I'm wondering if anyone has opinions on when is the best time to begin teaching typing. Also, do you have any favorite programs for this?
We've been using the free BBC Dance Mat typing program. It's really quite good and the kids enjoy it. It's designed for younger kids to use. My two started using it over a year ago, and they're currently 8 and 9. Honestly, I think it's best to start early and not create bad typing habits that you'll just have to break later on.
My inclination is to say "when their hands fit the keyboard", but I dunno, maybe younger? There used to be quite a variety of different keyboards just for kids, some with the keys in alphabetical order, or just the numbers and letters and arrows without numeric keypad or function keys, larger size keys for hunting and pecking, consonants and vowels keys in different colors, all kinds of variations -- but I haven't seen anything like that in years. So I'm guessing kids are way more keyboard savvy these days....
I've started around age 6 or 7. Dance Mat Typing is a great place to start. After that my son moved on to Mavis Beacon Typing. He really enjoys that program.
We have been using Read, Write, and Type since each was in the first grade. I love it because it teaches phonics and typing at the same time. I believe the company is Talking Fingers.
I am laughing at myself right now. When I read this post, I thought, OK, I was a sophomore and was an excellent typist. Then I started to read on down the posts and realized, you all are talking about children. I am OLD, I started typing on a manual typewriter and the end of my soph. year, I was allowed to go to an electric typewriter. I am still laughing at myself. I have no suggestions I will just read.
I bought Typing Instructor for Kids for my ds this year and he is 7. He did the first few lessons. He likes the layout of the program, but I had a hard time fitting it into our daily schedule, so we're waiting till summer and he'll be 8. He is looking forward to learning to type, especially now that he is reading and writing better.
My kids are finishing up their typing lessons for the year, they are 9 and 10 years old. They seem to enjoy it. But, I must say when they get on the computer I still see them using the 2 finger punch. That being said we may repeat it again when they are older.
Thanks everyone. I'm going to check into the programs mentioned. The only one I've heard of is Mavis Beacon.
These days with the technology I think children pick up typing quicker than you think. Even with texting they have some type of keyboarding going on. My girls like these keyboarding games. give it whirl!
The only program we have used is Typing Instructor Duluxe, and I would recommend it. There are two levels, with the lower level geared toward younger children, and the other level, older students through adult. It does all the record-keeping for you, so it is very teacher-friendly, and there are a variety of exercises, so it does a pretty good job of holding the students' interest. Hope this is helpful. :?
I think theaching typing as early as possible is a good thing for two main reasons. 1) Children's brains move faster than they can write. If they learn to type early you might ease some frustration when it comes to getting ideas onto paper. 2)Teach them the right way early, and they will benefit from not having to learn better techniques as they get older, and their work becomes more demanding. We used the Sponge Bob typing program first, out grew it pretty quickly. We haven't decided on another at this point, but are using keyboarding games at the website Learning games for kids to keep skills current until we decide on a complete program. Linda Homeschooling 1 child for 4 years with Time4Learning~!
