Using Finder to copy to an external drive

I need to copy my home directory using Finder to an external drive that I save in the safe as a backup. Last month I spent 1 hour with Apple support to somehow achieve that and I wrote down the instructions. The support staff tried a variety of "approaches" that did not work so maybe I just didn't capture something correctly but I cannot repeat this very simple copy (in Windows, Ctrl-C from source, Ctrl-V to destination). Using Command instead of Ctrl on the Mac doesn't work w. Finder.
At this point I not only feel stupid but kind of desperate. There should be a simpler way to do this but I cannot figure out how Finder works or how to do it. Below are the instructions that I am trying to follow (as provided by the support staff), to copy my home directory called SF to a Seagate drive. Paste SF never shows up under Control/EDIT, as in step 4 under Destination.... I'd appreciate your help.
1. Open Finder
2. Click on “GO” on top menu bar
3. Select Computer
4. Click on Macintosh HD
5. Click on Users
6. Highlight the SF folder (do not click on it)
7. Press the Control key while clicking on “EDIT” on the top menu bar
8. Select COPY “SF”
b. Prep destination
1. In Finder, create new folder on Seagate Backup for Backup MM/DD/YY with subfolder for iMac with subfolder for SF (use File/New Folder after highlighting the top level=Seagate Backup and then highlighting and clicking on the lower level under which a subfolder needs to be created)
2. Highlight the destination folder (SF on Seagate), do not click on it
3. Press the Control key while clicking on “EDIT” on the top menu bar
4. Select PASTE “SF"

See these:
Mac Basics—Tutorials on using a Mac,
Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts,
Apple How-To Guides for Mac OS X,
Anatomy of a Mac,
MacTips, and
The Missing Manual, Mavericks.

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