[Tea] Are You Doing Too Much Copywork?

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Cincinnati, November 11, 2023

Hi Friend,

How do you know if you're doing too much copywork?

Remember: the key to copywork is depth and immersion, in addition to repetition. If you do too much, your kids will let you know by:

complaining,
dragging their feet,
and doing inferior work.

Give Full Effort Then STOP

Charlotte Mason talks about asking your child to give a full effort (with attention to excellent output) and then to stop. So even if all a child can muster in one sitting is a single beautiful letter of copywork, that can be enough while the child builds:

stamina,
attention to detail,
and commitment to excellence.

What that means is that if your child is giving you daily pages of handwriting or copywork and it is sloppy or not well executed, you are actually doing too much! You can ask your child:

Copy this passage and give me your best effort. When you feel your attention flag or you notice you aren’t wanting to continue, tell me. Then you can stop and we’ll pick up the next time.

What you are aiming for, then, is copywork that leads to growing ease and accuracy, not copywork and dictation every day that wears out the young writer.

I would round out the copywork/dictation practice with Poetry Teatime, reading aloud, or conversations about words (word play, word games).

Less is more.

Brave Writer offers programs designed to take the busy work out of copywork. The programs select the passages for you and help you to emphasize the literary elements, grammar, spelling, and punctuation to help your kids grow in writing.

Warmly,

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