I love using daily copywork. Practicing handwriting and grammar in these small bits is one of the practical applications of the Charlotte Mason philosophy I really like. The reinforcement of the lessons it is taken from is an added benefit. The reality of finding something relevant everyday makes it less of a favorite thing.
I have been looking forward to this review of PreScripts from Classical Conversations for awhile. The hardest part has been figuring out which book would be the best fit. There are four levels in this new series which combines handwriting and art with history and Scripture passages. Considering where my girls (12, 10 and 9) are in their cursive writing skills, we chose the 3rd in the series Cursive Sentences and Art Lessons.
What we received is spiral bound book ($12.99 145 pages) with art lessons and copywork passages that come straight from the memory work of Cycle 2. If you are not a regular user of Classical Conversations (like us) this translates to Medieval to Modern World History (Charlemagne to Nelson Mandela). We are currently in the Reformation period in our studies, so this fits well.
The first few pages of the book include a letter to parents – don’t skip this!, pages with the alphabet as a refresher and reference for proper formation, and descriptions in the two drawing methods used – grid and mapping. Following this are the pages your child will use for the lessons. There are 24 different passages used with a relevant drawing to copy.
We stuck with a four day a week schedule (our normal for “desk work”). This is also the recommended pace to complete the book in a school year. The passages are short and easily completed in 15 minutes by my slowest writers. Permission is given to make copies for your own family. I let each daughter have a day to use the book while the others used a copy. When the passage was a longer one and on the top page, they all wanted a copy. The spiral gets in the way – but only on those longer ones when on the top page versus the bottom. The main reason I would like this as an e-book. The ease of opening the book and beginning is very nice, too.
The lessons follow the same pattern. The passage for that lesson (or History Note) is repeated for two days, then on the third day is the art lesson. The art lessons cover drawing techniques as well as featuring works of art – photographs, etc. related to the historical event. There is an index if you wish to pursue the images further. This repeats for six History Notes, then those six are reviewed before moving on to the next set. Following the 6 review passages is a page for drawing your choice of one of the previous art pages. One of my daughters did not like starting a new passage on a day other than Monday, but the rest had no problem.
Don’t be mislead into thinking these copywork books are only for participants of Classical Conversations. Any family looking to add in handwriting practice with the bonus of art lessons and an overview of history will enjoy this resource. I look forward to the future volumes covering other history periods. PreScripts is an affordable option for any family following the Charlotte Mason or Classical philosophies in their home learning.
The first level also uses the same historical period while learning the formation of cursive letters and included coloring pages. The second level builds words with those letters and has early drawing lessons featuring short selections from Proverbs and James. The fourth level is the copying of longer passages taken from documents of American history. The art in this level is illuminations.
