Copywork and Observational Drawing

Two of my favorite homeschool activities.  Copywork and observational drawing. I think they're pretty self-explanatory.  Copywork is simply copying good writing taking special note of spelling, puncuation, and handwriting.  Observational drawing is observing for detail and drawing what you observe.  I think they teach much more than art and cheating copying.  =)

They help me to slow down and notice things I might not in an otherwise busy day.  They encourage (I hope) one (my kids!) to focus and study the creations around them as well as the way our language comes together to form its own kind of beauty.

This is mine from last night.  I encourage the kids to spend at least 10-15 minutes on their drawing.  I did mine at midnight.  Can you tell where I started falling asleep and stopped paying attention to detail?  The kids asked me today, "Oh, you just let Rachel scribble on that part?" 

Uh...no.

:)