Am I making a mistake with copywork?

[Alana in Canada]

I just settled on a wonderful schedule for our copywork:

Mon--Bible Verse,

Tues--poem of the week

Wed--something from our writing curriculum (Aesop A)

Thurs--something from our spelling list

Friday--something history related.

 

But I'm really not seeing much improvement.

 

Am I simply too impatient? (we've only started doing this again for two weeks after a long, long break)

or do I really need to focus on one passage for a week?

 

Both children are doing cursive with Startwrite.

 

However, they refuse to use cursive for their narrations.(Although my youngest will use it for spelling. That's how she's always done it. I've never even taught her manuscript, so I don't know why she's copying her narrations that way!)

[MelissaMinNC]

Sorry, not trying to be obtuse, I guess I'm not sure what the aim of your copywork is. You're not seeing much improvement in handwriting? Is this the only handwriting practice they do, after many months of no specific practice? In that case, I might say...yes, you're impatient, it'll take more time to see improvement. Have they improved from last year at this time? Do you have some papers you can go back and look at?

 

I find myself impatient with handwriting too - I keep thinking, 'WHY are you making your d's (or whatever) that way, when I've shown you a thousand times how to do it?!' But in the end....as long as dd is trying her best (and she usually is) I'm content. Her writing is legible, and I know it will just continue to get better...albeit sloooowly.

 

:)

Melissa

[Tarheel Heather]

On what your goals are for doing the copywork. Are you wanting to focus soley on handwriting, grammar, writing style, etc?

 

Maybe you could focus on one passage for 2 days twice a week.

[Alana in Canada]

Ah, good questions. Sorry I wasn't more clear.

 

I'm not seeing a lot of improvement in their handwriting. I came up with that schedule just because the first two items are things we are memorizing as well, so it seemed to be an excellent memory aid.

 

Now that the kids are progressing somewhat in grammar, I use the material later in the week to have them identify the number of sentences, use quotations, and parts of speech, for example.

[Aletheia Academy]

I think your plan is fine! When you say "something from...," I'm not sure how long that something is. If you think it would help, you might try making the assignment shorter but requiring excellence. Patience is in order.:o

[LindaOz]

I would just stick with it. Personally, I wouldn't have them repeat the same passage more than once as I think the way you have set it up with a different topic each day is more interesting. If anything, maybe shorten the copywork a little, depending on age and ability, and as you see improvement increase little by little.

 

All the best.

[PeterPan]

If you want their handwriting to improve, I'd focus specifically on it. Do you sit there and WATCH them while they do the copywork to see that they are forming each letter correctly? One thing I've done with my dd often is to have her write the alphabet daily. It's just an efficient way to review formation of each and every letter. We only write it one time through, but we really make it count, requiring her to form each letter correctly. Handwriting isn't going to improve through copywork unless you focus on it as handwriting, if that makes sense.

[Alana in Canada]

Am I watching them? I'm usually getting breakfast!

 

Hmmm. Thank you all. Just write the alphabet? That would be interesting.

 

And shorter bits may be the ticket. My son has been complaining his hand is cramping up--which means he's not holding his pencil correctly.

 

Thanks.

[katilac]

I'd say that two weeks is very little time to see improvement in anything.

 

It's also possible they need more explicit instruction in forming letters, rather than just copying.