Delightful reader/writing

The term “Copywork” includes beginning handwriting in those sample schedules. Here are more specifics.

You can teach the child how to make the letter strokes at the same time you begin learning the letter sounds in reading if he shows an interest. If he’s not yet ready to do paper-and-pencil writing, you can teach the strokes using the large muscles: in a pan of raw rice or pan of sand or on a large white board.

Usually the practice of putting letters together to form words is best saved until the child can read the words he is writing. If he can’t read those words, he’s simply doing an exercise in drawing and not getting the idea that the word can convey.

So to apply those principles to Delightful Reading and Delightful Handwriting, go ahead and teach the letter strokes in rice or in the air when the child is in the pre-reading stages of Delightful Reading. Once he is in the actual reading lessons, you can start Delightful Handwriting lessons, making sure he knows the words he is copying. But if he is not yet ready for pencil-and-paper handwriting, hold off and start the handwriting lessons later.