Oh goodness, I know this isn't a super recent video but thank you so much for making this! It was exactly what I needed to hear! I have an 11 year old and we have tried every writing program there is. We even did CC Essentials last year and it completely killed all her joy. We seriously had to deschool from it. I literally let her read what she wants as long as it's grade "levely" , right now she is devouring all American Girl books and filling out a short reading log where she lists it, colors in stars to rate it, and writes her favorite part (or why she didn't like it but that hasn't happened yet.) We have been doing Fix It Grammar along with it and she does that willingly but looking at it, it is really copywork! She is copying the Nose Tree book! I guess I just need you to open my eyes up some more! 🤣
I’m so glad it was helpful for you Just reading through your current plan, it sounds to me like you already have a perfect language arts program going. You’re following your daughter’s lead and then challenging her just enough to make it achievable without being overwhelming . Good work mama 💞
I love your perspective Julie, you always put my heart at ease ♥ you just seem so calm always. You know, I want a big family though (I have 3) I get stressed out easily, snappy etc. Not a proud mom at times though I ask the lord to change my heart. It makes me wonder if some people quils can handle more or if God will expand upon my heart to NOT be the drill sergeant mama. You inspire me (bc I know in 5 years it's really all not going to matter). Yet I still struggle. Thanks for putting yourself out there, you are a wonderful role model. I'd also love to know how you discipline specifically because little people do not listen well.
So much great stuff here! We use IEW, and we love it so much. It is a bit intensive but his method has helped my 11 year old improve his writing so much. Really enjoying this series, thanks so much for sharing!
Thank you SO much Julie, This was one of the areas that we have been really struggling with. I have one (14 year old) boy who has read big books difficult books like those by Jrr Tolkien. He LOVES to read, but cries at the thought of writing. And another (12) who writes stories all day long every day out loud but reads and writes at a 2nd grade level because everything takes 3xs as long for him to grasp. I suspect he is Dyslexic and Mom is struggling with how to hit the right bells and whistles for things to light up for him. Their older brother, (grown and out of the nest) was I suspect also Dyslexic, although I didn't know it then. It was a long time ago when we withdrew our oldest from public school in 3rd grade and taught him how to read, but without knowing what I know now, I just did what was instinctual. I dictated his writing (like a secretary), read with him, and a lot. He still isn't a huge fan of reading/writing but it isn't the painful ordeal it once was. The 14 year old and I have been going rounds over trying to get him to write reports and papers....BUT he does copywork without a fuss... is that really enough? With my younger (12) son I have been trying to make him stay caught up with his younger sister (10) and she is a workbook kind of girl.I guess I needed that nudge to do something different with him instead of the language arts workbooks (a grade lower but still harrowing for him). Any ideas for a kid overflowing with romance, drama, mystery, and intrigue but the inability to put them down on paper? I am trying to teach him how to type....the idea of dictating for him seems arduous with so many littles at my feet (18 months, 4, and 7)and his stories are LONG lol. I also had been trying to hold my daughter back some so as not to embarrass her next oldest brother...lol, so she bypassed me and started reading readers off the shelves at bedtime. I realized what I was doing and took the skids off, and off she went. Oh what a mess I've made Julie! I think I needed to have permission to do something different. You've given me some great ideas to start sorting this all out. I think I'm just so afraid of "doing it wrong" you know?
It sounds to me like you know exactly what each of your children need. I would say YES copywork is enough for your 14 year old. I have my 13 year old do one side of a piece of college lined notebook paper for that day’s copywork. He will learn about good sentence structure, punctuation, spelling, and how to write interesting content. If he does that for the next couple years I think he’ll naturally turn into a writer. But if you instead have to fight him daily to make him write on his own, he may develop a life long aversion to writing. For my child who likes to write creatively but struggles with the actual “writing down” part of it, I let them use a notetaking app on my phone. They can use the talk to text feature. This also helped my daughter when she didn’t write some papers for her 4H teacher. her knowledge of the topic exceeded her ability to write it down. Using the “talk to text” she was able to get her complex thoughts onto “paper”. It really improved her self-confidence in the area of writing. I also have a daughter who is very quickly surpassed her brother (only 18 months older than her) in language art skills. There’s no way I could hold her back. We try not to make too much of it, and if needed we just explain in a cheerful way that everybody was made differently. 🤪 So far it doesn’t seem like it has bothered my son. Honestly she is surpassing all three of her older siblings in these areas 🤷🏼♀️ Feel confident! If you allow your kids to be educated unconventionally (based on their individual needs) you give them the opportunity to grow to actually ENJOY a subject that they would have dreaded. The Holy Spirit will give you direction. You can do it mama! 😍
When I was young, I actually skipped three-quarters of grade four because we moved countries, and it was only in my adulthood that I realized I probably missed a lot of grammar instruction due to that (and I'm glad!). However I do remember spending hours "perfecting" my handwriting by writing letters and copying bible verses. And my first job after uni was as a copy editor :D So I'd agree that a natural approach is the way to go for children and busy mommas. I LOVE that you have the courage to say and do that! God bless you and Happy Mother's Day! You're a sweet mom to your family!
