88: What is Copywork and Why Use Music and Fine Arts Themed Copywork in Your Homeschool

Have you ever wondered what copywork really is and why it’s been a cornerstone of classical and Charlotte Mason-style homeschooling for over a century? In this inspiring episode of the Music in Our Homeschool podcast, veteran homeschool mom and music educator Gena Mayo shares how copywork can become one of the most beautiful and meaningful parts of your homeschool day—especially when connected to music and the fine arts.

Discover how copywork strengthens not only handwriting, spelling, and grammar, but also attention, character, and appreciation for truth and beauty. You’ll learn how historical figures like Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, C.S. Lewis, and even Isaac Newton used copywork to sharpen their minds—and how you can bring that same timeless wisdom into your homeschool routine.

Gena also reveals creative and easy ways to weave copywork into your music and art studies, including:
 🎵 Copying stanzas from hymns and folk songs
 🎨 Writing down artist or composer quotes in your fine arts notebook
 📜 Creating seasonal or themed copywork for holidays and special lessons
 🖋️ Turning copywork into family journaling or morning time routines

If you’ve ever felt like copywork was old-fashioned or too simple, this episode will give you a whole new perspective. When paired with music and fine arts, copywork becomes more than handwriting—it becomes a doorway to wisdom, wonder, and worship.

Listen now and discover how to make copywork a joyful and purposeful part of your homeschool!

Find links to all resources mentioned in this episode here: https://musicinourhomeschool.com/music-themed-copywork/

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Transcript

E88 What is Copywork and Why Use Music and Fine Arts Themed Copywork in Your Homeschool

Speaker: [00:00:00] Hello, Harmony Heroes and welcome back to the Music in Our Homeschool podcast. I'm Gena Mayo, your host and guide to making music and fine arts, a joyful, simple, and enriching part of your homeschool. I'm really excited to be back today because I've actually taken about a month off. I got all my podcast episodes prerecorded and now I'm back , and so excited to connect with you all again.

Today we're going to talk about a method of learning that is simple, very inexpensive and timeless, and yet incredibly powerful. And it's copywork. Copywork has been used by some of the world's greatest thinkers, writers, and leaders in history. It's been recommended by the wonderful Charlotte Mason, who's one of the most influential voices in modern homeschooling, and it's something that can transform not only your child's handwriting, but their entire relationship with [00:01:00] language, beauty, and truth.

Now, you might be thinking. Isn't this a Music and Fine Arts podcast? Why am I talking about copywork? Well. If you know me, you know I'm always looking for ways to connect music and fine arts to every area of our homeschooling, to simplify, to make it exciting and easy for you to implement. So today we're going to look specifically at how music and art-themed copywork can add meaning and creativity, and even joy to this practice.

By the end of today's episode, you'll understand what copywork is and why it matters, how people in history, such as Benjamin Franklin, used copywork to sharpen their minds, how copywork connects with the Charlotte Mason method of education, and some practical, fun, and creative ways to weave copywork into your homeschooling. So grab your coffee or tea, and let's dive [00:02:00] in. 

Speaker 2: If you are a homeschooler looking for ways to easily and affordably include a quality music education in your homeschool, you've come to the right place. This is the music in our homeschool podcast. I'm Gina Mayo, homeschooling mom of eight, a music teacher for over 30 years.

Speaker: What exactly is copywork? At its simplest, copywork is the practice of copying down by hand a passage of well-written text. Children or adults look at a piece of writing and then carefully reproduce it on paper.

Now you might be thinking, that's it? It's just handwriting practice? Well, yes and no. Handwriting practice often means repeating letters, words, or sentences chosen for the sake of forming letters and practicing how to create those letters. copywork, on the other hand, takes beautifully crafted words or [00:03:00] sentences, whether from Scripture, poetry, hymns or other songs, literature, speeches, novels, and then asks the student to copy them with care.

And here's what's happening for your children while they're doing the copywork. They're strengthening their handwriting and fine motor control, yes. They're learning correct spelling and punctuation by noticing how it appears in real writing. They're absorbing grammar and sentence structure without a formal lecture. They're developing focus and attention as they slow down and observe details. And perhaps most importantly though, they're internalizing style and beauty from excellent authors, poets, and thinkers. Copywork is more than mechanics. It's about shaping the heart, the mind, and the habits of your child through meaningful words.

Did you know that Benjamin Franklin [00:04:00] used a form of copywork to teach himself how to write well? As a young man, Franklin admired the essays of The Spectator, which was a popular London publication. He would read the essays, take notes on them, then set the original aside, and later he would try to recreate the essays in his own words from memory. Then he'd copy his version with the original, studying what he missed, what he got right, and where the original author style outshown his own. That's copywork in action. Not just practicing words, but training yourself in the art of writing. And Franklin, as we know, went on to become not only one of America's founding fathers, but also one of the greatest writers and thinkers of his time.

