Copywork

The exercise of copywork is apart of the classical and Charlotte Mason theories on education. By studying great writing, you can become a great writer. Besides providing a place to practice your handwriting, it is also a chance to build character with great quotes or writings. This is particularly lacking in our modern education, but was an advantage that our forefathers had over us. There are many choices for copywork, I like to chose something that fits with what we are studying at the moment. Sonlight curriculum often takes copywork from the works of literature they are using in their lesson plans.

Since you know your child best, pick an appropriate length based upon their ability in handwriting and their temperament. You may get the copywork done, but it is a waste if you loose the love of learning in process. However, on the other hand, you cannot let a lazy child rule the school.

You would do best to decide the level of content as well. You can use quotes above their understanding, perhaps that may even be preferred, but you must explain it in language your child can understand - so they know what the quote means. This is especially true of in quotes using an older fashion of language.

Introduction to Copywork - This is a link to a great article that gives you a great introduction

Site with many links on copywork

I am sure there are more, just google. Originally this was just a footnote, but it grew into a post :-) One side note, I like to write out my 8 year old's copywork on a board. This way she gets the practice copying words from a board. This is something that usually is not necessary working one on one, yet a very important skill.