Are you looking for copywork? Then you’re in luck! Our mega list of 2900+ free copywork worksheets means you’re sure to find something to add to your homeschooling lessons today. 

We encourage you to bookmark this HSG Hub Resource page in order to quickly grab a copywork printable as any additions or updates to our list will be shown here.  And because this resource page intentionally has a lot of content, we’ve added a table of contents to allow you to jump directly to the section you need:

HSG Hub Page: Free Copywork Worksheets

What is Copywork?

Is Copywork a New Thing?

No. While copywork has become more popular in recent years and a lot of curriculum creators now have copywork in their products, it isn’t a new thing.

Up until the 20th century most students learned how to write simply by reading and then copying portions of great literature onto a piece of paper or in a notebook using their very best handwriting.

When Should I Start Using Copywork?

As soon as your child can hold a pencil correctly is the easy answer.  Your little one doesn’t even need to know how to read yet, as you can use copywork to teach them how to write all their alphabet letters.

Our section called Strengthen Fine Motor Skills below has a quick tip about the importance of holding pencils correctly so be sure to read that if your little one is at the beginning stages of writing.

Quick Video Lesson – How to Hold a Pencil

The Kidsplainer has a cute and quick YouTude video on how to hold a pencil.  We love that it’s created by a child for children:

What Should Students Copy?

Anything written can actually become copywork depending on what you are studying and the age of your child.

For example, new writers like preschool and kindergarten students can start with tracing to learn correct letter formation

Young students in 1st grade or 2nd grade may be working on single words, simple sentences or even a short passage like nursery rhymes or Bible verses.

A great way to introduce cursive handwriting to those 3rd or 4th grade students is copywork.  As they focus on the details of copying good writing they’ll also learn how to read cursive (yay!) but hopefully end up with legible if not beautiful handwriting.

Older students in upper elementary, middle school or even high school can benefit from copywork as well. 

It’s perfect for independent practice in multiple subject areas such as analyzing speeches or famous quotes from world leaders of the past such as Abraham Lincoln or Winston Churchill.

Additionally, it can be used alongside any language arts or literature lesson with poetry, plays, or longer passages from famous authors such as Shakespeare or Longfellow.  

Another great place to include copywork is in a social studies or government course.  Having your teen copy a portion (or all) of the Bill of Rights or Declaration of Independence can be a powerful way to expose them to the founding documents of our country. 

7 Benefits of Copywork

There are numerous benefits to using copywork in your studies.  As a former homeschool mom, here are seven reasons I recommend adding it to your homeschool day:

1. Caught Not Taught
2. Discussion Lanes Open
3. Needed Life Skills 
4. Improved Handwriting Skills 
5. Strengthen Fine Motor Skills
6. Help Kinesthetic Kiddos Learn
7. Become a Better Writer – Scholarship Anyone?

1. Caught Not Taught

Have you ever heard the phrase “More is caught than taught”?  It’s a way of saying that people tend to copy what they see – both good and bad. 

As our children are exposed to the positive messages you want them to hear – Bible passages, moving speeches, classical literature or even favorite verses from a song – the values expressed from those passages can be  “caught” by them.

Your children are going to be exposed to so many conflicting voices as they become adults. Yet copywork can be a gentle way for you to share the foundational truths you want them to learn and grow to believe.

2. Discussion Lanes Open  

As children copy passages, their brains are naturally trying to make sense of what they are reading and writing. As such, there will likely be many times they have questions about what they are writing.

I recommend taking the time to talk through any questions they may have.  Open-ended questions can help such as:

• What do you think this passage is talking about?
• How does it make you feel? 
• Do you agree with it? Why or why not?
• Are there any words you don’t understand?
• Do you have an interest in learning more about this topic?

Letting them respond shows that you are interested in what they think.  

It can also give you clues on where they might be struggling in their learning, words to add to your vocabulary lessons, as well as helping you find topics, skills or subjects your child may want to learn more about.   

And as a mom who has homeschooled two daughters, I can say that taking the time to listen to their questions and feelings from schoolwork can help keep the discussion lanes open for other more personal topics they need or want to talk about as they move into their teen years and even adulthood.

 3. Needed Life Skills 

Attention to detail & focus are important life skills and character traits to impart to our kids.

Copywork that is done correctly will require them to focus and pay attention to the detail of the passage.  For example:  

• Was it copied exactly?  
• Was it written with capital letters, correct spelling & proper punctuation?  
• Was it written legibility with their best handwriting?  

Students who do well at copywork will have the potential to become adults who have the ability to focus on details.  