Some other famous figures who practiced copywork were John Adams. He copied passages from law books and sharpened his understanding [00:05:00] of argument and rhetoric. C. S Lewis was known to copy poetry, internalizing rhythm, and vocabulary that later flavored his own work. And the scientist, Isaac Newton, copied notes from scientific texts as part of his early education, training his mind to think deeply about ideas. So when your child sits down to copy a stanza from a hymn, or a quote from Mozart, they're walking in the footsteps of brilliant men and women throughout history.

Now, let's talk a moment about Charlotte Mason, because for many homeschoolers, her name is almost synonymous with copywork. Charlotte Mason was a British educator in the late 1800s and early 1900s. She believed in the importance of giving children living books and beautiful ideas rather than dry, disconnected facts. For her copywork was an essential part of language arts education. She recommended short [00:06:00] passages, just a few lines for the youngest children, and to copy them with excellence. The point wasn't to finish quickly or to fill up a whole page, but to train the child to pay close attention to detail and to produce work carefully and beautifully. She also emphasized variety-- passages from Scripture, poetry, hymns, literature, and history. That way children were always encountering noble thoughts and excellent writing.

What's beautiful about Mason's approach is that copywork isn't busywork. It's a way of shaping character. Children are trained to take pride in their work, to notice beauty, and to cultivate habits of accuracy and attention. And isn't that exactly what we want in our homeschools?

Now let's make this practical. How do you include copywork in a way that feels fun and meaningful and not dry and repetitive? Well, here's some ideas. [00:07:00] Pair your copywork with music appreciation. If you're studying a composer, have your child copy one of their famous quotes.

Integrate with art lessons. While studying Renaissance art, let your child copy a short reflection from Michelangelo or Leonardo da Vinci.

Use hymns and songs. As you sing hymns or folk songs, choose a stanza to copy. Kids love, recognizing the words they've written when they sing them later.

Make it seasonal. During Easter, use Scripture copywork about the resurrection. In July, copy the Pledge of Allegiance or the Star-Spangled Banner. In November, copy a quote about thankfulness.

Notebooking. You can have your kids glue or insert their copywork pages into a composer study notebook, or an artist sketchbook, or history timeline. Over time, these can become treasured keepsakes.

Creative [00:08:00] presentations. Encourage your kids to decorate their copywork with borders, doodles, or simple illustrations. This makes the work more personal and fun.

Family copywork time. Set aside 10 minutes during morning time for everyone, yes, even mom, to copy a passage. Kids love to see when you are doing it, too.

Public speaking connection. After copying a passage, have your child read it aloud with expression. This links handwriting, reading fluency, and public speaking skills.

Now at this point, if you're thinking, "This sounds wonderful, but I don't have time to go searching for passages and making them look nice," I've got you covered.

I have a number of music and fine arts-themed copywork resources ready for you to just download and print. Here's a few: The Beatrix Potter set. This copywork also [00:09:00] includes some paper puppets and a cootie catcher. This is perfect for younger learners, and I don't know about you, but I love the Beatrix Potter books.

I have Renaissance artist copywork. These quotes from artists pair beautifully with art history studies.

There's the Pledge of Allegiance and the U.S. President's quotes. These are perfect if you're doing U.S. history or civics lessons.

There's a number of composer copywork sets. I have Refreshment of the Soul, which is Baroque and Classical composers, Radiate and Shine from Romantic composers, and Silence Between the Notes has the modern composers.

In my Great Hymns of the Faith volumes one and two, there are 20 hymns that have the stanzas for you to write for copywork.

All of these resources are beautiful. They're zero prep, and they give you that extra layer [00:10:00] of meaning in your homeschool when you're connecting something like copywork to art or music studies.

So in conclusion, copywork is more than just handwriting practice. It forms the hand, teaching neat, careful handwriting. It forms the mind through exposure to grammar, spelling, and style. It forms the heart through meditating on words of beauty, truth, and inspiration. And it forms habits: habits of attention, diligence, and care. When you tie copywork to music and fine arts, you give your children the gift of connecting those skills to culture, history, faith, and beauty. It becomes more than an exercise. It becomes a doorway into wisdom and wonder.

So if copywork h as felt old-fashioned or unimportant, I hope today's episode has given you a fresh perspective. Think of Benjamin Franklin copying essays, Charlotte Mason [00:11:00] recommending short, careful passages, or your own children copying the words of a hymn, a quote from a president, or inspiration from a composer.

Copywork is simple, yes, but it is powerful. And when we make it meaningful, it can become one of the most delightful parts of your homeschool.

Thank you so much for joining me today. Don't forget to check out the show notes for all these copywork resources that I mentioned. And if you found this episode helpful, it would mean a lot to me if you would share it with a friend.

And please leave a review. It really helps other homeschooling families find us. Until next time, keep making music and copywork a joyful part of your homeschool.

Find links to all resources mentioned in this episode here: https://musicinourhomeschool.com/music-themed-copywork/