Anyone allow their kids to type their copywork?

[ellebro]

I'm using Classical Writing with my 3rd and 5th graders, and one of the weekly tasks is copywork.  Now, my kids are solid on print handwriting (my son's is messy but probably always will be with his ADHD etc.) As for cursive, they each did it for one year because I wanted them to know the basics and be able to read cursive, but I'm not requiring mastery because we just have too many other things to get done.  

 

So my main goal with copywork at this point is for them to internalize proper usage/mechanics and the flow of good writing.

 

  I thought about having them do it in cursive just to bring back some handwriting review, but the problem is that when they are required to write in cursive, I find that they are focusing so much on the formation of the letters that they are not really engaging that much with the language itself.  I've let them type their copywork instead a few times, and it does seem to free up their minds to be able to focus on the actual text of the passage.  They can also type much more quantity than they can write by hand.  They will type up several paragraphs without complaint, but if I asked them to hand write the same amount I would be met with moans of despair.  

 

Would I be short-changing them by allowing them to type their copywork, or is it really accomplishing what I think it is?  Anyone have any thoughts on this?

[Critterfixer]

I say go with whatever enables your children to meet the goals you have in mind. 

That said, another goal stated is the accumulation of beautiful thoughts in beautiful language to look over from time to time. So perhaps making sure they are all saved and reviewed? Maybe responded to from time to time? 

I know I would never internalize something well if I typed it rather than wrote it out, but that's me. If they can focus more on the language and the thoughts involved by typing, I say go for it.

 

[go_go_gadget]

Since typing is faster than handwriting, my guess is that the decrease in time spent on copywork would result in less learning taking place. It's just a guess, though. I also find it easier to ''zone out'' while copying via typing than I do when copying via handwriting.

[Orthodox6]

Typing does not help to internalize either mechanics or content, using my own experience of touch typing since age nine. I thought that the purpose of copywork was to foster good handwriting, with the side effect of reinforcing desirable writing (i.e. composition) skills -- which side effect results from the slow speed of handwriting.  (I may be wrong in this "definition", since I never paid much attention to the activity.)

I empathize with the problem described. Three of my children have NVLD, so I abandoned copywork early on. Would have been a plus to include it, I think, but not worth the incurable obstacles!

[ellebro]

Thanks everyone for giving me lots to think about! Now that I think about it, I do personally internalize great writing much more by writing it by hand than by typing.   I've decided (at least for now) to forego the typing and instead ask for just one line of cursive copywork, followed by studied dictation of the entire passage (about a paragraph.)  I think that perhaps dictation may be a better way than typing to internalize good writing. 

 

Thanks again!  :001_smile:

[jens2sons]

Copywork is important to do by hand as it is also a way to work on handwriting.  There is a neurological connection when pencil hits paper.  I allowed ds17 (when he was that age) to type his narrations but not copywork.  I think allowing them to type their narrations is also a wonderful use of keyboard time.  

[MrsWeasley]

I prefer handwritten copy work, but I allow my kids to type some. They retain what they write more than what they type, but they still learn enough from their typed copy work that as long as they write most of it, I refuse to fight about it.

[Tsuga]

I don't give a fig about handwriting as 100% of the professional and student work I've done since the age of 14 has been typed. HOWEVER, I would not type copy work primarily because I believe the emerging evidence suggests that the brain processes written work differently and I know that although I've tried to go electronic for my entire academic career, there seems to be something very different at play when I type versus when I write. My concern with typed copy work is that it is almost automatic for a good typist and that some of the grammatical and spelling patterns may not be internalized in the same way.

 

That said, my kids are in public school so home copy work is minimal. They probably copy about 30 minutes per day all told, the little one more but she's in an immersion language program so they need more print exposure in school. The non-immersion school no longer cares about their handwriting except if it suggests a developmental issue, but the school does care that they are not merely typing from the board. They have the kids sit and copy, with their hands, spelling words and sentences and so on.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I used copywork as handwriting practice mostly.  So I didn't give long passages. 

 

I wonder if dictation would be better with typing. 

 

 

[Sahamamama]

No. I think of typing as driving by, while copywork is like walking by. You know how when you walk past a place you've always driven by, you "see" things (that were always there) that you never saw before? I think of copywork like that, including for myself when I copy Bible verses or other passages. HTH.