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Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Homeschool Copywork Review

Copywork is something that every child needs but many adults do not understand why.  It is not always easy to find good, ready to print copywork, so I was glad to have the opportunity to review the Lifetime Membership from Homeschool Copywork.

What is Homeschool Copywork?

Homeschool Copywork is a website that contains many downloadable e-books.  It's so easy to use these because they are formatted nicely and ready to print!  The packets cover a wide range of ages, from preschool to high school, and a variety of topics.   We found copywork for authors, composers, poets, the human body, birds, scriptures, holidays, past presidents, and plenty more.  You can join with a free account and access a small amount of what the website has to offer if you'd like to see what the copywork packets are like.

http://homeschoolcopywork.com/membershipadmin/aff/go/dclownfish03/?i=1



The Lifetime Membership is only $45 and gives you lifetime access to everything the site offers.  This is a great deal because a one year membership is $29.95.  These membership options give you access to all the free packets, plus a whole lot more on the paid side.  I counted nearly 60 packets, and that's not including the multiple levels each covers.  More packets are added regularly!

We found some pages that are blank lines, with a simple image on them for notebooking.  One packet that had these was the human body packet.  As we begin our study of anatomy, these pages will be a fun addition for the children to record the information they learn.  In other e-books the pages have images of a painting, such as in the Vincent van Gogh Artist Study and Copywork e-books.  These would be great for children to examine and then write what they know about the painting, or use it as a creative writing assignment to tell a story about the picture.  I even found some emergent readers and coloring pages!  Different handwriting fonts are used so your child can trace or copy manuscript, cursive, and even D'Nealian.  Not every packet has every option of font or size of print, but there's so much that it was easy to find plenty that will work for everyone!

How did we use it?

preschool copywork
Some of the copywork is intended for a single age level, such as the Animal Alphabet Copywork Pages for early elementary.  My 4 year old used this one, and I printed them half size (or two to a page).  Most of the packets are created for multiple age levels, so your early elementary student can do the same copywork as your upper elementary or junior high child.  This is convenient when using packets that go along with what you are studying.  We found Aaron Copland Copywork, Franz Liszt Quotes for Copywork, Mozart Copywork, Leonardo da Vinci Artist Study and Copywork, and more that fit into this category!  For our future studies I found Vincent van Gogh Artist Study and Copywork, and The Poems of Lewis Carroll that I'm thrilled to have ready to incorporate.  There are some really cute Valentines Day Notebooking Pages that we'll use next February.

Preschool page, printed half size, and a lined page.

I printed a bunch of pages for each child (we used at least 15 different e-books during this review).  We work on them every day that our lessons don't have copywork already written in, or at least 3 times a week.  Some of the pages have pictures to color.  My children have enjoyed doing a variety of pages.  My preschooler often finishes hers quickly and asks me to print more!  My 7th grader enjoys learning what famous people have said, or reading new poems.  All of them are excited to see what new pages I bring, and none have complained.

Lined page, copying from cursive.  From The Star-Spangled Banner as Copywork

A child should do their copywork in the presence of a parent or someone who can observe and assist.  This helper should watch the child and stop them if a mistake is made.  The observer can also explain why a comma goes there, why certain words are capitalized, and as the child gets older, help them pick out parts of speech.  I observe my 2nd grader, and sometimes my 5th grader when doing copywork.  I do not observe my 7th grader anymore.  My preschooler enjoys doing copywork and it helps ensure proper letter formation as I observe and assist her work.

Preschool page from Transportation Copywork for Prek - 1st Grade

The pages are designed in a variety of ways.  There are tracing and copying options, and the line spacing decreases according to grade level.  My youngest will trace words and copy short phrases.  She doesn't like wide lines with dashes, she prefers about 1/2" lines.  The pages that have wider lines I print two to a paper.  My 2nd grader copies on lined and dashed pages in manuscript and cursive, but she's quickly moving to lined pages.  My 5th and 7th grade children copy on lined pages.  These e-books have plenty of options.

Copying manuscript on lines with dashes from The Star-Spangled Banner as Copywork

 

Will we continue to use it?

Yes, as I mentioned I found some packets that will go with future studies, and some that fit with what we are currently studying.  Copywork is intended to help children build language skills such as punctuation, spelling, proper grammar, and vocabulary.  It also helps with penmanship.  All of my children can benefit from this.  The Lifetime Membership has been such a blessing to us and will continue to be because it makes my preparations easier and provides plenty of content for our studies.  I am especially grateful to have access to this site with two children in early elementary.  Copywork will benefit them the most, and Homeschool Copywork is a wonderful resource for good quality pages to print!

Character Building Copywork

Where to find Homeschool Copywork:


Homeschool Copywork Review

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2 comments:

  1. What is the purpose of dashed lines vs not dashed lines? I guess I never thought about it much before to even notice there was a difference!

    And this sounds like a great way to practice new calligraphy skills too! :)

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  2. It's easier to teach a child proper letter formation, i.e. how tall each letter should be, when there is a dashed line running down the center of the "road". As they become more comfortable with writing, they will naturally write smaller and eventually just write on lined paper, not needing the dashes anymore.

    Re: Calligraphy practice - that's a great idea!

    ReplyDelete