How pysched am I to have received a Lifetime Membership to Homeschool Copywork for review. What an awesome resource it is! Perfect for our present studies as well as for what I have planned for next year and for years to come, Homeschool Copywork offers printable ebooks filled with copywork and notebooking pages on:
- Artists
- Composer Quotes
- History
- Holidays and Special Occasions
- Hymn Studies
- Inventors
- Poetry
- Preschool Themes
- Science
- Scripture
and more.
With a Homeschool Copywork Membership, you can access dozens of ebooks filled with high quality quotes and passages connected to things that your children might already be learning about, so your children can practice spelling, handwriting, and memorization through the time-proven ease of copywork. Indeed, if you are anything like me - a home educator influenced by Charlotte Mason and Classical styles - or if you are simply a homeschooler who seeks an easy strategy for folding handwriting and spelling into your homeschool day, you can quickly download, print, and begin with pleasure.
Professional AND Generous Resources
Amy Blevins, the brains and talent behind Homeschool Copywork began using copywork as a way to improve her daughter's handwriting and spelling skills. Her daughter responded well to some copywork pages that had artwork to color on them, but Amy could find no more like them, so she began making some herself. Then, she offered her well-designed pages to others, whereupon Homeschool Copywork was born.
Since Homeschool Copywork began, the collection of professional copywork and notebooking pages that Amy and her team offer has continued to increase. So has Amy's generosity to other homeschoolers. For while, yes, Homeschool Copywork is a business aimed at making profit to support Amy's homeschooled family, it is also a way that Amy gives forward to fellow homeschoolers.
At Homeschool Copywork , Amy offers a FREE SUBSCRIPTION for those that want to access A VARIETY OF FREE PRINTABLE COPYWORK PAGES AND CHARLOTTE MASON RESOURCES. Then, if you love the ample taste you get with your freebies, you can sign up for an Annual Membership for just $29.95 or a Lifetime Membership for $45.00. Considering that these memberships include access to dozens of e-books and counting, I think they are quite a bargain and that Amy, through offering both free and budget-friendly membership options, truly proves herself to be as generous as she is professional. (Thanks, Amy and team!)
Among the ebooks offered for free at Homeschool Copywork is this patriotic one that I plan to use in July:
There is also this Bible-based FREEBIE, which will grace our kitchen table the day after my my children and I get to the story of Noah in the latest children's Bible we have selected to read at bedtime lately.
I just love how this resource has full-color page options, coloring page options, printing options, and cursive options with variously spaced lines, too. Just like the Homeschool Copywork ebook we are already using, this one will offer my children plenty of choices, allowing each to work alongside one another at their own particular "just right" pace and level.
Amy and her team are fabulous at understanding that one size does not fit all, but one theme can fit many. I appreciate how many of their thematic resources are scaffolded for different ability levels. Printable ebooks often come with print and cursive options, a variety of eye-catching graphics, and different line options.
Some ebooks, of course, are geared towards younger children, while others are geared toward a more advanced crowd. For example, the Taft copywork.
When I first glanced at its cover, I thought this ebook might a great one to print for use around the upcoming presidential election. However, after opening it, I realized that it wouldn't be a good fit for my children right now. The passages in it are simply too long for my children's memory and writing muscles at this point. I mention it here, though, for that very reason: it is advanced.
Homeschool Copywork offers plenty of resources for members with younger children as well as those with older or more advanced children. Truly, there are resources for every age from preschool through high school, all of which are beautifully designed and easy to download and print.
Our First (Second, and Third) Choice
When I signed up for this review, I thought we might begin using the Armor of God copywork to go along with some duct tape projects my son's club would be working on. My thought was that he could work on building weapons and armor with friends during club time, and, then, come home to work on related handwriting, spelling, and memory work at home with his siblings following suit. (I knew my youngest would love the knight graphics in this ebook, and my middle child would enjoy the faith-based passages.)
