Every Wednesday our members get to ask Waldorf teacher Diane Power questions about their homeschooling experience, Waldorf education and more. These Q & A sessions are posted on the member blog every week so you have access to all the past Q & A sessions. Become a member of Earthschooling to get your questions answered personally every week.
Question from Earthschooling Member: We are following ES daily planners but still unsure of how much writing should be done. She can print many sentences in one sitting. Cursive she is just learning so we stop when she fatigues after about 1-2 sentences. How many times per week are g3 expected to write? How much at a time? Also how much copy work vs just on her own? Ty! – Jessica L.
Answer from Waldorf Teacher Diane Power: Hi Jessica! This is a great question – the amount is really different for each student. For example, if the students were copying a summary about a shelter into their books, some would finish and others would need more time. The extra time might be later that day or some time during the day after. I never liked to leave too much time go by before finishing the work, including finishing the drawing work.
If you are using a two day rhythm, writing would happen about every other day. In g3 I would give 20-30 minutes for the writing/bookwork. A paragraph or summary could be about five sentences long. As far as copy work vs original work, at this stage it is still mostly copy work BUT we have discussed the topic during our review and come up with the sentences together. Additionally, I do throw in occasional dictations to mix things up.
If she is just learning cursive, she could write only the titles in cursive or the first sentence in her ML book and the rest in print as she builds up her ability. Then she could have a practice session in cursive in the afternoon.
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