Be Inspired by Dr. Ben Carson - {free} copywork

This post is sponsored by Great Homeschool Conventions.  You can hear Dr. Ben Carson speak at the Greenville, SC and Cincinnati, OH conventions this year.

I'm embarrassed to say that I had never heard of Dr. Ben Carson before I began browsing the Great Homeschool Convention website a few months ago.  I heard people talking about how excited they were to hear him speak, so I thought I should figure out who this guy is!  In case you are unaware like I was, let me share a little bit of what I learned.

Dr. Carson grew up in inner-city Detroit.  He was raised mostly by his mother and did not look to have a bright future.  He grew up in dire poverty and struggled with a horrible temper, but his mother challenged him and his brother to dream of more than their current circumstances.  She turned off their TV and made him read books.  Dr. Carson learned of the great opportunities that were available to him and dreamed of being a physician.  

Long story short, he became one of the leading neurosurgeons in America, and is the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins.  He has an amazingly inspirational story that he shares in his book Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, and challenges us to do as he did in his book Think Big: Unleashing Your Potential for Excellence.

If you are going to the Greenville, SC or Cincinnati, OH Great Homeschool Conventions, you will have the privilege of hearing Dr. Caron speak.  I have created some free copywork pages for you to prepare your children to listen to him.  If you are not going to the conference, these are still wonderful copywork pages for your children because Dr. Carson's words will be an inspiration to them!

Here are some of the Dr. Carson quotes that are included in the copywork pack:

"Success is determined not by whether or not you face obstacles, but by your reaction to them."  Dr. Ben Carson   Tweet this!

 "Successful people don't have fewer problems.  They have determined that nothing will stop them from going forward."   Dr. Carson  Tweet this!

 "Everyone in the world is worth being nice to, because God never creates inferior human beings.  Each person deserves respect and dignity."  Dr. Carson   Tweet this!

 "Happiness doesn't result from what we get, but what we give."  Dr. Carson  Tweet this!

 "The doors of the world are opened to people who can read."  Dr. Carson  Tweet this!

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Download Copywork

8 pages of Dr. Ben Carson quotes

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I hope you enjoy this copywork and I hope that you will join me at the Great Homeschool Conventions (I'll be in Cincinnati)!

Want to know more about Dr. Ben Carson?  Spotlight on Dr. Ben Carson.

Lessons from Aesop from Classical Copywork

Are you studying Ancient Greece this year?  I have a new copywork pack available at Classical Copywork, that would be just perfect if you have beginning writers!

Lessons from Aesop is 193 pages of Beginner copywork, taken from the lessons in Aesop for Children. 

Check it out!

Simple Spiral Binding Machine - My New Favorite Tool

I am absolutely in love with a tool I got a few months ago.  It's a spiral binding machine.  Seriously, I love it.  I've been going a little crazy and binding everything in site!

I am not being compensated in any way for telling you about this (although these are amazon affiliate links, so I could potentially make about 50 cents if you buy it ).  I bought the Carl Brands Ring Binding System with my own money and I want to tell you about it because I LOVE it (oh, did I already say that?!)

It all started when I got the Young Reader curriculum CD from Heritage History.  I love using living books for teaching my kids, and love the clean formatting that Heritage History brings to these old books.  The only problem is that they are best used in ebook format.  They can also be printed out, but I found myself printing out pages and then misplacing them.  I knew I wanted to make these wonderful stories into books, but I didn't know the best way to do it.  I looked into many different forms of book binding, and finally found the Carl Brands Ring Binding System.   At less than $20, it was a perfect match between price and a great final product!

What kind of things can you bind?

Since I got the binding system, I've gone a little book-binding-crazy!  I've been making books out of just about anything I can get my hands on =)  Here are some of the books I've put together:

• Multiple Heritage History selections
• History lesson plans from Simply Charlotte Mason
• Notebooking Pages along with copywork pages for our Veritas Press Ancient Greece and Rome studies
• Song School Latin workbook pages (just for fun!)
• A Nature Journal
• A Beginning Writing Notebook
• A Story Journal (for simple book reports)
• and more!

