mad, but all 3 have enjoyed magazine subscriptions as well, Usually a Christmas gift.

We have had National Geo, Simpsons, discovery box, Aquila, Moshi Monsters, Kick, Dr Who and more that I can't remember now.
(we did get a trial of First News but no one got into that one...)

I agree about first news! DD would rather read the telegraph.
Re tablet- what does he do on there?
What does he do when it's not available?
Our library has magazines as well as books BTW.

FWIW, I don't see magazines as educational per se, but anything they read is good, and can improve their vocabulary.

I only buy magazines as a treat or for holiday journeys. They are a waste of money in my opinion.

I told DD I am more happy to buy a book than a magazine.

The library is full of factual books, we jump between subjects, and more fiction than we could ever buy on our own.

I read a lot as a child, but it was American comics that got me interested in science.

Back on the educational value of magazines. DD got an amazing offer from a top indie in Feb but her schoolmate didn't. I am sure there are a host of reasons but one lot of feedback was that DD showed an understanding of current affairs. I put this partly down to the Junior Week mag but also we talk about what is going on and listen to the news in the morning. No one thing in isolation is the panacea. The fact we declined the indie offer is beside the point...

I think it really depends on the magazine what it's educational value is. I would rather give a year's subscription as Christmas present than some toy they won't play with very much.