When my son's club, however, decided to focus on Greco-Roman projects next instead of Armor of God ones, my plan went out the proverbial window. I was not too worried about that, though, since, with a lifetime membership, neither my children nor I have to rush to download and print any single resource. We can simply wait until each dovetails with perfect timing into our learning and life adventures, as I know the Armor of God copywork will on the coming year.
Another ebook that I was considering for our first foray into Homeschool Copywork was Fearfully and Wonderfully Made: Copywork Quotes about the Human Life.
I am fairly certain we will be able to use Fearfully and Wonderfully Made: Copywork Quotes about the Human Life by the time the next 40 Days for Life campaign rolls around. For, I dare say, by then, all of my children will likely be ready for longer passages.
Why do I think this?
Because all three children are already getting faster and more focused with copywork using the third choice I made as our first ebook to start with: Character Building Copywork.
I chose this copywork to start off with for several reasons. It has:
- both shorter and longer passages (so it could suit each of my children's levels),
- graphics that appeal to my youngest as well as to my other children,
- and passages that are timely for writing in my children's hearts.
The first day we used the ebook, I simply printed a small stack of pages out and let my children select from them. Since then, I have offered them more pages and found that they are all straightforward and simple - yet pleasing! - making copywork easy for the children and for me. We just sit down, set a timer for 5-10 minutes, and go. The children copy and color until the timer goes off, and, sometimes, even after if they wish. Easy peasy and effective.
Our Thoughts
My youngest son, at five, said:
I liked the picture of the dragon I saw on the website and the knight on my copywork.
Yes, the graphics are a draw for this little man who pushes himself through the copywork so he can enjoy coloring (and who, yes, sometimes colors first!)
My oldest son, at ten, said:
I like the cursive font. I also like the pictures... I like the spacing, too. It is big enough to write on. I also like being able to pick which thing I want to copy.
See how the multiple options come into play. My son exercises autonomy within the limits given to him. That makes him happy, and I am equally content knowing he's building his spelling and handwriting muscles while writing worthy things in his memory.
My daughter, at nine, said:
I liked it because there was stuff you could look at and color in on the pages. I much preferred the printing ones, not the cursive. I like that the font is easy to copy. The g's and the a's do not look weird like in some fonts. The space for writing is big enough, so it's not too hard, and it's small enough so you do not have to write too big. It makes writing a little easier.
Again, the options that come with each ebook appeal to different children for different reasons and the ebooks as a whole have qualities which draw children in - such as easy-to-copy fonts and graphics that can be colored in.
As for me, I am just THRILLED with how many of the ebooks will compliment things I already have planned for the next 6-12 months of homeschool study:
- Human Life and Human Body Notebooking Pages
- the aforementioned Armor of God copywork
- an Amazing Grace Hymn Study and Copywork pages
- Bird Coloring pages
- Copywork about composers like Bach and Mozart
- Thanksgiving Copywork
- Artist Study Copywork
...and more. The offerings that are ready to download and print at Homeschool Copywork will be relished in the coming year, and the growing collection will be appreciated, too. As I mentioned before, Amy and her team consistently add new materials to their collection of Charlotte Mason-friendly resources, making membership even that much better!
Further, membership log-in is easy on the Homeschool Copywork website, where buttons quickly take you to:
- early elementary work
- upper elementary work
- junior-high and high school work
- bonus products
After clicking through the buttons, you simply browse to see which ebooks appeal to you, click on a link for instant downloads, print, and you're good to go.
Is Homeschool Copywork for You?
If you are a Christian homeschool family that is inspired by Charlotte Mason or is simply seeking an easy, time-proven way to add spelling, handwriting, and memory work into your homeschool activities, Homeschool Copywork could be for you! Check out their freebies to help you decide if it is and, remember, that there are dozens of ebooks on music, art, history, Scripture, and more available through an upgraded membership.
Learn More
- It's pretty obvious that I am a fan of copywork. If you would like to read thoughts on why it works so well, click on over to Homeschool Copywork Explained.
- See how 100 Schoolhose Review Crew families are benefiting from Homeschool Copywork.
