How should I deal with errors in copywork?

[Heart_Mom]

Hi!

My son will be starting Preparing soon, and I know that the copywork passages get a little longer compared to Bigger. I'm wondering how you handle errors. If my son is doing his work diligently, he will make one or two errors in spelling or punctuation in a paragraph's worth of copywork. (If he's rushing and not trying, that's a whole different matter and I require him to re-do the whole thing.)

So, when he has a couple of errors, what should I do? Should I point them out to him individually, or have him find them himself, or have him re-write the whole sentence where there error is? Or something else entirely?

Thanks!

[alliclaymoore]

That is a great question. I look forward to hearing the answer from someone who knows. My daughter is doing Preparing, but this is our first experience with HOD or dictation. She usually does really well with the dictation passages, but when there is an error, I am not sure what to do either.
I will be watching this post to find out.
Blessings!
Allison
Wife to Clay
Mommy to Rachel (Preparing), Luke (Beyond), and Sarah (LHTH)

[lissiejo]

We're only in Beyond, but we do poetry copywork. My daughter has very good handwriting, but she tends to hurry because she HATES writing just for the sake of practice. She often will skip words, or letter, or punctuation. I typically circle it with a colored pencil, but don't show it to her until the next day. Just before she does her copywork the following day I pull out the day's before (either perfect or with marks) and say either, "Let's try to get everything copied correctly again today, Honey!" or "You missed a punctuation mark here yesterday. Let's try to make sure we get all of them in today!"

I'm not sure how that compares to your copywork, but for my daughter it's a matter of being careful vs. being careless, so the reminder right before she begins her works is helpful.

[Maadrose]

Occasionally when my Dc begin making careless mistakes I have innstituted a no mistakes policy. They are to check their own work first and are able to make any corrections. Then I check their work. If I find a mistake I circle it and then they must recopy the entire passage again. This policy usually helps especially after they have to recopy something. They truly (and quickly) realize they must work carefully!

[lissiejo]

I like that idea. My daughter is only 6, but as she gets older I think that will be the way we go.

[beverett]

I just have them check over it before handing to me, then I make corrections on a sticky note and post it to their paper. This has worked well for us. For my younger son doing Preparing I also include the line number... he goes and makes correctons and brings it back for one last check over .

[Heart_Mom]

Hi, Ladies!

It's been helpful to hear how you all deal with copywork errors. My son is ten, so I'm expecting a higher level of precision than I might for my 5 year old.

Does this seem like a reasonable plan?
1. If my son does a diligent job, but makes one or two (or maybe three) errors, I'll have him correct them. (Maybe using Beverett's post-it note idea! )
2. If my son obviously does a careless job, I'll have him re-do.

I guess where I'm stuck is those occasional times when he seems like he's trying, but still makes many errors (let's say 5 or so). I don't want to exasperate him by having him re-do, but I don't think that just having to correct the errors is enough motivation for him to really do his very best the next time...

Thoughts?

[beverett]

I'll have him correct them. (Maybe using Beverett's post-it note idea! )

I forgot to mention that I think I got this idea from Julie, though I would love to take the cridit, it is not mine

Sooo I think your plan sounds really good... but i agree when you said

I guess where I'm stuck is those occasional times when he seems like he's trying, but still makes many errors (let's say 5 or so). I don't want to exasperate him by having him re-do, but I don't think that just having to correct the errors is enough motivation for him to really do his very best the next time...

The copy passages and amount of writing in Preparing really are quite a jump from Bigger that I would want to avoid causing frustration... if it were me, I would just use discernment. I wouldn't have mine redo an entire passage unless you can tell the large amount of mistakes are from carelessness or getting in a rush. Then if it is just that, maybe one time having to redo the whole entry may completely avoid the carelessness next time? Each of my sons is very different, and when I make a decission I try to decide 1) is this happening because they are being "careless" (because I know this child is capable of better work) 0r 2)is it too much for this particular son? For example, I know my 11 yr old writes well and with ease and little mistakes so if he were to make 4 or 5 mistakes I would know he was being careless and rushing, but my 9 yr old just tires out more easily and just plain does not love to write (boys are just that way sometimes) and can make several mistakes because of this. I am sure you have already thought this over.... I am just sharing what I do . I just know that with my oldest son, I was such a perfectionist with him that I killed his love for learning and I am trying so hard not to do that with my other boys and to gain it back with oldest...This is just my 2 cents! Also, I would definitely let him know ahead of time that if he is careless he will be redoing the entire thing (I actually think we did this at the first of the year and maybe in Bigger and they did not have to redo but maybe 1 time)...

Brandi

[Heart_Mom]

Brandi, this is very helpful. I think I just have to gauge what's going on with my son. If he's really trying, then I think just correcting the error(s) is good enough.

Thank you so much for helping me!

[mrsrandolph]

Ideally we should WATCH them do their copywork and gently stop and correct them AS THEY MAKE THE MISTAKE. Does that make sense?

[Heart_Mom]

Ideally we should WATCH them do their copywork and gently stop and correct them AS THEY MAKE THE MISTAKE. Does that make sense?

I would LOVE to be able to watch my son do his copywork. When we start up Preparing in about a week, I plan to sit with my son for everything, including copywork. I'll do that for a week or two until he gets into the groove of the new guide, so I'll be able to sit with him for his copywork for that period of time. But I don't think I'll be able to sit with him all year long (though I would love to!).

I'm curious, do others here sit with their older children, say age 10 and up, during copywork?

I will take advantage of the first couple of weeks to sit with him, Shannon. That may be enough to help him pay closer attention to detail!

Thanks!

[mrsrandolph]

I do it because that is what I read was the "CM way".

[Heart_Mom]

I do it because that is what I read was the "CM way".

That's great that you take the time to do that!