Copywork Manuscripts

Charlotte’s method of copywork for teaching writing is terrific. We especially love her emphasis on copying meaningful content right from the start. None of this “Fill this page with A’s” stuff for our children!

However, we did notice that beginning copywork went a whole lot easier if the student had larger lined paper and handwritten words to copy. It was hard enough for those little ones to concentrate on how each letter was shaped, without having to use one hand to keep a book open to the correct page, keep a finger on the correct sentence on that page, and remember that type-written lower-case a‘s are different from manuscript hand-written a‘s.

So to save you some time and effort, we’ve just added some manuscript copywork documents to our CM Time Savers section. These documents contain selected poetry, Scripture, and hymn lyrics. Feel free to download as many as you like. And check back regularly; we plan to add more.

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3 Comments

  1. This is really helpful. Thank you for posting these. I would appreciate if as time goes on you can add more selections. My dd , age 7, is just right for these.
    Jennifer in PA

  2. Love the timeline. It was the easiest thing to simply print out. We printed it out on plain computer paper. I think it’ll be okay, though, since it is in a three-brad-paper folder. It doesn’t seem like it will rip up like it would in a three ring binder. It fit just right in the paper folder. Not too big at all.

    The recitation guide is a great thing to share. I’ve modified it some, but others will too. It has been a fantastic help.

    The narration file is a little meager for down the road, but I hope it grows. You’ve done so much already, I’m not complaining at all. Just hoping here…. There’s more to recommend to other beginning CMers if you can fill it out a little bit. Like, beginning ideas. Moderate level ideas, and advanced level ideas too?

    Lastly, I was actually finally a little disappointed with something. The copywork selections, being whole poems, are not in line with CM thinking. The poem about the months is a GREAT selection for students to study, but IMHO, it is more in line with CM to assign it as studied dictation, if that makes sense.

    Anyway, unless that changes, it’s not the part of your site that I would personally recommend. I have heard of moms who use copywork in keeping with your copywork files. I am sure they will love them. They just aren’t quite in line with CM philosophy/method.

    I might disagree with you on that point, but I am a big fan of your efforts.

    Thanks for all that you do,

    Rainey May

    • Rainey,

      Thanks for your comments! We’re glad the timeline and memory system have been helpful.

      Good point about the copywork’s being whole poems. We hope we didn’t leave the impression that the child is to copy the entire poem in one sitting. Copywork lessons should be short — no more than ten to fifteen minutes. A single line copied perfectly is a wonderful goal. And the child may choose his or her favorite stanza as the extent of copywork for that particular poem.

      Since we don’t know which lines or stanzas each parent or student might want to use, we’ve included the entire poems. Please feel free to use only the parts you want. Download the poem, then print only the pages you want to use.

      I hope this explanation clears up any confusion.

      We agree that we’d love to see the narration ideas fill out a bit more. So, consider this an open invitation to post more narration ideas, everyone!

      Thanks again for your encouragement and suggestions.

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