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After reading several Charlotte Mason resources, I am still not sure I totally understand how the progression from copywork to dictation works, or even if there is a progression

Here is my understanding.
First the child develops an understanding of letter formation with their handwriting program.

Second, the child begins copywork. My understanding of the reasoning behind CW is that children benefit from seeing proper models of well written literature and copying those models properly themselves.

Now I am fuzzy. When do they start dictation? For example, my 8 year old has progressed to where she can do her short copywork assignment very well. Do, I now lengthen her copywork, or do I progress to dictation It seems that her spelling is not good enough to do dictation yet. She would flounder.

When it comes to dictation, are they shown the sentence at all, or is it totally oral? What is the point you want them to reach in dictation?

Thanks for educating me!

Hi,
I don't think there really is a progression FROM copywork TO dictation. Copywork can continue for many years, building in it's length and substance. It has many benefits - spelling, grammar, sentence mechanics, word usage, and content. Dictation is a progression from simple spelling lists. I began with Beyond. In that program you have two levels of spelling lists from which to choose depending on your dc's level. Dictation begins in Bigger. It starts out with very simple sentences and progresses through the year. The directions for how to "do" dictation are very clear. I would allow my ds to study the passage. I modeled for him how to do that. I would encourage him to practice spelling aloud or on paper any words he felt were hard. When he was ready, I would dictate the sentence to him, and he would write it. After a time of checking his own work, I would give him the manual so that he good check his work against the manual. Everything had to be just right. If he did it correctly, we'd move on to the next passage. If he had an error, we would do that same passage the next time.
I hope this helps you. I know there are others here with lots of understanding in this area, including the author herself!
Laura

From what I understand, dictation is what they do after basic spelling words. We worked through all the spelling words in the appendix in Bigger before we moved on to dictation. I would make sure your DD can spell those words easily before you attempt dictation.

I write out the dictation for my DS on an index card, have him study it (for him, about 5 min. is usually sufficient, but that will vary from child to child) and then orally recite it to him w/o him looking. If he misses any part of the passage, he has to do it again the next day until he gets it right. My understanding is that they need to be able to get every aspect of the dictation passage correct--spelling, punctuation, capitalization, etc.

HTH a little -- I'm sure some other ladies with more experience will chime in as well!

The way HOD does spelling is a stepping stone for dictation, and I have found that for my dc to be ready for dictation, they needed to have gone through at least 1 complete year of spelling in the HOD plans. My oldest needed 2 years of spelling in HOD, one with List 1, and one with List 2, but my second ds needed just one year, and he only did List 2 of the HOD plans. In this thread, I tried to explain how HOD's spelling prepares dc for dictation:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5645&p=41357#p41357

As far as when your dd is ready to begin dictation, I'd say not until she has completed at least 1 year of spelling within HOD's plans. After that year, you can assess if she needs another year of spelling using List 2, or if she seems ready for dictation. Dictation requires dc to be able to write sentences with ease, so that is an indication if dc are ready for it. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie