Create a Family Newsletter

Children are spending more time at home and often getting bored. This is the best time to encourage a new hobby or interest. Or if they have an interest in a sport that has been delayed due to Covid-19, this is the perfect time to keep learning about their sport while at home. Creating a newsletter on a hobby or sport they love will keep children immersed in learning, other than day to day remote learning through school.

Children today have been used to hectic lives with sports, dance, gymnastics and other activities. This was halted when the pandemic hit. What better time to learn to use technology to create a newsletter to share with others who are missing the same activity.

What is a Newsletter?

A newsletter is a report (electronic or printed) which contains news concerning the activities of a business or an organization that is sent to its members. Newsletters usually revolve around one topic which is a main interest to their readers. Many newsletters are created for a specific group or organization. Teachers have class newsletters, teams have their own newsletters and often there are newsletters for specific groups (church, community information, book clubs, topics of interest for subscribers). Many organizations use newsletters as a form of marketing.

Newsletters have many parts which you can look at and decide which ones fit your topic. Would you include advertising, puzzles, classified and letters to the editor? Or would your newsletter be simply informational.

Learning about and reading newsletters can be a great way for children to learn about real world situations. They can develop an interest in layout and design which may help their future careers. Also, they may focus on a long-term interest that continues to develop into adulthood.

Creating a newsletter on a topic that is of interest to the whole family can be a new way to enjoy time together and share creative time towards a common goal. If you think this is something you may want to do as a family or help your child with, do some research on what newsletters look like and come up with some ideas.

Decide What the Newsletter Should Be About

Brainstorm some ideas with your child about what their newsletter should focus on. Start with a list of potential ideas and narrow it down to the one with the most interest. Come up with a name together for the newsletter.

Look at Existing Newsletters

Take a look at existing newsletters online to see what they include. Topics like News, letters, photos and even games can be included. You can look at newspapers and see what components they have that you can add to make your newsletter more fun. Some examples are crossword puzzles, advertising, photos and even classified ads.

Think About the Format

Look online at some amazing newsletter formats available online. You can use these templates or investigate software that will help you with your newsletter on an ongoing basis.

What software do you have at home? If none, what software can you use for free online to create your newsletter. How long will it take to learn how to put it together. I have created a four-week course on TeachersPayTeachers.com that shows you step by step how to create a newsletter. It starts with the idea conception and runs through publishing the final product.

Some software that you may have at home is included in Microsoft Office. You can use Word and Publisher to create beautiful newsletters. In fact, they have many templates available in their current software that you can use and try out to see which one may fit your ideas best. Take a look around before deciding what software to use. Make a mock up design on paper that will be easier to transfer to a document format. Spend time creating the concept and then use your software. You can spend hours of family time creating a special newsletter that you will treasure for years to come!

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Also, visit my blog on education ideas, Elly Elementary: https://ellyelementary.wordpress.com, my TeachersPayTeachersPage at https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Elly-Elementary, and my resources at AmpedUpLearning.com athttps://ampeduplearning.com/teacher-contributor-stores/all-content-contributors/elly-elementary/