How the Binding Machine Works

When I was trying to figure out which binding system to go with, something I really wanted was to see them in action to help me decide.  I thought it might be helpful for you to see how this spiral binding machine works.  I'm not great with videos, but hopefully these will help you get a feel for how it works in case you are looking to make some books too!

This first video is a close up of how the binder actually works:




This second video is so you can get an idea of the whole process and how long it takes to put a small book together:

 Highlights of the binder:

• punches holes into the paper 
• you turn the coil through the holes to make the book
• punch up to 5 pages at a time
• punch any size paper (up to 12 inches)
• punch locks into the strip to ensure perfectly placed holes
• coils come in many sizes to accommodate different book thicknesses

 
If you are looking for a way to preserve your children's work, make notebooks for schoolwork, or make physical books out of ebooks (and not break the bank!) I encourage you to give the Carl Brands Ring Binding System  a try!  Let me know if you have any questions and I can try to help you figure out if it would suit your needs.

Happy Book Binding!

Birthday Thank You Note Copywork

My baby girl turned 3 this past weekend!  How did she get to be so old?!?  We had a really nice time celebrating her young life and she was so excited about the whole thing =)  We had some close family members over for dinner and they were more than generous, showering her with many PINK gifts.  Yes, I've got a girly girl, which I love!

Mackenzie got about a dozen new dresses, a play table to go with the kitchen in her room, lots of bracelets and hair clips, some wooden dress-up dolls, a puzzle, and more!  With all these wonderful new gifts, we've got some thank you notes to write!

I made up this "Thank you for my gift!" copywork page to help her be involved in the appreciation showing too.  If you have a beginning writer with a birthday coming up, you might benefit from this too!  Please feel free to use download and print this page all you'd like.

 (download copywork)

• Write the recipients name on the top line

• Have your child copy the sentence "Thank you for my gift!"

• Use the lines below to write anything else you would like to include (We just loved seeing you and your new little one!  Thanks for bringing a salad!  Lulu just LOVES her new doll!  Hope to see you again soon!  etc.)

• Have your child practice writing his or her name on the bottom line

I think taking the time to write thank you notes is such a great way to show appreciation to the gift-givers.  I always love hearing that the child I give a gift to actually enjoys what I gave them =)  Possibly most importantly, it is a great opportunity to have your child slow down and truly be thankful for each gift and each gift giver, learning the skill of thank you note writing along the way!  

Teach Your Child To Write - A Beginner's Writing Notebook

This post contains an affiliate link to a product I love.

My little girl is turning 3 this month.  For the past year she has loved coloring, cutting paper, gluing things, etc.  She has incredible fine motor skills.  These two things coupled together led me to begin teaching her to write letters a little over two months ago.  She is doing an amazing job, and I wanted to share with you what I have been doing with her.

This is a simple, no-hassle, no fancy curriculum needed, way to help your child (at whatever age they are ready!) learn to write.  It is the very first form of copywork; simply mimicking correctly written letters.

Just before I began teaching Mackenzie to write her letters, I bought a really simple book binding system (that I'm in love with!) so I just HAD to make up a writing notebook for her.

The idea was to have her learn a new letter each day we did school work, practice previously learned letters, and also master letter sounds along with it.  So, I printed these {free!} A-Z Handwriting Worksheets from Confessions of a Homeschooler and on the back of each page I printed these {free!}blank Beginner Handwriting Sheets from Classical Copywork.

Here is what we do

1. Review the previously learned letters by looking at each page in the book she has already done.  I turn the pages and she tells me the name of the letter and what sound it makes.
2. Learn how to write the letter by tracing over the letters and letter parts on the A-Z Handwriting Worksheet for the day.  
3. Practice writing the letter on her own.  I write one uppercase and one lowercase example for her on the blank Beginner Handwriting Sheet on the opposite page and she does her best to copy it across the line.  Some letters she caught onto quickly and others took practice over many days.
4. Review writing previous day's letters.  I write letters on the rest of the lines for her to practice with.  Sometimes I pick the more difficult ones that she needs extra practice on and other times I let her pick which ones she wants me to write.

