Selecting/Preparing Copywork

When my second grader did copywork, he had the ability to copy from books.  I chose poems from our Sonlight poetry books, my own books, printed out verses from the Bible (and later he could follow the Bible well enough on his own), and he occasionally had a selection of his own.  I made it my job to SEARCH out and find good quotes and copywork passages.

He was required to write TWO perfect lines.  As opposed to a previous poster, I did not make him erase the WHOLE post if there was a mistake, just fix the misspelling or sloppy writing.  Now, if the WHOLE two lines showed slip-shod work, evidence of an uncaring attitude, then the whole passage was redone.  This only happened twice with him.

For our kindergarten, after learning letters, I made pages (Fusi font and in later years, “Learning Curve”-free cursive download, just google it) for print and later for cursive.  (Not cursive in K, but in 3rd grade.)  I chose words the went together like “light, sight, right, fight” and words groups like that that he would come across in our phonics reading books.

QUALITY over quantity.  That is the key.  The habit of good work, then the ability to do it faster.

Also, in first grade, I make the child say the word that they are writing, like “real, r-e-a-l, real” as they copy it.  That helps them to cement the spelling into their head. 

And, when they are writing on their own or for another subject and don’t have the spelling in front of them, I tell them the word, and after they write it, make them close their eyes and spell it aloud again.  This “narration” of the spelling helps them to remember it correctly.