Is this too much copy work for a 1st grader?

[1GirlTwinBoys]

We are using HOD Little Hearts. I usually type up a key idea from the HOD guide in our Startwrite program. Here is an example of what I might have her copy and then draw a picture depicting at the top of the page.

 

The wise men followed a bright star until they found baby Jesus in Bethlehem. They brought Jesus expensive gifts.

 

The reason I ask is because the samples I looked at in WWE were so much shorter. :confused: My friend is a K teacher in PS and they do soooooo much writing. I'm not trying to do what PS does but am curious since I'm new (2nd year) to homeschooling and insecure. :)

[thowell]

This looks good to me. We read three pages from the book of her choice that she is reading. She gives me a narration of what we read and I write it in one sentence per page then she copies. Basically three short sentences. Then she draws a picture if she wants. This seems to be fine for my dd6.

[Tammy]

If that is her first copywork....then yes....it is too much.

[1GirlTwinBoys]

If that is her first copywork....then yes....it is too much.

 

No, it's not her first, but this is what we average everyday. I just didn't want to be doing too much. I really want to keep 1st grade as relaxed as possible. :001_smile:

[Jennefer@SSA]

I personally think that it completely depends on the child. There is a huge variance in fine motor skills at that age...in addition to several other skills that would be necessary to write that - reading skills, tracking and copying skills, etc... My oldest ds has ADHD and although he would be capable of easily reading that in first grade it would have been too much to expect him to write all that. I would have had to break it down into 2 sessions. I would say that if you are trying to keep 1st grade light, this would be a little much for most (but not all) 1st graders.

[Jumping In Puddles]

I don't think it is too much, but it is more than my first grader is copying. I would only have him copy " The wise men followed a bright star" but he will be doing short sentences like that throughout the day.

 

If I give him too much at once, it frustrates him. If your child doesn't get frustrated then it is not too much.

 

My ds starts by writing the date and a short phrase such as Do your best.

 

Then he'll get the short sentence from WWE that is similar to The Wise men one above.

 

Later he may write the alphabet from memory or start copying a poem or write a letter (one sentence letter, lol). Like: Dear Grandma, I want to sleep over on Friday. Love, William

 

So he does a little writing at each sitting but he will be writing throughout the day.

[1GirlTwinBoys]

This is really the only writing she does. We don't do it throughout the day. I feel better now that I have an idea anyway. Thanks! :)

[KrissiK]

I have my boys do about 3-4 sentences of copywork a day. They're 5 & 6 and they seem to do all right. Of course, the topic is always of interest to them - dump trucks, fire trucks, monster trucks, etc. I figure, what does it matter what they copy as long as they are writing, right? Plus, I always write the sentences about them. Sometimes I think what's required in FLL is not enough. I agree, PS kids (not that I'm comparing, but still...) seem to write much more. My mom, a former kinder teacher, said her kids used to write a lot. Now granted, it was more "journal" writing and not copywork, but I figure my boys can do 3-4 sentences for me.

 

I am editing this to add that the sentences my boys write have much shorter words than the original example given, are phonetic and are words that are in their vocabulary, besides being high interest sentences for them. For example: Dan has a red monster truck. He drives fast. He drove through the mud.

Edited October 7, 2009 by KrissiK

[Truscifi]

It would be too much for my ds5 to do all at once, but he has an overlapping grip which causes hand fatigue (we're working on it - does anyone know where to find the big, ergonomic pencil grips that are supposed to help?). If he didn't have that, he would probably be fine with that length. As it is, we do about that much, but he stops for a break about half way through.

[SilverMoon]

My first grader's last copywork assignment was, "John Adams was the second president." That's all the bigger his are right now. I expect him to be up to your example by the end of first grade. I'm not in a rush, and he gets writing practice in nearly all of his other subjects too.

[Pata]

My dd would have balked at a sentence that long at the beginning of first grade, but I agree with others, if she's not fussing over writing it, keep at it :).

