Christmas Homeschool Copywork Pages (Free Printable)

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Light up your homeschool with some holiday cheer by using these Christmas Homeschool Copywork Pages (Free Printable!) Copying scripture passages and great literature, centered around the birth of our Savior, is a great way to launch this blessed season with your children. Pour some cocoa, find a cozy spot in the house, and sit beside your children as they copy these delightful copywork selections.

What is copywork?

If you have been in the world of homeschooling for any period of time, you have probably heard the term “copywork” tossed around. So what exactly is copywork? Copywork is simply the habit of hand-copying a short passage of text from an excellent author.
Think about it. How do we learn to do anything? We observe someone who is doing it! Copywork challenges kids to copy the written work of excellent communicators. It helps kids develop good writing skills in a natural way, the same way we learn many other life skills.

What are the benefits of copywork?

Copywork is a valuable tool that can help kids become good writers. It is a great way for them to indirectly gain an understanding of language arts skills. By observing the vocabulary, sentence structure, writing style and form in a well written piece, kids will grasp the fundamental tenets of excellent writing.

How do you teach copywork?

Have your students pay close attention to copy the text just as it is written. Remind them that the first word in every sentence or in every line in a poem begins with a capital letter. They should write quotation marks, semi-colons, colons, and apostrophes just as observed in the line. Have them write the title appropriately making sure to capitalize the first letters in each word of the title.

When they finish, review the copywork with them. Have them correct spelling and punctuation errors. Ask them to spell key words. Refine their handwriting skills as needed. Ask them the meaning of any unknown words.

How much should a child copy?

A good rule of thumb is to have a child copy one sentence a day for first grade, two for second, and so on. If they want to do more, sure! But this metric is a reasonable developmental goal for most kids. Older students should be able to copy paragraphs.

What should a child copy?

A child should copy the best pieces from great authors! What quality books are you reading aloud to your kids? These are a great place to start! Copy passages of Scripture, Aesop’s Fables, poems, short stories or fairy tales, non-fiction books on topics that interest them, notable sections from each chapter of the fiction book they are reading.

Can they type their copywork?

Personally, I don’t think they should. I like to compare it to the difference between take a trip somewhere by riding a bike and riding in a car. When you go more slowly as you do when you ride a bike, you remember more of the scenic attractions along the way. You are aware of more details and you remember more. I believe the same is true for copywork. What you write down, you are more likely remember.

How often should a child do copywork?

I have our kids do some copywork every day. Daily practice will be the best way to improve their writing skills. It takes very little time and covers so much ground. Coywork should take a child roughly 10-15 minutes. If it takes young students longer than that to complete a copywork selection, you may be assigning them too much or they may not be ready to move from handwriting to copywork.

Are handwriting and copywork the same thing?

No, they are not. Handwriting should be mastered before copywork. When a young child can write fluently, then they can begin copywork. Having said that, copywork will help improve a child’s handwriting, specifically fine motor skills and proper letter formation. While copywork will help kids develop beautiful handwriting, it is also so much more than that. Copywork teaches good writing form and sentence struction. It also exposes kids to quality pieces.

Does copywork really work?

The main difference that I see between copywork and other writing methods is this. In copywork, the student first observes an excellent piece, slowly and carefully, copying with exact detail, and makes a conclusion afterward. The writing begins after the observation. Children can only express what they possess!

In many popular writing methods, kids in early elementary school are encouraged to begin writing but they have very little to no exposure to quality pieces of writing or time to reflect on them.

When used along with the habit of narration, children observe first and write later.

How we use copywork in our homeschool?

I give each of our kids a copy work notebook (spiral bound) to use only for this subject area. Separately, I print out the sample, 3 hole punch it, and put it in a 3 ring binder.

Each new day, they write the date in the margin. Then students copy the selection beside it, either a sentence, small section, or paragraph, according to their age and ability. I have found that a good place to start is with one-line bible passages or simple sentences from their early readers.

I like to teach my older children cursive writing, so once my older children are fluent, I require their copywork in cursive.
Often I will have them read their own copywork back to me. This helps them to detect mistakes. (Also, if they have trouble reading their own writing, they can realize that on their own without mom having to harp on them about it!)

What is in the Christmas Homeschool Copywork Pages?

In this collection, you will find meaningful passages from well-loved chapter books, short poems, and famous quotes.
-2 pages of FAQ about copywork
5 pages of Christ-centered Christmas copywork pages
-Appropriate for 1st-8th grades (approximately)
-This is more copywork than kids can realistically complete in the month of December. Don’t try to do all of it! Kids don’t need to go through the copywork in order. If you prefer, you can pick and choose the selections you like best OR choose ones that are most appropriate to ages and abilities of your children.
-Various scripture verses
-poems by Christina Rosetti, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Clement Moore, Ernestine Northover, Vicky Luong
-favorite passages from Little Women, A Christmas Carol, Farmer Boy, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
-famous quotes by C.S. Lewis, Dr. Seuss, and Laura Ingalls Wilder

How do I get the free download Christmas Homeschool Copywork Pages (Free Printable)?

1. Subscribe in the box below by entering your email.
2. Check your email inbox to confirm your subscription.
3. You will get a success message with the PDF link.
4. Click on the link and print. Enjoy! Please remember, these are for personal use only!

I hope these free resources of copywork sheets will be a useful tool in your homeschool!

For some additional resources, don’t miss these other free copywork pages!
Fall Themed Copywork
Winter Themed Copywork
Spring Themed Copywork

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Pin It for Later! Christmas Homeschool Copywork Pages (Free Printable)

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