Tuesday's Tip

Extra! Extra!

Always bring extra copies of your newsletter to the meetings. You will be prepared if visitors show up or if your members missed it in the mail.

Expanding Your Newsletter for Homeschool Families

Homeschooling is all about

• loving to learn


• learning for life &


• living to serve.

You, as the homeschool group leader, can facilitate all of this and more in your group's families when you expand your newsletter to include student work.

Give volunteer assignments to the students of your homeschool group covering the topics you need written in the newsletter. Each writer will learn crucial interviewing skills, journalism techniques, and grammar applications. Let them use and become proficient in the publishing software programs. Add an optional photo to the assignment and watch them shine as they put it all together in a great article.

As they have fun learning, they will gain practical skills they can use in the "real world." Their contributions will serve the whole group. And you will be able to share your work-load. It's a win-win!

**We have some exciting news coming up--maybe as soon as our next post!

Denise & Kristen

http://www.homeschoolgroupleader.com/

More Tips on Starting a Homeschool Group Newsletter

Your tasteful design will draw readers to your newsletter which helps you reach your group with the important information they need.

Good taste in design usually is synonymous with simplicity--thus an uncluttered look.

A well-chosen graphic line, lines or clip art add interest and polish, but don't overdo it. You want the graphics you choose to draw attention to your content, not to itself.

Keeping the clutter to a minimum is also achieved by keeping your writing to 2-3 fonts and sizes. There are some exceptions, but a clean, polished look that works together is best for clear readability.

Use the interesting templates on Word or Publisher or other software to quickly make your newsletter. To make your own template, you can make one large text box with 3-4 columns as your guide. Then add text boxes within the columns for each article. Fill in the great graphics; add your calendar and send it out.

Your homeschool group will love it and reference it often!

Denise & Kristen
http://www.homeschoolgroupleader.com/

More: Starting a Homeschool Group Newsletter

Make things as easy as possible for the others reading your newsletter.

When you are putting together and publishing the coming events, an actual calendar look with the dates and holidays is so much easier than a list of dates.

While the list of activities may look nice and be less work for you to compile and type, it's not easier on your homeschool group families. They will have to copy the list onto their own calendar. This is an extra step that some families may never get around to doing.

With your calendar, they can just display it on the fridge or bulletin board. Then referring to it is a snap. More than likely, they will then take the time to read your exciting descriptions and attend the featured functions.

Next Topic: Keep it easy to read your newsletter by having an uncluttered layout.

May you have a successful homeschool support group!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Denise & Kristen

www.homeschoolgroupleader.com

Starting a Homeschool Group Newsletter

Communication is key!

Starting a newsletter for your homeschool group is a great way to create a cozy feeling within your group. Not everybody can participate in everything, but they like knowing what's going on.

The simplest way to start is with a calendar of events. They can post this on their fridge or in another visible place.

You can add articles about the upcoming activities in your homeschool group. This keeps people informed, boosts involvement and builds excitement.

The newsletter is a great place to interview members of your group so that everyone gets to know one another and feel like family.

If your members feel connected to more than one other family, they will keep coming back.

You can find calendar and newsletter templates on Publisher and Word that can make your newsletter come alive. We hope these ideas are a help to you. Got questions? Just ask.

Blessings!
Denise and Kristen
http://www.homeschoolgroupleader.com/