The following is a guest post from Stef.
I hate copy work. I think it stems from a punishment assignment I received when I was a little disobedient girl. I can imagine with my dislike for it how much my own son groans to do it.
Rather than find “formal” hand writing practice curriculum I take a more unschooling approach and squeeze in extra handwriting activities to our every day.
- grocery lists – yes I have to spell zucchini, but he’s still practicing ! *do not try this 5 minutes before its time to leave – it’ll drive you crazy.
- thank you cards – birthdays, Christmas, any time he receives something he is encouraged to write a thank you card. We’re southern – it’s sorta expected and honestly I feel this helps grow a grateful child.
- to do lists - got errands to run, chores to do, subjects to teach – have your homeschooler make a to-do list!
- chapter books / short stories - my son loves creating Batman “chapter books” (above). Each page is one chapter which includes adjectives, adverbs, story line and illustration. He loves to read them to us – which you could contribute to “public speaking practice”! *he does get a bit frustrated when I spell check – but as far as flow I do not correct.
- new vocabulary words - each Monday we kick off 4 new words from his Dictionary he writes the full definition. (ok, this is flat out copy work). The following day he must write them in a sentence. And just like ToastMasters – we holler, knock on tables, and applaud if he uses them in conversation.
- pen pal - we’re always on the hunt for a pen pal to exchange letters. At this age (8) it’s all about superheroes or Star Wars – but he’s writing!
Do you have a unique idea to add more writing practice to your schedule ?
Stef is wife to Thad and mom to energetic superheroes in Florida! Stef is the author of Educating Laytons and co-founder of The Homeschool Village.
About Stef
ditching copy work completely isn’t the best idea, and i get your point. just getting them to write is a chore sometimes, but some copy work is necessary. kids need to learn to look at something, remember it and copy it down. they may need to look at is several times, but that’s fine. they will learn to remember more. copy work is a brain building exercise that they will use forever! DON’T DITCH IT COMPLETELY!
I used to hate the idea of copywork too but I have since learned it is beneficial. We use it for bible memory work as well as memorizing poetry. I don’t assign it for busywork and it’s usually only a short amount (for this age-7yo). I also like to give free writing time too so we combine the best of both worlds.
Love all the ideas! And we always do the thank-you’s although I never thought of it as writing practice as much as etiquette, but I love the dual purpose!
If you or anyone reading is looking for a kiddo to link up with for a pen pal, I work with a Christian Children’s Center in Ukraine (Sunshine Center), and receiving letters is the single biggest blessing these kids ask for. They range in age from little bitty up to late teens, boys and girls. If anyone is interested, please let me know. The translating is done right there, and you could even email letters back and forth with the director there doing the translating both ways. All the kids’ pics are listed on Facebook “Sunshine Christmas 2011″ project I’m working on again this year, and you can even choose a child to write to if you want! (I hope it’s ok to mention this pen pal option in your comments!)
God bless you all!
We have no formal handwriting this year, either, and I take much the same approach you do. We also, however, have copywork every other day as a part of Writing With Ease. When the copywork is meaningful and of the highest quality I feel it is very beneficial…but I think if you beat them over the head with it and force a lot of meaningless copywork they will develop the same dislike you had as a child.
I agree so much with Charlotte Mason’s copywork philosophy, and I have seen the benefits of it with my oldest – so I am continuing down that path with my youngest as well.
Hooray for your son’s writing! He is obviously inspired to create, which is the goal! My kids have recently been keeping detailed cartoon like journals at the end if each day. They sit and write for a few minutes before bed and then read it to my husband and I when we tuck them in. I love what they write!
Other ways we write are note taking (just like college kids!) while listening to history, writing poems, and letters to Grandma and Grandpa.
I combine copy work with Bible. I do not understand the point of having a child copy something that does not matter. I have my 9 year old daughter read a page from the Bible daily and then copy her favorite scripture for that day.
I”m torn about copywork….love the way it helps them learn spelling, etc…..but, they do not enjoy it…so, we do not do it very often. Do love the way you integrate writing into everything….
Excellent idea!! I’m going to try it.
I have 2 homeschooled boys (7 &11) who would love to have a penpal. They are not so much into super heros but some days I think I am going to go insane with all the heavy darth vader breathing in my house.
Totally kidding. Anyway, if you are interested please let me know. Have a blessed day!
Sincerely,
Angie (Singing Wolf)
We have some pretty major special needs here with writing delays/fine motor problems being the biggest part. I have them do a regular handwriting book about three days per week and even that, with short lessons, can be a struggle. Writing stories? No way. It’d take hours and hours for one of my sons to even write two sentences. The other one? You just couldn’t read it at all. We are still working on this area and my boys are 9 & 11. It’s an ongoing struggle! But copywork? I can see the benefits of it, just not with my boys. They would see it as a death sentence.
Wait a minute! Don’t ditch copy work completely! Don’t use it as punishment – unless the work being copied actually has something to do with character building and/or the issue the punishment is being given.
Copy work gives a child a chance to work on a deeper level with good writing. It’s not enough just to read good work; it’s important that they do something kinetic with it, too – and copying excerpts of essays, as one example, can be beneficial.
But I love the ideas that bring writing into ordinary daily life and make it a more fully integrated part of the learning experience!
We do many of these same things. My oldest (almost
LOVES to write his own stories. I just go over spelling/grammar/punctuation with him after he’s written it. I also dictate lists to him if I need a list made. We do spelling and vocabulary also.
However, we do also use a formal English curriculum (Rod & Staff) and there is just the right amount of copywork in it for him to not be totally frustrated, but for me to see that it’s making a difference. I agree with some of the other commenters above and do truly believe some copywork is necessary to increase their retention of items, to be able to look at something and then duplicate it and it also definitely helps with memorization for my son.
I’m in my 1st year of homeschooling so I really am still just learning. I do a combination of the 2. Everyday I have him write a journal entry. Sometimes it is on a given topic and sometimes it is freelanced. Then we go over it together for punctuation, spelling, grammar, spacing. On the opposite side of the journal he then has to rewrite it neatly. So in a way he is copying his own work:0