 

This process does not take long each day and it is really working well!  In just two months, she can write and give the sound for almost every letter.  I love the idea of having it all in a book like this because it is easy to review the previous letters, everything is in one place, and I don't have to print out a new sheet every day.  I'm going to have a post up soon about the book binding system I've been using and how simple it is to use!

I encourage you to try making up a notebook like this for your child if they are ready to begin learning how to write!

Who was Pharaoh Akhenaton?

Today starts a series titled "Wise Words from Pharaoh Akhenaton."  Starting Monday, February 18th, for five Mondays I will feature a quote from him, share my thoughts, and have a free copywork printable of the quote!  I was pleasantly surprised with what I found as I researched him and hope that you will come back to let me share what I found!

Today I would like to share with you a bit about Pharaoh Akhenaton before we start looking at some of the things that he said.  I am by no means an expert on Egyptian history, and so much of the past remains a mystery, but it is fun to research, learn, and think about new things!  Here are some of the things that I discovered.

Pharaoh Akhenaton was a part of the 18th dynasty of Egypt.  At the beginning of his reign he was known as Amenhotep IV, but as he sought to change Egypt's polytheistic religious system into a monotheistic one, he changed this name to honor Aton, his deity of choice.

This monotheism of his is what I want to focus on during this series.  In Egypt, worshiping one god was unheard of both before and after his reign.  This concept, along with the quotes from him that I am going to share with you over the coming weeks, fascinated me so I wanted to learn a little more about who this man was.

Well, the more I read, the more confused I was =) Some have suggested that Akhenaton was the Pharoah during part of Moses' early life.  Some say that Akhenaton was Moses.  I am no one to say what the truth is, but I do know that I have to hold to what the Bible teaches, so I'm going to rule that second opinion out.  I'd like to read the book Unwrapping the Pharoahs to see the conclusion given there.  I read the book Unveiling the King's of Israel by the same author and found it fascinating, so I'm sure the one about Egypt would be insightful as well!

Perhaps Akhenaton had heard stories of Joseph's God since he had been prominent in Egypt for some time.  Maybe he did live in Moses' day and was influenced by his faithfulness to the one true God.  Maybe there is some other undiscovered connection that still allows the Biblical text to be accurate.  I do not know, but the wisdom in many of his words are worth pondering, so that is what we will do!

Please join me, starting Monday, as we look at Wise Words from Pharaoh Akhenaton.

If you would like to be inspired by quotes on all sorts of other topics, you can look forward to hearing from the other ladies at the iHomeschool Network as well!  I'll point you their way as soon as the series officially starts.

Copywork Tips and Testimonials

Welcome to the last day of our copywork series here at Living and Learning at Home.  So far we have talked about what copywork is, who should use it, and where to find copywork resources.  Yesterday I introduced to you a new copywork pack for McGuffey's Second Reader at Classical Copywork (and you have the chance to win over 300 pages of copywork...have you entered yet?)

Today I want to wrap up the series by hearing from you.  All week long I have been receiving your questions, tips, and testimonials and I'm excited to share them with you and answer some of your questions.   I would love to hear you answers to these questions too, or any additional tips you have to share, so please comment at the end of the post!  I will also post these questions on facebook, so be on the lookout for them.

Questions

Q.  "How do you get young children interested in doing their copywork so it is not drudgery?"  (Jennifer on facebook)

A.   If your child is really throwing a fuss about doing their copywork, I would recommend first having him copy something that is of interest to him.  Pick his copywork from a subject that he is enjoying learning about.  Is he fascinated in bugs? Does he have a favorite song he loves to sing?  Write down a fact about the bug, a line from the song, etc. and have them copy that.  My son always is tickled pink when he starts copying and finds that it is the poem that he has been memorizing.

My other suggestion would be scaling way back on the amount of words, as to not frustrate them.  If your child is young, perhaps have them copy just three or four word sentences until they are more confident in their work.

Anyone else have any ideas for Jennifer?

