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Dear Carrie or Julie (or others),

I LOVE the poetry used in Beyond (so does my daughter, she has really connected with it) for copywork, it is so well written and very beautiful.
I wonder though, since the authors of some of the poetry contained in Beyond sometimes use "free licence" with their writings, how does this writing (poetry) translate as great writing for the students to copy?
For example, I see that the authors sometimes use no punctuation, or use caps on each new line of text even though a new sentence or thought is not being expressed.
I thought that the idea (or at least a partial idea) was to expose the student to grammatically correct passages or sentences.
I am by no means an English expert and I know that HOD has perfect reasoning behind this. I just wish to seek this understanding as we make our way through Beyond.

Thank you so much for helping me to understand.

Candice

Candice,

This is a great question! I'm so glad that you are enjoying the poetry in Beyond! We are loving it too and are close to finishing Beyond now with my third little guy.

Copywork is as much about capturing an image in the mind and correctly reproducing it as it is about utilizing correct grammar, punctuation, and capitalization. Often you will see many of the great writers do not always follow the "correct" rules of punctuation, or sentence structure, etc. whether it be in poetry or in literature. Many of the great writers were kings of the run-on sentence!

Charlotte Mason focused on children copying things that were beautiful, enduring, memorable, of worth and that stood the test of time. Poetry falls into this category. We are strengthening children's mental muscles through copywork, forcing them to pay attention to the details of capitalization, mechanics, and spelling within the passage they are reproducing. This mental picturing is the goal. The correct rules are more the focus of grammar and studied dictation. Poetry does have its own set of loose rules, which kiddos are learning and following too as they copy though.

Hope that helps!

Blessings,
Carrie

We are doing Beyond too and we also love the poetry. I have a degree in English and I can really appreciate the literary license in poetry. What i feel like it is teaching my son as far as copywork is handwriting skills, and correct copying. I know, in CTC, he will do Write with the Best and there is a note in WWTB about how they change the text a bit to be more proper even though the writing is great literature. As time has passed, "rules" have changed. Not to mention, ALL authors have literary license. You will see that over and over and over in good writing.

Great!
Thank you, both!

I had asked the same question elsewhere and received some great responses that helped me to see the value of copywork with poetry.
I had still desired to hear your reasoning, Carrie, as it pertained to the copywork specifically in Beyond.

Thanks again for clearing it all up for me, I like feeling informed

Well, I was going to answer here, but I see that what I was going to say has already been said! I will just add that copywork of beautifully worded stanzas, and carefully crafted poetry has made a big impact on my dc's LA skills in general. For example, during Riley's oral narration today, he added a simile to it and said, "Well, that wasn't in the book, but I like it". This year in RTR Wyatt can choose whether to use print or cursive. He likes to print the best, but I noticed he writes only a few things in cursive. They are his Common Place Entries, any Bible Verses, any poetry, and any famous quotes. When I asked him about this he said, "Well, those things are just special - they deserve to be written in cursive." I've noticed in R & S English assignments he can easily go back and forth between more formula rule-based writing and more poetic type writing. He inherently understands the differences between the two. There is definitely a place for both types of writing, but I find the copywork of the poetry seems to have drawn attention to the most imagery, mood, and individual personality of its poets - and my ds is drawing upon that to create his own style. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Julie,

Thank you for helping me to see the bigger picture.
As always, your replies are so very helpful.

Candice