Shortly after one of her older sisters earned herself a chunk of copywork as a consequence for something-or-other, Beanie, aged almost six, appeared at my side with one of our Draw-Write-Now books.
"Mommy," she said, all bright-eyed eagerness, "if I do something naughty and have to have copywork, you could give me THIS book. See?"
Draw-Write-Now is primarily a drawing tutorial, but there are a few lines of simple text beneath the pictures, suitable for handwriting practice if you are so inclined. I never have been, not wishing to suck the fun out of my kids’ favorite, favorite how-to-draw manuals.
But Beanie was all kinds of excited about her new idea. "I wonder how naughty I would have to be," she mused, "to make you give me some copywork."
Hey, don’t look at ME, child—I’m certainly not giving you any suggestions!
How cute! I love those books.
LOL!!! That’s too funny!! I love those books too.
Now, see, that just looks like a punishment strategy backfiring big time…
Smart kid you’ve got there. I have one too. Sometimes I wish she was stupid and compliant but mostly I like it this way.
That is classic. If she needs ideas on how to be naughty, I am sure mine would help her brainstorm! 😉
I admit to being curious about your giving copywork to the oldest sister as a consequence. It sort of surprised me. Maybe it’s because I have boys, for whom copywork-as-consequence would pretty much cement in their brains writing-is-punishment. Have I not read enough Charlotte Mason to get some underlying connection, or is this just something that you don’t have to be concerned about because the proclivity-to-write is so strong in your kids? (Which wouldn’t surprise me a bit). Copywork-as-consequence is one of those things that would never cross my mind as appropriate for our family — while totally respecting that if it works for your family, you surely know and use it wisely and well.
I take this to mean Beanie is feeling better- great