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My dd, in 1st grade, is working through the HWT 'My Printing Book'. I know that it will not take all year to complete, so, in thinking ahead, I was wondering what I would do when we finish the HWT book. I purchased a big pack of HWT wide double-lined notebook paper to use for copywork, but since we are in LHFHG this year, there are no instructions for copywork. After the workbook, should I begin some copywork? If so, are there any suggestions as to what I should have her copying? Basically, the HWT is just having her copy what they have as a model. I've looked at A Reason For Handwriting and like the idea of copying Scripture verses, but I wanted to stick with the double lines in HWT, because that is what she uses in O.T. Handwriting has been a struggle for her and I think she is more frustrated with three lines. Would it be too much to have her copy each memory verse she is doing? I'm assuming that I will need to give her a model of what she would be copying, that is, I would have to copy it onto the double-lined paper first, so she can see proper placement. Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.

I bumped this back to the top with some change to the subject. The title had included HWT, so it may have been passed over by some for that reason. Hopefully I can generate some response by doing this.

Ds is copying the Bible verse for each week. We don't do the whole verse in one day though. I have him do a few words each day over the course of the week. Although last week he went and got his paper on his own and finished it two days early . I am trying to take it slow though since we did not do a formal handwriting book before. In Kindergarten we only did Rod and Staff Pre-K workbooks.

mi'smommy,
Thanks. That is what I was thinking about doing when dd finishes her workbook. It helps to get ideas from others.

I did the same thing with my ds last year when he was doing LHFHG. I had him copy the Bible verse from another handwriting paper I would write the sample on once during the unit.

For the other days handwriting was scheduled, I would make up silly sentence or have him copy one of the sentences from the Thornton Burgess chapter we were reading that day. I also had him think of a sentence about what he likes to play, what he wants for Christmas/Birthday, what he was looking forward to that weekend, etc. These sentences seemed to make handwriting a little more fun.

Beth,
Those are great ideas! I know handwriting is only schedules two days a week, but I was just thinking this morning that it wouldn't hurt to do some everyday if time allows. The Thinking Skills book takes less than 5 minutes, and because of dd's struggle with handwriting, it wouldn't hurt to do it more often. I definitely want her to do the verses, but I know she would also enjoy writing other things as you mentioned. Thanks!

A suggestion I remember reading somewhere is to have your child copy their verse and mail it to a relative/friend. Your daughter may enjoy working hard at her copywork if she knows it is going to someone as a "gift".

A suggestion I remember reading somewhere is to have your child copy their verse and mail it to a relative/friend. Your daughter may enjoy working hard at her copywork if she knows it is going to someone as a "gift".

Jess,
That is a great idea! DD loves TRYING to write notes and give them to other people. Obviously, most of her letters will not make actual words. So, this will give her nice things to share with others. She wanted to do that for a Kenyan national pastor who spoke in our church last week. I encouraged her to give him a pink paper that was in my Bible with hearts she had drawn all over it and she added her name. What she originally wanted to give him was a paper that she was doodling on and just had letters jumbled on it. He loved what she gave him. He had a camera with him and got someone to take a picture of the two of them together. So, I love this idea. Thanks.

I think if you want to add copy work when the handwriting is done, the bible verse is a great way to start! Also, you could try using short songs and rhymes or poems, maybe a favorite line from a book your dc loves...copying only small portions at a time. I am having my ds 7 in Beyond...do the copy work (that's scheduled in the guide) but adjusting for what he can do. He copies a stanza, maybe two during the week, depending on how long it is. He does 2-3 lines a day. My plan is to increase it a little throughout the year so he's copying the entire poem each week by the end of the year. I would say for your dd in 1st grade and if having issues with writing should definitely do less. Maybe just a few words a day...HTH

We had already done a handwriting program for my dd in her preschool (LHFHG was K for us) so we did copywork in place of that. We used the bible memory verse for that week. If it was on the shorter side and only took her a couple of days, I would have her doing copywork from her phonics lesson.

Thanks, everybody, for all the good ideas. I know this will make handwriting more fun for dd than just copying words and sentences from a workbook all the time. On days the handwriting is not scheduled, I plan to incorporate these ideas for a little extra practice.