The Stages of Learning Language Arts

Here’s a graphic version of the learning stages for language arts. Remember that the ages given are approximate, and students usually pass from one stage to the next in order. Some begin early and pass quickly through the stages, while others take much longer. As long as you keep pouring in good literature, they’ll eventually make it through all the stages.

How to Hold a Pen or Pencil

I wrote last week the importance of holding a pen or pencil properly. Writing fatigue and writers cramp are the inevitable result of holding the pen too tightly or in an awkward grip, and often students don’t even realize why writing is so hard. The physical act of penmanship is such a necessary part of school, it just seems wise to make it as painless as possible.
A picture is worth a thousand words, so I thought I’d offer you this excellent image of the Tripod Grip for the left or right hand. It was developed by Marie Hablitzel & Kim Stitzer, the creators of Draw Your World, who may be even more passionate than I am about the importance of holding a pencil correctly. They offer not only this helpful graphic, but also an entire page of detailed instructions to help you work with your students.

Tripod Pencil Grip from Draw Your World by Marie Hablitzel & Kim Stitzer If you have a student who has learned an incorrect hold, Draw Your World offers useful training tools such as pencil grips that can help make a difference. Another thing that sometimes helps a student who needs to learn a better pencil hold is to start learning another skill such as calligraphy or drawing in which correct pen hold also matters. It makes learning how to hold a pencil seem more interesting, rather than a tedious chore.

It can be hard to relearn something as basic as how to hold a pen, but it can make a big difference in how easily your student writes, and how pleasant the experience is. And we all know it’s more fun to do something pleasant than something hard!

Charlotte Mason on Copywork

Painting of Boy with Mother by Bernt Groenvold 1859-1923

What is copywork? It’s a simple way to begin teaching language arts to young children. Copywork provides practice in writing correctly formed letters, as well as experience in using correct spacing and punctuation. Now that penmanship is an issue on the SAT essay, copywork can be useful even for high school students.

19th-century British educator Charlotte Mason recommended copywork, which she called “transcription,” as an early step in teaching language arts. In Home Education, the first volume of her classic series on education, she wrote about the value of copywork, as well as what and how to copy. I have indented Mis Mason’s words, Americanized some of the spelling, bolded a few especially important points, and inserted a few notes.

Value of Transcription–The earliest practice in writing proper for children of seven or eight should be, not letter writing or dictation, but transcription, slow and beautiful work, for which the New Handwriting [a simple italic style] is to be preferred, though perhaps some of the more ornate characters may be omitted with advantage. [See a sample of this handwriting style at the end of this post.]

Transcription should be an introduction to spelling. Children should be encouraged to look at the word, see a picture of it with their eyes shut, and then write from memory.

Children should Transcribe favorite Passages.–A certain sense of possession and delight may be added to this exercise if children are allowed to choose for transcription their favorite verse in one poem and another. This is better than to write a favorite poem, an exercise which stales on the little people before it is finished. But a book of their own, made up of their own chosen verses, should give them pleasure. [As the child begins to master penmanship, you may want to provide a blank journal, like the commonplace books of years gone by, so that favorite verses and quotes can have a permanent home.]

JPC: Copying is one of the oldest of methods of teaching, not just writing, but also art, music, and many other occupations. There’s a reason art students spend time at museums, copying masterworks. Copying helps the student pay close attention, and this in turn allows them to absorb the details of how beautiful art or writing is created.

Small Text-Hand–Double-ruled Lines–Double ruled lines, small text-hand, should be used at first, as children are eager to write very minute ’small hand,’ and once they have fallen into this habit it is not easy to get good writing. A sense of beauty in their writing and in the lines they copy should carry them over this stage of their work with pleasure. Not more than ten minutes or a quarter of an hour should be given to the early writing-lessons. If they are longer the children get tired and slovenly.

JPC: When the boys were young, I made copy sheets for them in careful Italic penmanship. I wrote the chosen text on alternate lines, so that the child could copy directly beneath my writing. This helped them with accurate letterforms and spacing, and made it more likely that they’d put the punctuation where it belonged. Eventually, I discovered Barchowsky Fluent Handwriting, a time-saving program which allowed me to type in the text I wanted the boys to copy, and print it off the computer in a perfect italic font in exactly the size and line spacing that I wanted.

Position in Writing.–For the writing position children should sit so that light reaches them from the left, and desk or table should be at a comfortable height.

[How to Hold a Pen--] It would be a great gain if children were taught from the first to hold the pen between the first and second fingers, steadying it with the thumb. This position avoids the uncomfortable strain on the muscles produced by the usual way of holding a pen–a strain which causes writer’s cramp in later days when there is much writing to be done. The pen should be held in a comfortable position, rather near the point, fingers and thumb somewhat bent, and the hand resting on the paper.

JPC: I taught calligraphy to adult students for several years, and observed that incorrect pen hold was the single biggest obstacle to beautiful and legible writing. It is far easier to teach correct pen hold early than to correct poor habits in later life. Most of my calligraphy students were able to change to a correct pen hold, but it took a lot of practice.

The writer should also be allowed to support himself with the left hand on the paper, and should write in an easy position, with bent head but not with stooping figure. . . . In all writing lessons, free use should be made of the blackboard by both teacher and children by way of model and practice.

(From Home Education: Training and Educating Children Under Nine, by Charlotte Mason. Pages 238-239)

Here’s a post on Copywork for Teens, and a post on The Power of Copying a Text.

