His Treasure Seekers

When I first began getting ready to homeschool my children, I was drawn to Charlotte Mason’s writings and incorporated many of her ideas.  One feature of a CM education is copywork: literally copying a written passage exactly, helping them absorb patterns of spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, etc. as well as practicing handwriting.  It’s a simple tool to use, but sometimes finding interesting material can be time-consuming.  We were recently introduced to Homeschool Copywork, a wonderful resource with a large, varied selection of copywork ebooks ready to download and print.  We were given a Lifetime Membership, which allowed us to access all the available products to review.

About Homeschool Copywork

So often I come across homeschool resources that are wonderful but not really practical when you have more than one or two children.  I think what I appreciate most about Homeschool Copywork is that it is perfect for families like mine many ways:

• Free membership level that lets you really get a feel for what the products are like (save those precious budget dollars!)
• Products available for a wide range of ages/levels, from preschool through high school (something for everyone!)
• Ability to print multiple copies for multiple students (no buying the same thing over and over!)

With a Lifetime Membership ($45), I’ll be able to find copywork for all five of my children in the years to come.  There’s also a 1-year membership available ($29.95) if that fits your family’s needs better.

Copywork can be a subject on its own, or you can use it so supplement another subject.  Homeschool Copywork has books related to Bible verses, hymns, science topics, holidays, historical figures (including several artists and composers), and more.  Depending on the level for which it is intended, pages use print, d’nealian manuscript, and/or cursive.  Line styles vary by level as well, but most of the books we used (see below) had multiple options.  There are also charming pictures on each page that go along with the passage being copied.  (The BONUS! Products section contains several sets of notebooking pages, which have blank lines with pictures.)

Our Experience

Elijah is just finishing up Kindergarten, so it’s the first year I have required any writing from him.  He surprised me by how well he did with this copywork considering he hasn’t done much for a few months.  His handwriting has definitely improved over the course of this year!  He worked on pages out of the “Character Building Copywork” and “Armor of God Copywork,” which has smaller lines but still worked well for him.

 

Ian has just recently been learning cursive, so I decided to use that for his copywork pages.  He definitely struggled on the pages that didn’t have a dotted middle line to guide him.  The cursive font was also a bit different that what he learned, so he found the extra loops and the higher starting points a bit confusing.  I told him to just go ahead and write the letters the way he learned them (if he could remember).  He’s usually my hardest to get motivated, so I loved having options that caught his interest.  He was immediately drawn to the “Dragons of the Bible” pages and also did some work in “Armor of God Copywork.”  The Dragons book has lots of awesome pictures, including several coloring pages without copywork.

  

I was only planning to use Homeschool Copywork with the boys, but on a whim I decided to print a page of the Animal Copywork for Arianna.  She was so excited to be doing an assignment at the table next to the boys.  She hasn’t done any writing before except a little bit of work on learning to write her name, so I wasn’t sure how she would do.  She started out a little rough and got a little frustrated when I made her form letters correctly if she was doing them wrong, but she actually really enjoyed it and asked repeatedly to do more, especially after I told her there was a page for every letter of the alphabet and she could make a book out of them.  We’re not going in order, just letting her choose which animal she wants to work on.  I don’t know if her interest will hold out for all 26 letters, but I love her enthusiasm, and it’s definitely getting easier for her with the repetition.

Really, consistency is what makes copywork effective.  As we’ve drifted away from Charlotte Mason into a more eclectic approach I’ve forgotten what a useful tool it is.  After spending time with it on this review, I’d like to get all my writers into a copywork habit.  With such a broad range of subject matter, it will be easy to find something to interest all my children.  I love the pictures that accompany each page, and I appreciate the options for different handwriting styles.

I try to save my homeschool budget for items that will provide the most value for our large family.  I LOVE the lifetime membership option because I know I’ll have copywork at my fingertips not only for my three children doing schoolwork now, but in a few years when my little ones are ready to join them.