[MamaReads]

Well, I agree with the other posters that it depends on the child if it is too much. I do think however that if you are going to use WWE and FLL you can't compare them to what kids in the public school programsare doing. The philosophy is completely different. In WWE the point is to build a solid foundation of writing skills, not immerse the child in the written word. The Strong Fundamentals book does a good job of describing the long term goals of WWE and why it works.

 

FWIW, my dd would not do well with that amount of copy work right now, but I doaimto be there by the end of "first grade."

[1GirlTwinBoys]

It would be too much for my ds5 to do all at once

 

 

There is no way my 5 year old twin boy's could do that for copy work either. ;)

 

Th:001_smile:nks everyone for your input!

[sagira]

It would have been too much for my son. He would have whined and cried and thrown himself on the floor. But, every kid is different. I do know there are first graders who wouldn't have a problem with this amount. I would take cues from your daughter.

 

:iagree: My ds would think it's too long. He thought Mesopotamia was the longest word in the world :)

[Tidbits of Learning]

Well, I agree with the other posters that it depends on the child if it is too much. I do think however that if you are going to use WWE and FLL you can't compare them to what kids in the public school programsare doing. The philosophy is completely different. In WWE the point is to build a solid foundation of writing skills, not immerse the child in the written word. The Strong Fundamentals book does a good job of describing the long term goals of WWE and why it works.

 

FWIW, my dd would not do well with that amount of copy work right now, but I doaimto be there by the end of "first grade."

I agree about the public school philosophy. My ds6.5 was in ps kindergarten last year and it was astonishing what they had them do in reading readiness class.

He brought home a paper with the top part for drawing and the bottom part for words. He had drew a fish swimming and had wrote 2 sentences about the fish. His 2nd sentence was quite long but didn't have a verb. All that was on the paper was incomplete sentence in bright red. There was no encouragement for what he had wrote. He had no clue what incomplete sentence meant. It didn't encourage him to write and the next page he brought home had a smiley face with good job wrote and a total of a 2 word sentence. It was complete. My child had went from 2 long,descriptive sentences (one just happened to be missing the verb part) to 2 words (subject and verb) and got a happy face for it.

We are doing FLL now and his narrations are so long and descriptive. They are still oral, but the point is they do a lot of writing in public school this young to prepare them for the writing required by the state test that does not look for creative writing or descriptive details.

My 4th grader who has been in public school with their methods until this year writes redundant, canned (if you will) sentences. She has learned the how's of writing, but not the why's of writing. We are doing Abeka Language 4 and it is really a struggle for her. I have to have her redo her writing assignments frequently. We are also doing WWE3 and I think it will help her.

I would not compare the new public school way to FLL and WWE. They may do more writing at a younger age, but it isn't better writing. As I read through the sample introduction for Writing With Ease, it really made me see the differences in public school writing methods and what Writing With Ease is building towards.

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/store/downloadable/download/sample/sample_id/11/

[Chris in VA]

No, I don't think it's too much, if your child has been writing for a while. It's still very close to the beginning of the year, and I do think the words are pretty long.

Gee, did I just say two different answers? lol

[Tree House Academy]

If she is capable of it and doesn't complain, then I would keep at it. :) If she is constantly saying, "mom this is too much" or "I can't do it," then I would reconsider the length or do it over a couple of days.

 

O/T We are doing Little Hearts with my 1st grader too. :)

[Penelope]

I don't think it is too much. I think my son is pretty average in fine motor skills and writing (for a boy) and we did WWE1 last year, but I usually had him write both sentences rather than choose one. We also did the copywork from FLL, and he would write a little bit in other subjects, too.

 

ETA: not at the beginning of first grade,more towards the middle. At the beginning he did one sentence, and it was sometimes a struggle. Things can change a LOT by the end of a school year.

Edited October 7, 2009 by Penelope