Here’s what a simple italic handwriting style, as well as a cursive italic) looks like (samples from Barchowsky Fluent Handwriting):

barchosky-cursive-italic

The Power of Copying a Text

Charlotte Mason recommended copywork as part of the language arts curriculum, and I second that suggestion. Copying a text is a powerful way, not only to practice writing mechanics, but also to absorb the cadence of an author’s prose, the fluidity of each sentence, and most of all, the deep meaning of the passage. If you want your students to commit anything to memory, the first place to begin is by having them copy it.

I learned the power of copying when I did calligraphy for hire. Writing out a text gave me time to reflect on meaning, prose style, and more. Poetry and verses that I copied have remained with me, even decades later. Copying is a relatively simple activity that can make your student a better writer. I hope you’ll try it!

The power of a text is different when it is read from when it is copied out.

Only the copied text thus commands the soul of him who is occupied with it,

whereas the mere reader never discovers the new aspects of his inner self that are opened by the text,

that road cut through the interior jungle forever closing behind it:

because the reader follows the movement of his mind in the free flight of day-dreaming,

whereas the copier submits it to command.

Walter Benjamin

Election Day 2009- Our Constitution

I came across this friendly reminder from someone in Italy who admires the United States Constitution, and it seemed a suitable day to share it. Sometimes outsiders (think of Alexis de Tocqueville) see very clearly! Read more

An Autumn Poem for Copywork

I believe that Charlotte Mason’s method for teaching language arts provides an excellent foundation for future language arts learning. Copywork is the step that begins the process of learning to write. First, read the entire poem aloud, using appropriate inflection. Practice ahead of time, if necessary!

Students of any age can use copywork to practice the mechanics of writing and to internalize the sound and rhythm of the written word. For young students, copy up to four lines of the poem on wide-ruled paper, skipping a line between each line you use. Be sure to use your best handwriting style, whether printing or cursive, and space the letters evenly. This will be your student’s model, so make it as beautiful as you can.* Read more

The Darkling Thrush by Thomas Hardy (and SAT Essay Prep)

I leant upon a coppice gate
When Frost was spectre-gray,
And Winter’s dregs made desolate
The weakening eye of day.
The tangled bine-stems scored the sky
Like strings of broken lyres,
And all mankind that haunted nigh
Had sought their household fires. Read more

Our Students Need to Write More

During the past decade, I’ve spent a fair amount of time evaluating student writing and teaching SAT prep essay workshops and online high school literature classes. I’ve had the chance to read hundreds of papers from students all over the country, and I’ve discovered one small key to success in writing: Write More...

That’s a directive that easily questioned– write more what? Words? Minutes? Pages? My response is simple– YES to all of the above. Students who write often, tend to write better and more easily than students who are rarely required to pick up a pen (or turn on the computer). Read more

Gratefulnesse by George Herbert

GRATEFULNESSE

by George Herbert (1593- 1633)

Thou that hast givâ€™n so much to me,
Give one thing more, a grateful heart.
See how thy beggar works on thee
By art.

He makes thy gifts occasion more,
And says, If he in this be crossed,
All thou hast givâ€™n him heretofore
Is lost.

But thou didst reckon, when at first
Thy word our hearts and hands did crave,
What it would come to at the worst
To save.

Perpetual knockings at thy door,
Tears sullying thy transparent rooms,
Gift upon gift, much would have more,
And comes.

This not withstanding, thou wenst on,
And didst allow us all our noise:
Nay thou hast made a sigh and groan
Thy joys.

Not that thou hast not still above
Much better tunes, than groans can make;
But that these country-airs thy love
Did take.

Wherefore I cry, and cry again;
And in no quiet canst thou be,
Till I a thankful heart obtain
Of thee:

Not thankful, when it pleaseth me;
As if thy blessings had spare days:
But such a heart, whose pulse may be
Thy praise.

This lovely poem is one of my favorites, and I think often of the last stanza. I very much enjoy George Herbert’s way of visually and aurally emphasizing important elements in his poems.

In my beautiful old volume of Herbert’s poetry (left), a gift from my oldest son, the last line of each stanza is spaced flush right, so that it is emphasized. I tried very hard to make it appear this way in this post, but it didn’t cooperate, so you’ll just have to imagine it. Better yet, use the poem as copywork, and write it spaced this way, and both you and your students will have an increased appreciation of its beauty. Be sure to notice Herbert’s warm, intimate tone, as of a child speaking to a father.

With this, I wish you a joyous Thanksgiving!

Copywork for Teens

“Mom, I need some copywork!”

I thought my son was kidding when he approached me this morning. After all, he is taking college classes, and doing quite a lot of writing. I thought he’d finished with copywork years ago! As soon as he explained why he wanted it, though, I knew he was right. He did need copywork! He was finding that as he took quick notes in class, his handwriting was getting less and less legible. He needed to practice writing both quickly and neatly, and copywork is the perfect tool for that.

To make his copywork, I copied the first eight verses of Psalm 119 onto college-ruled paper, skipping every other line. That way, he could write directly under my letters, which would remind him to watch his spacing and letterforms. As we did when he was younger, we each used a different color pen, so the finished page looked interesting.

Copywork is an excellent tool for teens who need to improve their handwriting for the essay portion of the SAT or ACT. I’ve read a number of articles that indicate that test evaluators are having serious problems reading some of the handwriting on these exams. Needless to say, if they can’t read it, they can’t evaluate it! Read more