handwriting: copywork or ARFH-A

[hs.mama07]

We'll be finishing LHFHG in March, but will finish A Reason for Handwriting-K in another week or so. I don't want to take that much time off from handwriting so I'm trying to decide what to do next. I know DS6 would enjoy the ARFH-A book, but it seems a shame to only use part of the book. What do you gals think about doing ARFH-A instead of copywork for the first units of Beyond?

Or should I perhaps just start doing copywork instead of ARFH-A (using our own sentences)? Would copywork be too much for him--just turned 6 and not very strong in handwriting?

Thanks, as always!

[StephanieU]

How about starting ARFH-A now, and then doing it occasionally during the summer? That way he doesn't loose ground over the summer either. Or, have him start copying the memory verses now. I think the recommendation is no more than 5 minutes of good writing. So, that may or may not be the entire verse. Either option I think would be perfectly fine.

[Nealewill]

If you did choose to buy the book, you could definitely work on it until it is finished then move straight to copywork in Beyond after that. In Beyond, you are just copying the poems each week. So even if you didn't copy the first few or however many poems, you could just start copying them when you are ready.

For my kids, I actually have the poems written out on the same piece of paper that my children are copying from. So they write that poem right below the printed part similar to a hand writing book anyway. I am not sure if that is the intention of HOD (meaning they want you to do that or not) but it works well for us

[hs.mama07]

Good to know we can start copywork anytime. We'll probably do ARFH-A for now and maybe just keep using it if he likes it. We don't really stop for the summer (just go year-round with short breaks here and there), so if we quit using it mid-book I guess we can always keep it for a change of pace. Thanks so much for your replies!