Answering another post got me thinking. How are kids learning to type, if the schools don't provide this training anymore? It seems crazy to me that I learned typing in an age when computers were in the early stages (I learned on an old-fashioned typewriter and we were thrilled when part-way through the class we got electric typewriters), but now that everyone depends on computers, schools (at least ours) don't train kids in typing.
For those with older kids, how did they learn? Are there apps? YouTube videos? I don't have a clue how kids are learning anymore, if the schools don't teach it. It's not like it's something that can be learned quickly ... I know I spent at least a semester of class time mastering it.
My oldest are sophomores in HS. They learned to type by using the keyboard. There was/is no "qwerty" training like they had when I was their age. I honestly hated that class. But they learn by using the keyboard often. My girls are okay with it, my son hunts and pecks.
We bought Mavis Beacon which has several different versions: http://www.broderbund.com/c-33-mavis-beacon.aspx
Worked well for our older two and we plan to use it again for DD.
I learned basic keyboarding (as they called it) and formatting in HS. I got fast IMing in college.
They start in kinder in our district. The program is Paws in Typing Town and each child has a specific assignment and works to achieve higher levels. This program teaches them where to place their fingers and practice like I was taught in high school.
By 3rd grade, most students are pretty good with typing and they have a lot of typed reports.
I don't know about public schools, but since I homeschool I have found typing courses on line. Amazon has them and are easily downloaded to your computer.
I didn't learn to type until HS and that was on the old fashioned typewriters. I don't miss getting my fingers stuck between the keys and my skin ripping off. Kids today have it much easier with spell/grammar checks built into the programs. It's also easier to erase and retype stuff.
With everything on computers now mastering typing should come easy to youngsters.
i don't even know. learning to type for me was a big deal. i never learned as a kid, and finally took a course at community college in my 20s. on a brother typewriter which i found in the basement a couple of years ago. how archaic it looks!
now i'm supah-fast. :)
my kids just sort of did it. i think we had a 'learn-to-type' program when they homeschooled. they're supah-fast now too, so they either applied themselves to the program or learned it on their own!
:) khairete
S.
I took typing in high school (some where around 1995). It was, HANDS DOWN, one of the most valuable things I learned! I took it as a 'joke' class--and easy elective to go with my harder core subjects, but I use it way more many of the other things I learned! My hubby's parents only let him take honors/AP classes. Even his electives were 'Science Research' and classes like that. Guess who can't type?!??! Guess who typed all of his papers in grad school?!?!? THIS GIRL!
I'm not sure how to teach your kids...surely there is an app. My kids will definitely learn before they head off to college!
We plan on having our son take a touch-typing/keyboarding class when he's old enough. Not exactly fun, but both his father and I can touch type and it's frankly painful to watch my son hunt and pecking his way through things, frustrated. Since his school often offers an after-school enrichment keyboarding class, we will look into that when the time is right.
My boys also started in kindergarten here. They would go to a computer lab a couple of times a week all through elementary and play games that would teach them how to type. By 2nd or 3rd grade they could both type pretty well.
TF Plano and I are both from the same general area, so maybe it's common in our area.
My daughter learned on this game. http://www.tvokids.com/games/keyboardclimber They used it in school and she practiced at home. I left school typing 123 wpm. I can carry on a conversation and continue to type while looking at the other person. She insists she learns to type and uses proper placement so she doesn't peck.
I used to be pretty accurate, but miss a lot more often lately.
When my daughter was going to be in 7th grade, she had little to do in the summer. I showed her how to place her hands on an electric typewriter, what fingers to use. When she went into 7th grade, she was typing over 25 words per minute, no mistakes. So when she was in typing class, she practiced typing and then graded teacher's papers. She also helped the teacher with his spelling. He was a coach.
She is a super typist, good small finger coordination.
Google BBC Dancemat typing. It's a free online typing tutorial for children, and my kids loved it. It's best suited for elementary kids. For older kids, freetypinggames.net (or possibly .com - my kids disagree, and we haven't used in in a few years) is also a good place to practice. It has lessons, tests, and games, plus really annoying music (which, of course, my kids liked). There are ads on the site around the edges of the game screen, but nothing I saw there was inappropriate, and my kids completely tuned them out.
