our simple copywork lessons

since i am not feeling particularly bloggy in the story telling department, maybe i can spend a few posts quickly reviewing the curriculum choices we've made for the 2011-2012 homeschool year.

this past summer, i developed a super simple copywork curriculum for luca.  i use the words "developed" and "curriculum" loosely here, mainly because i spent little time and effort on this aspect of homeschooling, although the idea has bounced around my head since last winter.

copywork is "writing out by hand, or copying, words from a written model" and is an important building block for future writing skills. the student is trained well in the mechanics of handwriting, as well as exposed to excellent grammar and style.

in our home, we have chosen a short Bible verse each week to memorize as a family.  that Scripture serves as the week's copywork.  luca copies the verse, 3-5 times throughout the week, from an example i printed (by hand).  since i wrote out all of the selections over the summer, i don't have any weekly prep for this part of school. (yay!)  we'll keep his best version of each verse for a portfolio or book.

tiny enzo hand trying to steal big brother's work

i find that the continued exposure to the verse helps all of us keep the words and truth in mind.  i have memorized more Scripture in the last month and a half than i had in the previous seven months of 2011!

you can find good copywork selections ready to print at simplycharlottemason.com.  through their site, i also found this great way to generate custom copywork sheets.  this would be a time saver, but, to be honest, i don't love the font used.  still, a time saver.

this approach works for us right now.  luca doesn't have issues tracking the words from page to page, but gia might and i may have to change this up when she is ready for copywork.  (right now, she traces letters via whiteboard and dry erase marker.)

for you homeschoolers, do you use copywork?