the benefits of copywork

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  • March 16, 2011 at 9:35 pm
    Charmayne
    Participant

    I would like to know what the purpose and benefits for copywork are. I am transitioning some from classical education to CM methods in some of my subjects and this area is one I would like more specifics about.

    In classical education, one should use copywork for the first year and then transition to dictation (not primarily for spelling purposes) in the second year. They should do this until they are well into the teen years and the dictation that you give should be appropriate for their capability and should increase in size and be varied in type of writing as they get better and easier at it. It is to help a child to learn how to write correctly and to help him learn to retain more information in their mind when they are writing or when they are listening to a speaker speak and they have to write notes etc..

    I would appreciate Sonya and others to answer: is it necessary to move to dictation to do this or could I keep my children in copywork for years to come? will they learn these skills if they only do copywork? Or do I have to move into dictation for these purposes?

     

    March 17, 2011 at 5:49 am
    Sue
    Participant

    I suppose I could just dig up something Charlotte Mason wrote about the purpose of copywork and repeat it here, but instead I’m going to give you an idea of what purpose copywork serves for my family, as well as the benefits we’ve seen.  Call it, “How Do I Love Copywork….Let Me Count the Ways.”

    I have an almost-13yo dd, an autistic 11yo ds, and a 10yo dd.  They are all unique, and copywork is different for each of them.  Yes, 13yo still does a little copywork, even though she is well into prepared dictation.  The reasons?  She has always been a quick-to-learn speller, but she just began learning cursive late last school year.  So, she has been strengthening her cursive penmanship throughout this year.  Also, she has been working on memorizing certain Bible passages, and copywork helps with that process.

    My 11yo, in addition to autism, has a slight hand tremor.  He has made it through handwriting programs, learning how to form letters and numbers, but copywork has helped him develop the flow of writing.  He is in no way ready for dictation, and even transitional copywork (all the lines copied below the entire sample, not line under line) throws him into a panic right now.  However, he knows that he can stop at the end of a line, take a “hand break,” and come back to it when he is ready.  For him, I also use copywork to sneak in things like extra math fact practice, memorizing his address and phone number, and keeping him interested in schoolwork by throwing in a humorous rhyme or something seasonal.

    10yo dd is a creative dreamer.  Copywork has enabled her to learn how to stay on task, and she is now learning cursive, so she needs penmanship practice.  She is not a good speller, and I found that she balked at prepared dictation.  Thus, transitional copywork, when I explained how it differs than what we’ve been doing, is right now precisely her cup of tea.  She will not be rushed, so we’ll linger on this for awhile and utilize copywork to build lovely cursive penmanship–which she enjoys.  (It’s the artist in her.)

    Copywork meets varying needs in my children, but they are all taking greater pride in the appearance of their work, and they look forward to having something that is simple yet fulfilling to complete.

    HTH,

    Sue

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