As they go to college or go out into the workforce the ability to focus and pay close attention to details will help them complete applications correctly, follow instructions, honor deadlines, fulfill their job responsibilities and more.

4. Improved Handwriting Skills

One of the goals for copywork is to have your kiddos write using their very best handwriting.  The more time a student focuses on writing letters and words to the best of their ability, the more it will become normal for them to write with legible handwriting. 

Even though we type more these days, it’s still important that others can read your handwriting – unless he or she plans to become a doctor. 😉

5. Strengthen Fine Motor Skills 

Another benefit is that as children write more, they will naturally gain strength and control in their hands and fingers. 

Quick Tip:  Watch carefully how your child is holding the pencil when they are writing.  

Are they holding it correctly?  

If they aren’t, then I recommend addressing that very quickly as it is very hard – if not impossible – to break the habit of an improper grip once a child learns to write.  

An improper grip can actually cause a great deal of hand fatigue, and potentially other issues, especially as they grow older and will need to write longer papers. (I write this from personal error as I didn’t get a daughter’s grip corrected when she first started writing and hand fatigue became a struggle for her.)

A writing grip or larger pencils for beginning writers can help students hold those pencils correctly until it becomes muscle memory.  Amazon and other retailers have lots of options to check out.

In the When Should I Start Using Copywork? section above, I shared a cute video from The Kidsplainer on how to hold a pencil. This video could help correct an improper grip as sometimes a child will take advice from another child better than he or she does from his or her homeschool teacher. 🙄

In addition, because kids are using technology more often, it is harder to learn these fine motor skills in the first place. By intentionally adding copywork into a daily school routine, our children will get more practice using and developing the muscles needed for fine motor skills.

6. Kinesthetic Kiddos Learn

A kinesthetic learner is one who is more hands-on or learns by doing.  

If you have a child who likes to build things, go on field trips, complete experiments, play sports or any other type of learning through movement then he or she might be a kinesthetic learner.

There are a lot of ways to add movement into your homeschool routine. One way is the act of writing down information. Rather than reading or hearing, kinesthetic kiddos can have more success learning and retaining information when they write it for themselves.

Experiment with a little copywork in subjects that require more reading or listening to see if that helps your child learn more of the information.

If you’d like to learn more about the link between physical movement and academic success, then one book to consider reading is The Kinesthetic Classroom: Teaching and Learning Through Movement by Traci Lengel and Mike Kuczala.

7. Become a Better Writer – Scholarship Anyone?

Finally, if we circle back to the “more caught than taught” benefit of copywork, we’ll see that it can also help kids with their writing skills.

By having a student copy sentences, quotes, short passages from great literature or speeches that child will be exposed to proper grammar and vocabulary.  They will also see proper word usage, capitalization, punctuation and spelling.  The more they are exposed to proper grammar, the more readily they will apply it when they write a sentence, story or paper.

In addition, having your child write passages from great writers will show them a wonderful world of vocabulary.  If they then take the time to learn these new vocabulary words it will open up new ways to express themselves in their own writings.

Quick College Prep Tip:  

If college is a potential for your student in the future then knowing proper grammar and having a wide vocabulary are great skills to have.  

According to ACT.org , the English portion of the test is 52-55% grammar.  Wow! While the SAT isn’t as high on grammar, it’s still an important factor of the test with estimates around 25%.

Speaking from experience, ACT and SAT scholarships are out there. One of our daughters received a full 4 year tuition scholarship and a huge part of that was due to her ACT score! Boy, did that help her get closer to her goal of getting through college debt-free. 😁

Additionally, universities have initial applications to attend and a huge portion have endowment scholarships for continuing students. Both commonly have essay portions as a part of the application. Learning to write well can help your teen get into college and awarded multiple scholarships.

So if you’re hoping for the possibility of future college scholarships, then finding ways to learn proper grammar is important. Copywork can be one way to naturally add grammar and vocabulary into your child’s lessons today.

How Much Time Should We Spend on Copywriting?

Simply adding copywork into your homeschool routine for approximately 10 minutes a day with a Bible verse, meaningful quote, song or literature passage will be an excellent way to get consistent print or cursive writing practice.

And if you want to add a little fun on occasion, try finding a light hearted short story, tongue twister or even a silly Dad joke to copy. (Did I say FUN with copywork?!)

HSG Free Copywork Worksheets

While free copywork worksheets can be found on lots of homeschool websites as well as Christianbook or Amazon, but if you’re looking for tons of FREE options all in one place, then please keep scrolling.

We’ve compiled 2900+ copywork worksheets for you here!  And remember to bookmark this page so you always have it handy to add to your lesson plans. Now on to the 80+ printable packs…..