 
Q.  "When you select copywork, is there anything particular you look for that makes a good selection?"  (Stephanie from Harrington Harmonies and Nature Notebook)

A.  I look for a few things when I choose selections for copywork:

• Ability-appropriate length 

• Quality content - is it teaching them something you want them to emulate, remember, or ponder?

• Applicability - does it go along with something they are learning elseware or can relate to their life somehow?

When I am picking a piece for my son, for example, I look for a short sentence (where the bigger-than-normal words can fit on one page, including the lines to copy on) that captures the meaning of the book/chapter/story or that teaches a lesson.  You may want to look for words your child can read, or words you would like her to learn.

Stephanie mentioned to me that she is specifically talking about picking selections from a book they are reading.  Check out below in the "Tips" section for Dollie's tip about living books!

Anyone else have any tips for Stephanie?


Q.  "I am curious if anyone has ideas for a pre-writer who will learn cursive first."  (from a question left in the comments by Austen n Burney)

A.  I would think of having them trace lines that are circular or loopy.  Perhaps it is too advanced for what you are thinking, but Confessions of a Homeschooler has A-Z Cursive Worksheets where your child can trace letters that are larger.   You can also search for downloadable fonts for your computer that are cursive.  I have one that is called Learning Curve and it has an option for dotted lines.  You could type large letters and print them out for your child to practice tracing.

Anyone have any better ideas or resources for Austen n Burney?

Tips and Testimonials

"Quotations are fantastic for a {copywork} notebook because although they are notmally short, they hold a wealth of information about the time period or person you are studying." Jimmie from The Notebooking Fairy

"Living books are full of great opportunity to have your children copy selections that stick out to them.  These selections could also include the portions around the vocabulary words for the week.  The process of using copywork within a high school's literature course is a perfect way for them to meditate on good thoughts and great writing."  Dollie from Teachers of Good Things

Kristi from The Potter's Hand Academy told me how she has neglected copywork recently and said that "all sorts of things are suffering" because of it.  She said "I MUST get better at copywork for my children.  I've slacked off so much, and their handwriting and spelling are suffering."

"I have a kindergartener and I have her do copywork daily.  We bought a composition notebook and I just write what she needs to copy and she does her writing right underneath.  sometimes it's her verse from AWANAS or just a random fact from our day.  I love looking back through the book.  I can actually see her getting better!"  A comment from Nicole

"We brought my youngest homes at age 6 1/2, and she hated all writing.  She formed her letters improperly, too.  I starter her with copywork about 6 months into our homeschool journey and it's made a huge difference.  It is not her favorite part of the day, but she does it and her writing has improved so much.  It is definitely worth the time and effort we put into the subject."  A comment from Becca

"I use copywork with my boys.  For my older son I usually give him a Bible verse to copy and then after he is done copying it, I go through and pick out words that he should be able to spell and quiz him on them.  I prefer this method to doing spelling over the weekly lists method.  My younger son, in Kindergarten, usually writes him name and practices his numbers for copywork.  I am thinking of starting some three letter words with him to help him with his reading skills."  Christian via email

"Copywork is one of the aspects of CM education that i really love.  We saw huge strides in handwriting after we implemented this."  A comment from Erin D

Thank you so much to all of you for joining me this week as we talked about copywork!  I hope you learned a thing or two (I know I learned from you) and were encouraged to either try copywork, get back to it, or keep with it!

If you have any final tips or answers to the questions above, please leave a comment!

If you haven't entered yesterday's giveaway, please take a minute to enter!  You can win over 300 pages of copywork from Classical Copywork.


Take a minute to check out what the other lovely ladies of the iHomeschool Network are talking about this week during the Hopscotch...

Copywork for McGuffey's Second Reader and a Giveaway!

Welcome to a week long series at Living and Learning at Home!  The ladies of the iHomeschool Network have another Hopscotch going on and my topic is copywork.  Each day this week we will be talking about what copywork is, who should do it, resources for it, etc.  I encourage you to ask questions or give suggestions at any time.  Either leave a comment or send me an email and we can discuss this topic together!

