Has anyone used a free "learn-to-type" website to help their child learn typing? My 4th grade daughter would like to learn, and I think she's capable of learning. If I need to spend $19.99 for a good piece of software, I will, but wondered if some of the free sites are adequate. Thanks!
Added: I want her to learn proper keyboarding technique, typing without looking at the keyboard, and not just finding the keys. She has a writing/spelling learning disability and typing may become a main way of completing schoolwork. She is excellent at learning to play the piano, so I think this will come easily for her with the proper instruction.
Thanks everyone, for your suggestions! I'll be doing some more research on all these possibilities.
I used some online sites (but don't remember the names) to get my speed up before my interviews... just now I googled & saw www.typingweb.com and www.learn2type.com.
I don't know if it's still around or if it's free, but when I taught new admin assistants back in the WAAAAAAY old days, we used a program called "Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing". It was really good, but fun too. It had good instruction teaching proper techniques for beginners right through to expert, pretty cool games and gave typing tests that scored speed and accuracy.
Ha... just looked it up and it looks like you can still buy it for anywhere from 12-20 bucks, and some sites offer a free trial. They're up to edition 20. I think I was using edition 5. Told you it was a long time ago!
My older kids played an online game where the letters fell from the top and you had to type them to explode them before the fell to the bottom. I don't remember the name, but it was free and fun for them. It would send more of the ones you had problems with to force more practice on them. I remember we used to all have fun with that one. Try googling and play around with several.
I don't necessarily know of one, but I do believe they are out there. I am an extremely fast typist and I chalk a lot of that up to learning to play piano before typing. You get down the coordination and learn to do something with your fingers without looking. The one thing I have noticed with my 9 year old granddaughter is that her hands are so small she has a hard time covering the keyboard. Good luck! I think all kids should learn to type ASAP.
You may have come accross this article, but I bookmarked it because my daughter is the same age and wants to learn. We haven't tried any of the programs yet but they look good.
My son's favorite is Dance Mat typing which is a free web site. www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/
I've also heard of Tux typing which is a free download, http://tux4kids.alioth.debian.org/tuxtype/download.php
My son had a great teacher who gave typing practice as homework in 2nd grade, but this year in 4th his teachers don't believe his writing difficulties are caused by his learning disabilities and don't see typing as a solution. I still want him to practice at home because I think it could be a great tool for him to show more of what he knows.
A teaching consultant I know recommends Ultra-key from bytesoflearning.com . She likes it because it has simple and concise lessons instead of games. Also, for kids who have trouble with the traditional technique, she teaches an adapted keyboarding style using just the first two fingers of each hand, plus thumbs.
We like Talking Typing Teacher. Although after a while it's hard to get that woman's voice out of my head. "Yeah! I think you're getting better!"
