Kindergarten Copywork (Child #1)

Copywork is how Charlotte Mason (CM) taught children how to write (handwriting or penmanship), and it is exactly what it sounds like, copying a text by writing it down by hand.

And why not? Instead of requiring children to repeatedly write the same letter all over a page (this I remember doing in elementary), if the goal is for the child to learn letter formation, why not let him/her copy a complete verse or a sentence instead? A complete thought?

This way, the child not only learns the forms of letters in an interesting way because s/he is not copying the same letter again and again (there is variety), but s/he is at the same time being exposed to beautiful thoughts, a wide vocabulary, sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, etc. which will build a good foundation in learning grammar in the future.

So how did CM approached Copywork?

“Slowly but surely” or “slow and steady”. That’s what comes to my mind.

Slowly, because CM requires only five to ten minutes of Copywork for very young children. She suggests that only a single line be copied, when starting, instead of many.

And surely or steady, because CM requires children to accomplish a stroke, a curve, or a letter perfectly (in keeping with a child’s ability/capability).

And these to ensure that a child does not develop the (bad) habit of sloppy work.

Pages 233-240 of CM’s first volume, Home Education, discusses the process further. But really, it is that simple.

Writing Aa, Bb, Cc

Before formally starting Copywork, as suggested by CM, I taught my dear daughter (DD) the proper strokes to write each letter on a chalkboard. This is to make erasing mistakes easy. This took a few sessions.

When I was sure that she knows how to write her ABCs “perfectly,” that’s the time I let her write on paper.

At first, I chose the text my DD did for Copywork. So Copywork is something I did on the fly, i.e., without any planning, so I did not have a set of Copywork sheets at the start of the school year ready for my child’s perusal.

The texts included the following, rotating one after another and alternating between Filipino and English:

Tagalog/English Poetry
Tagalog P&W Songs/English Hymns
Tagalog/English Bible verses

Eventually, I asked my DD what she wanted and let her choose the text she wanted for her Copywork. I just made sure she alternated between Tagalog and English so she’d have a fair share of practice writing in both languages.

Alternatively, after Christmas, I required her to copy down thank you notes on cards and we mailed them via post to our friends from whom she received gifts during the holidays.

We also did the same after her birthday (but we just gave them directly, instead of mailing them).

DIY-ing copywork sheets

I DIYed my DD’s Copywork sheets with MS Word, printing a text invertedly on a blank/unlined B5 refill sheet which my child then copied on a lined sheet of the same size. I then compiled all her worksheets in a PP binder (see sample pic below).

We take about 5 to 10 minutes of Copywork daily. She copies complete poems, songs, or Bible passages, but she stops after the alloted time and just continues the following day. So yes, she just writes what she can in a given time.