Today I want to introduce to you my new site devoted completely to copywork, Classical Copywork.  If you haven't already been over there, I would love it if you would check it out!  I created this site to be a resource for families who want to find great copywork for their children of all ages.  So far I have copywork for Bible verses, poetry, and McGuffey reader supplements, but I will be adding more frequently.  I hope to soon build a substantial collection for the benefit of homeschooling families.

I am adding a new copywork pack today and want to share it with you all (and give you a chance to win one for yourself)!  This new pack is 77 pages of copywork designed to supplement McGuffey's Second Reader (Revised Edition).  It is made for intermediate writers who can write on (approx.) wide ruled paper.  To learn more, please visit Classical Copywork.

Also, in celebration of this 5 day series, I want to offer a giveaway of my entire collection of copywork to one reader!  The winner will get a download of each of the copywork packs available currently at Classical Copywork.  That is over 300 pages of copywork ranging from beginner-intermediate levels.  Whether you already use copywork in your homeschool or you are just wondering what it is all about, this is a perfect giveaway for you!  Please enter below!


a Rafflecopter giveaway
 

Take a minute to check out what the other lovely ladies of the iHomeschool Network are talking about this week during the Hopscotch...

Where to Find Copywork

Welcome to a week long series at Living and Learning at Home!  The ladies of the iHomeschool Network have another Hopscotch going on and my topic is copywork.  This week we have been talking about what copywork is, who should do it, etc.  I encourage you to ask questions or give suggestions at any time.  Either leave a comment or send me an email and we can discuss this topic together!

Today we will be talking about where you can find copywork to use with your child.  As your children grow, it will be easy to assign them passages to copy directly out of books, but in the early stages it is really handy to just be able to print out pages for your child to write directly on.  Here are some great resources for each of the stages.  Most of them are free, but some of the bigger packs of copywork are available for a small charge.

 Please note: I have tried my best to place the follow copywork resources in the correct levels, but it is hard to tell exactly what a page is like without printing it out and looking at it.  If you are looking for copywork for your child, please also check the level below and above the level you think they are in to make sure you get something I may have misplaced.  Enjoy!

Pre-Writer

• Uppercase and lowercase trace and build templates/pieces
• Trace and cut pages
• A-Z Handwriting Worksheets from Confessions of a Homeschooler
• Delightful Handwriting from Charlotte Mason

Beginner

• Genesis Copywork for Beginners from Classical Copywork
• Copywork for McGuffey's Primer from Classical Copywork
• Good Books Copywork from Living and Learning at Home
• Christmas Gift Thank You Copywork from Living and Learning at Home
• Fall Leaves Copywork from Living and Learning at Home
• Beginning Reading and Copywork from Living and Learning at Home
• Hymns, Poetry, and Bible Verse Copywork from Simply Charlotte Mason
• A Child's Copybook Reader from Simply Charlotte Mason

Elementary

• Genesis Copywork - Elementary from Classical Copywork
• Poetry for Kids Copywork from Classical Copywork
• Copywork for McGuffey's First Reader from Classical Copywork
• Bible Verse Copywork from Guest Hollow
• Character Trait Copywork from Guest Hollow
• Print to Cursive Proverbs from Charlotte Mason
• Bible Verses from Heart of Wisdom
• Bible and History Copywork from Copycat Books

Intermediate

• Copywork for McGuffey's Second Reader from Classical Copywork
• Bible and My Father's World Copywork from Mamma Jenn (Search for 'copywork' there's a lot!)
• Dr. Seuess Copywork from Walking by the Way
• President Quotes from Walking by the Way
• Copywork Lessons for Future Heros from Walking by the Way
• History Copywork from A Journey Through Learning (many options)
• Hymns in Prose Copybooks from Simply Charlotte Mason 
• Martin Luther King Jr. Copywork from Homegrown Learners

Advanced

• CS Lewis Copywork from Walking by the Way
• John Bunyan Copywork from Notebooking Fairy
• Georgia O'Keeffe Copywork from Notebooking Fairy

Multiple Ages

• Liberty Bell Copywork from Notebooking Fairy
• Reformation Day Copywork from Notebooking Fairy
• Many selections at CurrCrick
• Many selections at Rainbow Resource Center

I hope this is enough to get you started!  If you offer any copywork on your blog, or have a favorite resource that I have not mentioned above, leave a link in the comments and I'll add it!


