Handwriting workbook or copywork or ??

[The Governess]

My dd just finished the HWT K curriculum. She's writing fairly well; she occasionally mixes up capital and lowercase letters but overall her writing is legible and, when she makes the effort, neat. She's at the point where she can copy 2-3 sentences before she's ready to move on to another subject.

 

I'm wondering if I should continue with the 1st grade curriculum or if I should just switch her to copywork at this point. I was also looking into the Draw Write Now books - they look like something she would enjoy. I have FLL and WWE but I was going to wait until fall (at least) to start those. And I'm sure there are other options I haven't thought of.

 

If you do copywork with a K student, how much do you give them? I was thinking a sentence or two, 3-4 times a week. Is this appropriate?

 

I would love to hear your thoughts.

[dcjlkplus3]

at this age I pretty much let them decide.

I have a notebook with tracing pages I make for them (names, numbers, care bears, superheroes, etc.) that I scan. They can get them out whenever they want. They really like to trace in different colored markers.

[Heidi @ Mt Hope]

My son completed the HWT Kindergarten book also. I purchased the 1st grade book, but then realized that it was fairly simple review/practice. So.... I purchased the blank HWT paper (the largest sized lines) and started making my own copywork. I wrote every other line so that he could copy what I wrote (3 lines worth, or 1-3 sentences). I used material that corresponded with our other studies... Bible verses or hymns, history summaries, quotes, science definitions, poetry, etc. If it was too long to fit on one page, I used more paper, but didn't have him complete it all at once.

 

This method has worked so well for us that we've continued on. I now used the smaller lined paper and longer material. We will be using the HWT cursive workbook later this year. When he has finished the book, we'll go back to copywork and then start to add in dictation.

 

We have the Draw Write Now books as well, but we haven't done any of the writing yet.

[Snickerdoodle]

In first grade as soon as my son finished the printing HWT I moved him directly to cursive HWT. I had him do two of the HWT cursive books, then we moved to copywork. We spent six months on copywork and now we are moving to dictation.

 

This has worked really well for us despite the fact that my son is a pencil-phobe.

 

We used this one

http://www.lulu.com/content/2373885

 

and this one:

http://www.lulu.com/content/2339956

[Jumping In Puddles]

My son completed the HWT Kindergarten book also. I purchased the 1st grade book, but then realized that it was fairly simple review/practice. So.... I purchased the blank HWT paper (the largest sized lines) and started making my own copywork. I wrote every other line so that he could copy what I wrote (3 lines worth, or 1-3 sentences). I used material that corresponded with our other studies... Bible verses or hymns, history summaries, quotes, science definitions, poetry, etc. If it was too long to fit on one page, I used more paper, but didn't have him complete it all at once.

 

 

 

This is exactly what I did. It is working out well but my son is asking to learn script so I am going to start researching script. Probably HWT script.

[The Governess]

My son completed the HWT Kindergarten book also. I purchased the 1st grade book, but then realized that it was fairly simple review/practice. So.... I purchased the blank HWT paper (the largest sized lines) and started making my own copywork. I wrote every other line so that he could copy what I wrote (3 lines worth, or 1-3 sentences). I used material that corresponded with our other studies... Bible verses or hymns, history summaries, quotes, science definitions, poetry, etc. If it was too long to fit on one page, I used more paper, but didn't have him complete it all at once.

 

This sounds perfect. And I already have the HWT paper. Thanks for sharing!

[Macrina]

I think it depends on her and her fine motor skills. My 4.9 DS is not strong in his fine motor and really hates writing. He finished the K book and I am having him do it again. We only do about two pages a week (we follow the weekly guide in the back of the teachers guide.) On the other hand my DD always loved writing and at 4.5 I could have expected more from her without it turning ugly.