I went to an information session how to write a good Christmas family newsletter. So I thought I'd share with you some of what I learned. :-)
1) Use lots of photos - people love photos.
2) Make sure you have photos of everyone ~ not just the kids. People want to see photos of you too.
3) Try and keep it upbeat as much as possible. You can still share difficult news but keep it positive. They used an example of a real newsletter announcing a divorce which was filled with bitterness and anger and terrible things about the other person. With the suggestion instead that it is ok to announce the divorce but perhaps like "Steve and I were officially divorced on _____. It's been a difficult year but we are both so thankful for the ongoing support of all our friends and family." etc.
4) Be informative but not braggy.
Here is an example paragraph of Maggie age 7.
a) Maggie is now 7 and in the 2nd grade. She continues to excel in all her classes and gets straight A's in all her subjects. Her enrichment program is going well and she continues to be tutored in Spanish and Latin after school. She loves swimming, where she has progressed to Red Cross level 9, gymnastics, and piano. She sure makes us proud! (braggy)
b) Maggie is now 7 and in the 2nd grade. She loves school, playing with her friends, dolls, and knock-knock jokes. Her favorite subject is math. Maggie also loves coloring, arts, and crafts, and recently she has started to make her own bead jewelry. (informative)
Braggy is anything that shows levels or comes across sounding better than other people. Other parents want to know something about Maggie's personality but might be turned off by all the bragging, especially if they have their own 2nd grader who makes average marks and is only in one activity.
Informative shows interests without bragging about how much she is better than everyone else.
5) Use humour. Write down the funny things your kids say and include it in a section of 'Funny things heard around our house'. Kids are hysterical with the things they come up with and people like to laugh. Try and keep things light and funny so that it will be interesting to read.
6) Use lots of white space and 12 or 14 pt font doubled spaces so that people don't have to squint.
7) Divide it up like a newspaper with different interesting headings like
Our Summer Vacation
News about the Kids
The Great Divide (about the divorce) .. just kidding about that one
A visit to Grandma's!
8) Print it in color. You may have to look around for a special but this is worth it. With all those photos, and a good lay-out, it will look so nice in color.
9) Use a program. Microsoft publisher or Pages for Mac has some great templates to start with. Work from those to make it easier (unless you enjoy starting from scratch.)
10) Include information about everyone. Not just the kids. People want to know about you too but again keep it informative and not braggy.
eg. Stephanie took a Thai cooking class this past year. We sure enjoyed that around here. In her spare time she enjoys watching old movies, drinking coffee and eating chocolate. She participated in the Run for Cure on Oct 2nd and came in 1124th! It was the thought that counted.
Jim has been really busy at work this past year. During his time off, he enjoyed coaching Tim's soccer team, fixing up his old car, and watching old reruns of the Simpsons. He is already counting the days to winter holidays where he can build snowmen with the kids in the yard.
Hope that helps!
Christmas Newsletter advice
Quote:
Linear Mode
