Using Your Child’s Dictation as Copywork

Posted by HeatherW | 0 comments

This month I thought I’d share a little idea I use quite often in our homeschool. Perhaps you are a long time fan of using your child’s own dictation as their copywork/handwriting exercise or this may be new to you. Either way, I hope I can offer some insight into a tried and true method of writing practice at our house.

Many of us are familiar with Charlotte Mason’s method of having our students narrate to us something they’ve read or have been studying. Often times the oral narration translates into writing as the student gets older. There have been times when I simply copy down what my students relay to me so we can put it in their notebook or save it for another task.

Then one day, as I was printing some handwriting paper from our StartWrite program, it hit me. I could use the information they dictate to me for use as their copywork or handwriting! The first time I tried it my then first grader was doing a unit on Owl Moon (we are Five in a Row users) and he was learning all about owls. I sat down at the computer with the StartWrite page up and he gave me facts one at a time. I typed them on to the page with the solid letters and left blank lines underneath each fact. When he was done, I printed the page and he copied each sentence as his copywork/handwriting for the day. It turned out so well! In addition to writing out what he had just told me, it made for great reading practice as well.

For younger students just learning to write, I will do the same with their dictation and then write the sentence again with a yellow marker on the blank lines so the student can trace my letters. I will also use a half page of writing lines just to copy down what is dictated to me while the student draws a picture to match. Recently, my kindergartner did this to record his observations of salt crystals under the microscope. I labeled the picture in yellow so he could trace a few words for practice.

This method is great for recording your kids’ stories as well and in the end they will have made their very own reader for reading practice. My first graders love to make books they can read.

Whether you are new to the idea of dictation, narration and copywork or you are a veteran of the concept, I hope you will take this strategy to the next level and make some wonderful original copywork and handwriting exercises for your kids. Nothing beats authentic writing practice!

Heather is a homeschooling mom of four kids ranging from middle school to preschool and wife to a handsome chemical engineer. Before raising a family, she taught middle school science (with a BS in biological sciences) and has a masters degree in curriculum and instruction secondary education. Now teaching at home means the chance to provide the extraordinary for her children. She’s been homeschooling five years and you can read about those adventures on her blog, Blog She Wrote.