rafiki Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Raising my hand. We don't have time to do either. I have tried it in the past and my son and I both thought it was busy work. I see how it can be very beneficial, but not for my son and his learning style. So, you're not alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorna in the boonies Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Timidly raising my hand, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 most have to do with the fact that I can't fit it in. I'm happy to have them do the little bit of dictation that is required in their spelling program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1bassoon Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 My hand is up a bit - once in a while my 7 yo does some. just have gotten away from it - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristineIN Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 We don't really do it here either. Kristine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIch elle Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 did it. R&S English counted as our copywork, lol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 We did it with our eldest DD for maybe 3 years and it just didn't give us the results we were wanting/expecting. Now we are finally making progress with a combination of freewriting and hand-holding while using a writing skills program. Pegasus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 We don't do it either... sort of... Explanation: my ds has trouble remembering math facts and somewhere on these boards someone had mentioned a book that was math copywork. Well, I'm too cheap to buy the book when I can just do that myself. So, I use whatever facts we are on in Saxon and have him do copywork "drills" for facts he doesn't know. We haven't been doing this very long, yet it does seem to be helping. Other than that, I agree that it's naught but fluffy busywork. One argument for it that I see, is that it instills the qualities of good literature in children's minds. I don't think so. READING good literature does that. Oh, I think I'm going to get negative rep for having said that, though. :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snickerdoodle Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Well, I did ask my 6yo to write a grocery list for me that I dictated while doing dishes. See if you can figure out what I was supposed to buy: choklit bandeed cofy colrd paapr peeda bred hotogs kerats cheez egs I guess the copy work that he has to do is the HWOT booklets. Otherwise we don't do separate copywork or dictation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DB in NJ Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 In eleven years of homeschooling three kids, we have NEVER done copywork or dictation. Never. And ya know what? They're fine. All three of them. They aren't scarred or anything. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted February 18, 2008 Author Share Posted February 18, 2008 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted February 18, 2008 Author Share Posted February 18, 2008 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 We've experimented with some copywork, but never bothered with dictation. I don't have any really good reason why not. Mostly, we just never got around to it, I guess. I started assigning my daughter copywork before I even read TWTM, thinking it was my own brilliant idea to help her learn cursive. She had gone through a couple of workbooks that taught her how to form the letters, but just couldn't seem to put it into practice, either to read or to write. She was really into poety and fairies at the time. So, I came up with the idea of writing out a stanza or two each day of a poem about fairies and having her "translate" it and then copy it out. We did it for about a month, as I recall, by which time she had the "aha!" experience and got over the hump. We abandoned it after that, once she was confidently writing her daily assignments in cursive. Last year, I tried working copywork into my son's regular schedule, but he just hated it so much and it became such a flashpoint in our lives that I eventually decided it wasn't worth it. We may try again next year, since I'm determined to get him writing in cursive then. I don't know: Maybe if I had kids who seemed to benefit from or need this kind of exercise, I'd make it a priority. But I can't think of anything it would teach that we're not already covering elsewhere. --Jenny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momofkhm Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 And copywork only for my 7yo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pongo Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Half raised here. They do get the SWR lists dictated to them. Sometimes I will dictate a sentence at the end of the spelling lists. Other than that they do not do any dictation. As far as copy work goes, other than learning their letters in the beginning they have never done it. They do on the other hand have a "ton" of memory work memorized :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deeke Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 We don't do narration or copywork, unless you count Italics Handwriting. I also don't feel bad about it anymore, we wasted a lot of years we could have been having so much more fun than sitting doing "school-at-home". :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle T Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 My DS is dyslexic/LD's, and we use Apples and Pears spelling (great program for dyslexics!) It relies heavily on copying and dictation of spelling words, which really does the trick for DS's spelling abilities. Beyond that, we don't do any sort of copywork or dictation. Truthfully, it always sounded like busywork to me, but I know that both classical and Charlotte Mason homeschooling includes both. Michelle T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DB in NJ Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Do you have a link for Apples & Pears spelling? I can't find it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siloam Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 I can not be alone here. I didn't do it for the first two years with my oldest, I tried it this year with both because "there must be something my kids were missing in not doing it", and it still seems like "busy work". Busy work? Oh my! LOL! I am pretty die hard about dictation especially in the early years, but my kids do very little writing outside of dictation and we simply do one sentence a day from the SL LA I bought for my oldest, in other words it is easy and at hand. All my kids also have motor skill issues, so it is another way to work on handwriting too. But also realize I don't do grammar or writing in the younger years, nor do we do workbooks outside of ETC. The kids really don't get much writing, so dictation becomes a way to cover it all in one simple exercise. My 6yo, for instance, is doing a page in ETC (front or back, not both), one sentence of dictation, one page in her handwriting book and writing her phonograms in sand daily. She doesn't do much to any writing for math (RS), science or history. But now that I have a 4th grader who is doing several separate pieces for LA with lots of writing and who doesn't have any problem forming a correct sentence, I am questioning whether we should continue or not, at lest with dictation. Her need is probably more in the category of copywork because her handwriting is less than ideal. :rolleyes: If she can improve her handwriting I probably wouldn't even do that. Hmmmm...challenge her maybe? I don't think it is something to feel guilty about if you don't do it. I like it because, for me, it covers a lot at once, so I don't have to do a bunch of programs. If you feel more comfortable having separate spelling, grammar, phonics, ect...then those will work just as well and you don't need dictation. Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Motherof3Boys1Girl Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Well, I did ask my 6yo to write a grocery list for me that I dictated while doing dishes. See if you can figure out what I was supposed to buy: choklit bandeed cofy colrd paapr peeda bred hotogs kerats cheez egs I guess the copy work that he has to do is the HWOT booklets. Otherwise we don't do separate copywork or dictation. I'm going to guess chocolate bandaids coffee colored paper pita bread hotdogs carrots cheese eggs. am i right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neesek Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Well, I did ask my 6yo to write a grocery list for me that I dictated while doing dishes. See if you can figure out what I was supposed to buy: choklit bandeed cofy colrd paapr peeda bred hotogs kerats cheez egs I like your priorities here. Chocolate and coffee at the top, carrots way down there on the bottom. Just the way it should be :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 I've tried it before with all three of my kids, but have never lasted more than 1-2 weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awanama Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 We don't do either. I guess you could say we do some copywork to practice our cursive but not for the sake of copywork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeinfl Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 It is precious and I understood everything on the list! :D Dee! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle T Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 Do you have a link for Apples & Pears spelling? I can't find it.... http://www.soundfoundationsbooks.co.uk/ They are in the UK, but have a distributor here in the US. Michelle T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snickerdoodle Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 The grocery list is one of those things that ends up in the baby book. And you did guess correctly. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 my hand up too, MelissaL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BizyPenguin Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 Nope! CLE Language Arts is plenty for my ds! I must admit, though, I really wanted to implement dictation. I should add that my ds learned to write (manuscript) using copywork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 I can not be alone here. I didn't do it for the first two years with my oldest, I tried it this year with both because "there must be something my kids were missing in not doing it", and it still seems like "busy work". They both seem to absorb decent style, spelling and punctuation from reading. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2boys Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 Never seemed to get around to it with my older son. :o Hoping to implement copy work with my younger son next year using SWB's new writing curriculum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeefreak Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 Proudly raising my hand!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 We tried it once. The kids hated it and so did I. Never did it again. Nothing bad happened, so I stopped feeling guilty about it. RC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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