I have started a Pinterest board to keep track of all the places we can find copywork for our children.  Come and follow just the board Copywork to Use or all of my boards at AmyJoyMaze to always know where to find copywork!  I will be adding to this board whenever I become aware of new copywork.


Take a minute to check out what the other lovely ladies of the iHomeschool Network are talking about this week during the Hopscotch...

Who Should Use Copywork?

 
Welcome to a week long series at Living and Learning at Home!  The ladies of the iHomeschool Network have another Hopscotch going on and my topic is copywork.  Yesterday we talked about what copywork is, today we will talk about who should do it, then the rest of the week I will share resources for it, and answer questions about the topic.  I encourage you to ask questions or give suggestions at any time.  Either leave a comment or send me an email and we can discuss this topic together!

Today we will be talking about who should use copywork.  Why everyone, of course =)  Let's take a look at what copywork will look like at different ages.

Pre-Writing

Yes, even your littlest preschooler can begin their copywork journey!  From the first time they trace a line on a page, they are practicing copywork.  Sure, it's not formal copywork, but it is great preparation and the principles are the same.  My 2 year old currently loves tracing letters made of dotted lines, and even trying to write her own letters.  Come back tomorrow for a list of places to find great copywork for pre-writers!

Beginner

I consider beginning writers to be those who are still mastering the strokes each letter, cannot write on normal sized lines, and take quite a bit of time to write just a few words.  They might start out writing just a word or two, progressing to short sentences.  The key at this stage is to not exhaust their little hands or exasperate their attention spans.  Five minutes of writing is a good goal, but you will know the right amount by watching your child.  What is important at stage is making sure that they are taking their time to write their letters well, holding their pencil correctly, and focusing on the task at hand.

Things like simple phrases from children's books, Bible verses, sentences they can read, words that will encourage them toward good behavior, etc. are good choices for copywork at this Beginning stage.  Come back tomorrow for lots of specific examples from many sources!

Elementary

Elementary writers are those who understand how to write each letter well, are starting to write smaller, and are ready for lots of practice!  These young writers will benefit from doing copywork every day.  Don't let this overwhelm you!  Just like beginning writers, this only needs to be for a few minutes a day.  5-10 minutes of good, focused writing is plenty. This might be 1-2 sentences worth of copying.  They will probably still be writing on slightly larger ruled paper and will still benefit from a mid-line to help them position their letters correctly.

My son is at this stage, and the biggest challenge he has is focusing and truly writing his best for those few minutes.  Copywork should be written in a child's best handwriting (taking care with each letter), so if you find that your child is rushing or losing focus, you might want to reign back and focus on getting just 2-3 minutes of good writing and then work back up from there.

Sometime in this elementary stage, copywork can begin to become an independent task.  I'm not saying that you should not be aware of and involved in the process, but at some point your child will be doing the writing without you instructing over their shoulder.  Make sure that you do point out any mistakes after they are done writing so that they do not have an incorrect mental picture of the words they wrote.

Just like beginning writers, elementary writers can copy Bible verses and other sentences that will encourage them toward good behavior.  This would also be a good time to introduce copywork from their school studies: quotes from historical figures, passages of literature, poetry, etc.  Your child will most likely be able to read most (if not all) of the words in their copywork at this point.  You might want to read the sentence(s) to him, or have him read it to you before he begins to make sure they understand what he is writing.

Intermediate

Intermediate writers might be in upper elementary or middle school.  While copywork will still be for the purpose of improving handwriting, spelling, and grammar, at this stage it will increasingly be for exposure to great material, aiding in memorization, etc.

Intermediate writers should be able to write on normal sized lines and not tire after a few minutes of writing.  They should still take care to copy words and punctuation perfectly and will benefit from a short period (15 minutes?) of copywork each day.  Some students will find no problem copying words from the top of a page (or from a book) onto lines at the bottom of the page, but others will still need words written directly over each line.

