Help your child write an effective letter to the editor.
Teaching your child to write a letter to the editor is a worthy feat. Besides sharpening his reasoning and writing skills, you are training him to research topics and yet form his own opinions. Ultimately, you are informing him that his opinion is valuable and noteworthy. You are also letting him know it is OK for his opinion to be subjected to scrutiny, allowing him to gather more voice about his topic which may result in either him changing or becoming more firm in his opinion. On the other hand, he could learn that it is possible to persuade others to change theirs.
Instructions
1. Contact the publication of which you choose to submit your letter. Get the rules and regulations necessary to submit an article, such as what the proper format and acceptable length of the letter should be. Find out if when a child is submitting a letter to the editor, a parent needs to send a notarized approval allowing its publication. Are all topics acceptable? Ask what the mailing address is for the letter.
2. Help your child to decide a topic of interest. What stirs up his passion with an opinion? Discuss it with him at length. Ask each other questions pertaining to the topic and what opinions might the topic raise from the public or from the editor? What response would he have toward the opinions?
3. Have him outline his topic using headings for his introduction, body and conclusion. What is his purpose for writing to the editor? What is his message or opinion? What is his conclusion to convey to the public?
4. Send a successful letter to the editor.
Let him write his letter out using the facts and strengths from his outline. Include the salutation and his full signature, along with your phone number for verification. Let the salutation be a thoughtful one such as, "I appreciate you letting me voice my opinion on this topic."
