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Hello, sisters,

I have a question about the copywork/handwriting portion in "Beyond". My second grader does not like to write and tends to be a bit sloppy with the handwriting. She will write "stories" on her own that she makes up, but the technicalities of the letter formation is pretty messy.

I was wondering, after she completes her copywork, do you guys suggest I correct her handwriting and send her back to redo it...or maybe pick out some particularly ill-formed words and have her write them 5 times each...or just let it slide knowing that it should work itself out later...or will it? I don't know. I am actually not sure if it is a matter of the heart with rebellion and laziness, or if it is an actual technical issue where she needs training in correct formation. She is doing so amazingly well with this curriculum. I just don't want to discourage her in any way.

Thanks for any input you ladies may have!

Heather

Is she doing a handwriting curriculum in addition to Beyond? It is not scheduled until Bigger, but with her being in 2nd grade, I would start one with her. My almost 6 year old is working through Beyond and right now, he is doing handwriting seperately with Pentime 1 (part 2). He has given Abeka cursive a try and it was just a bit too tough for him, so we went back and are continuing to work on printing. He is good at his letters, so his copywork does not suffer.

As for her copywork, this is what I do with my ds. He will write the sentence (and usually it is only a sentence - the most has been 3 short sentences on LA day in the manual). As soon as he finishes, he does a check betweek his work and the original. When he is satisfied with is work, he hands it to me. I read over it and note any spacing issues, any letters that need work, and any punctuation or spelling issues. He corrects them immediately (except for the spacing). When he finishes, I put a smiley face on his paper or stamp it - just something so he feels like he did well. It has never seemed to discourage him at all. I suppose if his writing was terrible and I was correcting every single word or letter, then he may get upset. If you feel like her letter formation is done to the best of her ability right now (as in, that is the way she always does it and it is a challenge for her to do better), then let the formation go and work more on other aspects like spacing and spelling/punctuation for copywork while she works on the formation/mechanics with a handwriting program.

Hope this helps!

Thank you Rebecca!

I am not doing an extra program with her right now for handwriting. She did Handwriting Without Tears and the CLP handwriting last year. I guess after just typing that, I am thinking it is a laziness issue. She just doesn't like writing and wants to get it done as quickly as possible. I think I will try letting her check her own work and giving it to me when she thinks is is acceptable, then correcting her paper immediately for any mistakes. Maybe if she knows I will correct it and make her redo her words/sentences, she will do a more thorough job.

Thanks again...you really have helped me!

Heather

Hello Heather,
My 7yo daughter is the exact same way! She despises writing unless SHE wants to write something she has made up or a song that she has heard. 99 % of our problems come because of writing! We are using Handwriting Without Tears and I think it is helping. Maybe you should go through it again this year? I do know what you mean about having her correct it or just letting it slide. I did like what Rebecca said about checking it in the book herself. I think we will try that. Beyond is awesome and we are having a great time too! Natalie

I go over my dd's copywork and make a mark where she has made mistakes and have her correct her mistakes. Spacing issues are just pointed out and she is encouraged to do better. My dd's problem is that she wants to write as quickly as mommy, but of course she can't , so she tries and her work comes out sloppy. I make her redo her work slowly while pointing out to her that if she had taken her time in the first place she wouldn't have to redo her work now. The idea of losing out on doing "fun" stuff has been helpful in slowing her down. We don't do an extra program, but I have on occasion printed out practice sheets, from StartWrite, when I see a specific area of trouble.

My dd is 7 (8 in Jan) and has always fussed at "dedicated" copywork time. Like yours she LOVES to write when it's of her own free will and does so often. However I believe that, at least for mine, it is an attitude thing more than anything else. Not that she has a bad attitude but it's the "I want to do it only when I feel like it" actions that I feel she needs to "do away with". There are so many things in life that we (even as adults) have to learn to do...whether we feel like it or not! It is only to my dd's benefit if she learns that at a young age. I would never accept that "attitude" as an 11 or 15 year old so I shouldn't accept it now either!! (Old habits die hard ya know!)

Ruth Beechik says in her little book "An Strong Start in Language" that some children will balk at the writing, copywork etc. As the parent we need to tell them firmly but lovingly that no matter what we will be doing copywork every day.

This is only our first week of the new school year and my dd has done her copywork...at first she fussed about it but I will tell you that she didn't if faster and without the same "drama" we saw last year! Maybe she's matured over the summer, maybe she learned last year that she had to do it no matter what, I don't know but you will know when your dd has had enough and when it's just "attitude"...even if it's put in a sweet manner...

My dd did a writing curric. last year but this year we are not doing one. I will just watch for errors as she copies and have her redo what is necessary. If your dd is making many mistakes then maybe you can shorten the amount of copywork so that you can focus on proper formation, punctuation etc. CM always stresses that it is better to write few words perfectly than to have whole sentences that are done poorly...

HTH!!!

After watching a Dvd seminar from Simply Charlotte Mason.com, I totally changed the way we do copywork. She recommends setting a timer for 5 min. As long as he works diligently and writes neatly, that's all we do. This cut out our battle. My requirement is his best. I'm glad to see it's not only a boy thing.

Thank you Amy for that website. I just checked it out and it looks like a wealth of fantastic information!

Heather,

I agree with CM that a short amount of copywork done beautifully (and correctly) is much desired over longer assignments done in a messy way. So, you may wish to shorten your daughter's copywork of the poetry to only one line and expect it to be done beautifully. Checking the assignment shortly after it is written and underlining in pencil any needed mistakes is a wonderful suggestion.

Eventually, you can move up to several lines of copywork as your child shows that she is forming the habit of careful copywork. Later, you may want to set the timer for her copywork, which we have also done with some of our kiddos for assignments that didn't require a certain amount of copywork to be done.

Blessings,
Carrie