Jimmie's Collage

A few sentences or even a short paragraph can be assigned and completed independently by your child.  You can check her writing afterwards or teach her to go back over it looking for any mistakes.

These growing minds can copy inspirational quotes, thought provoking ideas, beautiful poetry, Bible verses, historical accounts, etc.  Make sure you come back tomorrow when I share many ideas and resources for this stage.

Advanced 

Advanced writers might be in middle school or high school.  They will have no problem copying words from a book or the top of a page onto regular sized lines on a piece of paper or into their own notebook.  They should be grounded in their spelling, grammar, and handwriting.  Copywork at this stage is almost more for the purpose of immersing yourself in great writing and copying it as reinforcement and inspiration.

image credit

Advanced writers do not need to do copywork everyday, but they certainly could!  You could encourage them to find one thing in their studies each day that is encouraging, inspiring, challenging, etc., and record it into a notebook that they continue to add to.  This sort of book would be a wonderful resource for them to look back on over the year (or years to come)!  Simply Charlotte Mason shares about this idea, calling it a Book of Mottoes.

These students could also use copywork as a way to capture ideas from a specific topic they are studying and keep them together in a notebook or binder with their other assignments on the subject.


These are just some suggestions as to how copywork might look for students at different ages.  I hope you have been encouraged that copywork can be a great and simple addition to your school routine.  Please come back tomorrow to find an great list of all kinds of copywork resources for every stage!  Also, if you missed yesterday's post What is Copywork? you might want to go back and read it too.


I would love to have a time of Q&A at the end of the week, so if any of this information leaves questions in your mind, feel free to leave a comment or send me an email and I will include it in the post on Friday.  If you use copywork with your children, I'd love to hear any personal stories or tips you might have!  I will include those on Friday too.



Take a minute to check out what the other lovely ladies of the iHomeschool Network are talking about this week during the Hopscotch...

What is Copywork?

What is copywork?

Copywork is essentially reproducing the written word for the purpose of strengthening writing skills.  A child takes a sentence and copies it exactly, either right underneath or onto another piece of paper.   The child should take care to use their best handwriting for this exercise.  A very young child might just copy a single word that their mother has written on a piece of paper.  An older student will progress to being able to copy a paragraph out of a book into their own notebook.  Typically the piece being copied should be a well written work (Bible verses, poetry, great literature, etc.)

Copywork has been around for millennium (think, they didn't have copy machines or any sort of typing abilities until relatively recently, so anything they wanted to record or remember had to be copied by hand), but in recent history the term has been coined by Charlotte Mason who used it to teach and give practice in handwriting skills.  Yes it does this, but it also accomplishes so much more!

Why I love copywork!

I have been using copywork with my children since my oldest was three.  Maybe you haven't thought about it as copywork, but I bet that you have used it with your children too!  Most children learn to write their letters by tracing pre-written letters and then by copying them.  This is the very beginning of copywork!  We do copywork almost every day and I love using it so much.  Here are some of the reasons why:



Copywork helps your child with their handwriting.

This one is probably a given, but I thought I would start with it.  If your child is seeing perfect writing (either typed or written carefully by you) every day in front of them, and are told to copy it, their letters will soon start to look like the perfect letters.  When I first was teaching my son how to write his letters, we talked about each stroke he should make, but as soon as we started using copywork pages, I let the page do the teaching.  His writing is not perfect, but it gets better and better very quickly!

Copywork helps your child learn grammar.

When your child is copying sentences that are written correctly, they are absorbing this correct information.  They see every day that sentences start with a capital letter and end with punctuation (and harder concepts as the passages they are copying increase in difficulty).  If you see something in a sentence that your child does not know, it is an easy time to point it out.  You do not even need to teach grammar as a separate subject if you just teach the grammar that is present in well-written passages.

Copywork helps your child learn spelling.

