Copy Work for Writing

I am an odd duck when it comes to what I think is important for education. I am a strong believer that children are so much smarter than we give them credit for and that when we bore them to death with busy work, they will not be interested in learning.

I have struggled with getting my little humans to write stories for me. They are willing to tell me stories, but writing them is a totally different topic. In the past I would dictate their work and ask them to make corrections, but this felt like my work not theirs.

I gave up a few years ago, because I am not willing to spend my days upset and fighting for something I don’t even see adults doing. I love to write, but that doesn’t mean that everyone will grow up and become a writer.

The compromise was not that they just get out of writing. Now, we use copy work for grammar and writing. This has improved awareness and reading cadence. It also can be done daily without question.

Here is how we work it out. I pick a passage from whatever book they are reading. They use a spiral bound notebook to write the passage exactly how it is written. Then, they read this passage to me aloud before the book is put away.

We do this exercise daily after our half hour reading time. This has just fallen into place as our daily lesson that keeps up moving forward.

I read a blog from a mom that only used copy work, for her college bound children for all 4 years of their high school career, with great success. They were scoring top grades in their college English classes and one even won an award for his writing. She admitted that none of them had ever written an essay at home until their college application essays. It convinced me that my heart for keeping busy work at bay was right, and that I could keep using literature to teach literature.

The theme for our homeschool journey has been consistently the same, don’t over think what we do. Keep it simple and ask for excellence every time.

I don’t necessarily grade the copy work, but I do look for mistakes and ask for corrections. This keeps us all honest in our work. It is true that if you give kids one inch, they will take it for every mile they can before you stop them.

When they read it back to me, they use the book and I read the notebook. I can usually spot issues and we can make corrections right away.

Remember, you are not racing against anyone else as a homeschool family. The finish line is measured by your child’s ability to learn and eagerness to learn, not by the facts they store in their brain. Learning is a life-long adventure. Not something that needs to only happen in school aged humans.

I believe in you!