Beyond copywork - looking for ideas for reluctant writer

[MelInKansas]

I actually had a feeling we might have this problem, so I am just seeking wisdom and praying for wisdom in how to handle it.

We are in week 4 of Beyond. My DD doesn't like doing copywork. We deal with sighs and "Mom do I have to?" every day. It is hard work for her, lots of writing. Her handwriting isn't the best, which is partly my fault for not working with her much on it, so I was trying to start off this year with more of a focus on writing correctly and neatly, actually trying to stay on the lines on the paper and stuff like that.

Anyone have any good ideas for making it more fun for her? Any thoughts on how to encourage her, and yet also require her to do good work, as good as she can do? Are my expectations of her just too high?

Also do you make your child correct every mistake? I feel like maybe we've gotten into a pattern of not doing excellent work, but if she goes back and corrects every mistake it could take a very long time to get it done! To me, that makes it more of a drudgery too. So I have told her where she's made a mistake, but then not necessarily made her fix it right then, but then maybe I'm allowing or encouraging sloppiness? I have noticed now she doesn't even seem to notice or care about her mistakes.

Thanks for any thoughts you can share.

[krismoose]

How much are you having her copy?

[holyhart]

At 6 years old I wouldn't worry about her copying too much of the poem at a time. Perhaps only one line if that is all she can neatly do. Or I used to set a timer and my daughter only had to write what she could in the alloted time *IF* she made sure she did her very best work (she did have to finish the word she was working on when the timer buzzed). If work is sloppy, I would have her correct it. If it's just that her fine moter skills are not developed enough yet, then I would just keep working with her and encouraging her. Charlotte Mason method focuses on quality not quantity, so again, don't worry about making her do the whole poem if she can't do it well. On the other hand, if she really is just being sloppy, then that is a heart issue that you would need to address (although with her young age, I'm willing to bet, she just needs to do less at a time).

Here is a previous thread showing some fun poetry pages that were made. viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7055 Perhaps you could make some "fun" pages to help motivate her.

Hope something here can help you!

[MelInKansas]

I started off having her do 2 lines of the poem each time. This week the poem is longer so I was having her do 4 lines each day. Maybe that's where we are running into issues. I just bumped it up a bit because I saw she could do the smaller amount pretty well, but maybe it is too much. Thanks for the link to the other thread. I would like to try to make it more fun for her. Her attitude was better when I was having her do less, thanks for the encouragement that she doesn't need to do as much. Even though I can see she's capable, it does make sense that doing less at a better quality is better learning for her. It is very hard work for her still, even though she can do it.

[krismoose]

I have my ds do one line of the poem each day, and he illustrates on the top half of the page on day 4. I let him keep a copy of the whole poem with it so he can read the whole poem with his illustrated section. I had him do an extra day on the week that had 5 lines in the first stanza, just for some closure . I think that one line done carefully, with a good attitude, is plenty for age 6. I'm glad to hear her attitude improved - my ds gets like that when he's overwhelmed. It's hard work for him as well.

[MelInKansas]

Again thanks for everyone's input. I did have her do 2 lines today. We still need some work on quality, but she did better and her attitude was much improved. I like the idea of letting them put the whole poem in there too. I have been trying to figure out how I should either print, enlarge, or somehow make it easier for her to read while she's copying. Anyone have thoughts on this? I was copying/enlarging for the exercise where I cut it up and she puts it in order. I may just enlarge it more and print off the lines I want her to copy or something.

[holyhart]

I have been trying to figure out how I should either print, enlarge, or somehow make it easier for her to read while she's copying. Anyone have thoughts on this?

I used to write it out on a large white board with wet-erase markers (ask me how I know to use wet-erase instead of dry erase?!?! Nothing like writing out an entire poem and making sure it all fit properly and have one of the kiddos erase it! ). I did each stanza in a different color and would use a dry erase marker to circle the section she was copying. That worked really well for us.

[my3sons]

Such a good discussion here already! When my 6 yo Riley began Beyond, I had him copy just one line a day. Charlotte Mason was a big proponent of less done better is better than more done poorly. It worked well to highlight the space Riley needed to indent. I also marked how many line(s) he needed to copy for a day by sectioning it/them off with sticky notes - one on top of the line(s) and one on the bottom. This helped him find what he was to copy easily, as well as see it was but a tiny part of the poem - very doable.

Many times dc do not understand the purpose of copywork. If they do not know the purpose of doing something, they sometimes think it is twaddle. So, I also let Riley know that one of the goals of copywork was to help him strengthen his hand (fine motor skills) so that he could learn to write well without tiring out. This thought was new to him - that he had muscles within his hand to strengthen, and that daily practice, doing a little more each month throughout the school year, would build those muscles and make writing easier, just like lifting weights builds muscles in bodybuilders. We also talked about how copywork teaches us how to write well, and that he would be developing his own writing style over the years from all the different amazing authors/poets he'd be copying from.

Once he understood the purpose, and could see he could definitely handle a line a day, he was quite cheerful and proud to show me his line each day. After about a month, we went to 2 lines a day... another month 3 lines... another month 4 lines... and at this point he was copying the whole poem by the close of the unit. Provided with much encouragement, and bite-sized goals that slowly but steadily increase through the year - it is amazing the growth dc make in their writing! I hope something here helps, but I think what you've shared about your dd here is very common for young dc learning to write. I'd guess in a year, you'll be struggling to remember dd's reluctance here, and will be celebrating her gains!!! HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[HollyS]

My DS is 6 and also copies a line a day. Some days it takes forever, and other days he flies through it. I do have him correct any mistakes, but he's such a perfectionist that there are seldom any (which explains why it can take him so long).

As far as making it more fun, I use stickers for their math and they love it! You could put a sticker next to the line when she is finished.

[MelInKansas]

Julie, thanks for the input on how to encourage her that writing is important, what she will be gaining from it! I will definitely talk with her about that. I already was trying to come up with a reason for it for her. She's definitely more motivated to do something that's not fun if there's a good reason behind it.