Just like with grammar, if your child is looking at and copying correctly spelled words, they will come to recognize when words are spelled incorrectly.  When they are writing on their own, they will be able to recognize when they spell a word correctly (or incorrectly!)

Copywork teaches the above things quickly and subtly.

I love that copywork gives you a great bang for your buck.  All these things are taught at the same time, without your child even really knowing it!  A few minutes a day is all it takes for your child to strengthen his handwriting, grammar, and spelling skills.

Copywork puts good information in front of your child.

Whatever work you choose for your child to copy, it is being ingrained in his brain as he looks at it, reads it in his head (or aloud), and writes it slowly.  It is a great way to put good thoughts and ideas into his mind.  Whether you choose Bible verses, inspiring poetry, information from that day's history lesson, etc. he will more easily retain the information from this multi-sensory approach.

Copywork teaches your child diligence.

Honestly we are still working on this one, but I promise it is good =)  Your child should work to focus hard on the task as hand.  The amount of work you give your child should take her only a few minutes to finish (expecting more of children as they grow), but they should work their very hardest for those few minutes.  It teaches her to stay on task and to take care to write each letter well.  Focus is a big issue right now for my son, so I may need to scale back the amount of words he writes right now until until he can master copying a smaller amount well.

Copywork can be an independent task.

There are times when I sit right by my son as he does his copywork page, but lately I have been letting him work at it on his own more often.  This is good because it is giving him a small amount of time to see what it is like to manage his own time and to (hopefully!) work hard without me telling him to.  This is also great for me because it gives me a few minutes to work on something one-on-one with my daughter or to get something done around the house quickly.

Now you know what copywork is and why I love it so much!  I hope you will come back to join me for the rest of this week as we discover who should use copywork and what kind of passages to use for it.  I will share with you a new pack I have just finished creating, and you will have the chance to win copywork material from Classical Copywork!  (The giveaway is over, but visit Classical Copywork to sign up for free copywork!)


Take a minute to check out what the other lovely ladies of the iHomeschool Network are talking about this week during the Hopscotch...

Copywork Series - Coming Soon!

I am excited to announce that coming January 14th-18th I will be sharing with you a 5 day series about copywork!  If you have been around Living and Learning at Home recently, you have probably noticed my growing love for copywork =)  I am not ashamed!  I have even started a new site, Classical Copywork, where I can share all the copywork that I have created.  I've been working on designing the new site, so if you check it out, will you tell me if it looks ok?  I never know how things look on other people's computers =)

What I want from you is to know if you have any questions about copywork.  I want to make sure that I talk about things that are relevant and helpful to you!  Also, if you have used copywork with your children, do you have any tips to share or testimonials about the helpfulness of it?  If you do, leave a comment or send me an email and I may feature it during the series!

I am excited for this series and really hope that it will be helpful and encouraging to all of you!

Genesis Copywork - Beginner

I'm excited to add another copywork ebook to the site!  I'm hoping to add many more in the coming months.  I'm actually starting another site for just copywork.  It is still in-the-process, but if you'd like to take a look at it, check out Classical Copywork.

Each of the copywork pages in this ebook is a verse from a chapter in the book of Genesis (ESV Bible).  There is one verse for each chapter, a total of 50 pages of copywork.  This copywork is designed for a beginning writer.  The lines are about 5/8th inch tall with a mid-line to help your child position their letters correctly.

These pages would work perfectly as an accompaniement to your ancient history studies.  They would also be great to take to church if you will be hearing preaching from the book of Genesis.  Children who are not old enough to take their own notes can copy a verse from the chapter they are hearing about.  Lastly, they would also be great just as handwriting practice for any child who needs it!

I would like to note that some of these verses are not complete.  Only a certain amount of words can fit on a page with this larger type.  I have tried to pick sections that fit the point of the particular chapter.

Copywork is a fantastic way to help your child master reading, penmanship, grammar, and spelling all at the same time, simply and subtly.

These pages are designed to be printed out for your child to write on.

Sample Pages: (click on an image to enlarge it)

(download sample pages)

$1.00 - 50 copywork pages

To purchase, please visit Classical Copywork!