Man you are full of wisdom! Your greatly blessed to not be so rigid in teaching exactly like a public school, and have found a loving practical beautiful solution.You have been a great blessing for your family! It shows! And for me too! What a beautiful mama homeschooler❤️❤️❤️. Thanks for sharing your experiences.
This video is so informative. This is our first year of homeschooling k and 1st and we use mcguffey and do copywork from it. I had no idea what benefits we would get from just copywork but looking back from September to now I see how much it has helped my kids grow in sentence structure and spelling. It is so simple and painless. Thank you for sharing!
So glad to have helped! 🥰 It is one of the most effective and underused learning strategies! I’ve been so amazed seeing the great fruit that years of copywork have produced in my oldest daughter.
Thank you for sharing again! I used the technique that you mentioned with my reluctant writers, they would dictate something to me that interested them and then I would write it on paper and then they would write it in their notebook. I did this with my daughter who was 11 when we were taking care of 3 orphan baby mice, feeding them through the night , caring for them, Etc. She absolutely loved animals, especially small critters so this was right up her alley. We also put pictures of the mice and the instructions that we printed off the internet into this notebook along with her hand written entries. We had the mice for about 5 weeks and then we released them. She's 23 years old and a mama herself now and she still loves to look at that notebook! It really helped her get over a hump in writing. We really like copy work too! I hope you have a lovely Mother's Day too!!
What a sweet story! In the midst of the busy days it is good to remind myself that before I know it my daughter will be 23 and we’ll be looking back on these days together. 🥰
The Kreke Family, Yes! One of my favorite sayings is the days are long but the years are short. I have to say that the season as a parent, with adult children and grandchildren, is wonderful! I've loved all of the seasons!
I’ve only been homeschooling 2 years now with my 7, 5, and 3 yr old children. Although I no I shouldn’t, I still occasionally slip into the trap or comparing my seven-year-old to the other children in our homeschool group. I am teaching him to read through TYCR as you are, but at a very slow pace. When it feels like drudgery for him, we put it away a few days or even a couple weeks. When we pick it up again and the concepts starting clicking with him, he gets so excited! Thanks to the encouragement from you and a few others in my life, I can except the fact that this will just be a slower area for now. As far as reading aloud to him, he gets more enjoyment when I read chapter books on about a third grade level, wanting me to read nearly an hour at a time. I’m also surprised at the amount of detail he can regurgitate from my readings. I so appreciate you sharing your experience and encouragement with all of us!
How wonderful that he loves read aloud time! It will benefit him so much!! I know it’s hard when your first experience teaching someone to read is slower than you expected. Stick with it mama! You will get there and you are giving your son the gift of going at his pace. It’s worth it!
Happy Mother's Day to you. I agree some have it easy with spelling and others struggle. I think for those of us who had it easy we can't really understand how difficult it is for the ones who struggle.
As an encouragement for writing, one of my children hated to write. I was fine with him showing mastery of a subject in other ways throughout high school. He’s well spoken and has read enough that I was confident in his grammar (his spelling lacks, but so does mine and that’s what spell check is for). He is currently taking Writing 121 in his first year of college, and is doing just fine.
One of my other children has pretty severe dysgraphia, and hates the physical act of writing! Is is 21 and already has a good paying (enough to support himself well) job, so writing isn’t the end all necessity that school makes it out to be.
We've used TYCTR to teach all of our children to read! Love that book! Our copy is falling apart. Haha. And we have never done the writing portion either.
Really love this video series that you are doing! I just have a question...how often would you have you children do their copywork page and writing on their own? Do they do grammar and copywork each day or alternate days? Thank you so much for your videos, they are so helpful. ❤️
I try to make sure they do one thing relating to writing each day and I alternate the things like grammar/copywork. I also keep the selections short so it doesn’t start to feel like drudgery. Although my oldest daughter loves copywork so she does lots of that on her own
In the beginning I just practice copywork as they express interest. Kids usually go through spurts where they suddenly want to write things (and then they’ll lose interest again! 😆) so when they want to write I will write out whatever they want and then let them copy it. (Or if they’re new to writing I’ll write it lightly and let them trace my letters). Basically I follow their lead. My 7.5 year old is now doing a bit of copywork a day as part of his daily responsibilities. I keep it small so they don’t dread it and then slowly increase it bit by bit as they get older. 😊
