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alicegunther
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My husband and I really want our eldest daughters to learn keyboarding, but I would prefer not to have to teach it myself. What is the best software or online typing tutorial?
Have any of you had real success with typing software? When I was in seventh grade, my mother sent me to a college typing course, but I don't know of any in our area.
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Lissa
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Kate has really enjoyed the Jumpstart Typing cd-rom, and she's coming along pretty well.
I've heard many raves about Mavis Beacon but we haven't tried it ourselves.
Typing was the only elective my mother forced me to take in high school. I was furiously resentful! About five years ago it struck me how dependent I am on this particular skill, and I sent her a thank-you note...LOL, only 20 years after the fact.
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Mary G
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Alice -- I used to teach computers K-8 at a parochial school in Raleigh, NC. After reviewing all the various programs, the best that I found was Mavis Beacon -- you can keep track of multiple kids ont he same computer, they "earn the right to play games after they've reached a certain level, etc. She comes out with new versions almost every year, so sometimes you can find an earlier version (latest is 16) that has many of the same features .... it's helped 2 of mine learn keyboarding.
One thing that they teach now (vs the old days of typing class  ) is only one space after periods, etc. She goes into all this so the kids really know how to type when they're done -- includes business letters, etc too.
Hope this helps!
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MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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Mary G
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Lissa wrote:
| Typing was the only elective my mother forced me to take in high school. I was furiously resentful! About five years ago it struck me how dependent I am on this particular skill, and I sent her a thank-you note...LOL, only 20 years after the fact. |
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Mine too, but then when I got to college, I made "pocket money" (and some dates too ) by typing papers for kids who never learned to type. Witht he plethora of computer-usage these days, you almost hae to learn to type early.....
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MaryG
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Donna
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Hi Alice,
We used Mavis Beacon last year and the kids did very well with it. I decided to go with Typing Instructor this year to give them a little variety.
It seems to have alot more games to play after the lesson and my kids prefer that.
Timberdoodle sells it for $10.00 and it usually lists for $29.95.
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jdostalik
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We're on the Mavis Beacon bandwagon. My 10 y.o. and 8 y.o. are really learning to type!!  They just practice 10 minutes or so, 3 or 4 times a week and it has really been amazing how fast they are learning their keys...My 8 y.o. is thrilled she just made 8 wpm ! But, hey, she isn't using one finger anymore!!
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Jennifer in TX
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alicegunther
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Many, many thanks everyone! I can always count on this group to steer me in the right direction--and tell me where the bargains are!!!
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Love, Alice
mother of seven!
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Becky Parker
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Would you say a 6yo could handle Mavis Beacon or is that too young? My dd really wants to type!
Becky
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Mary G
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Becky Parker wrote:
Would you say a 6yo could handle Mavis Beacon or is that too young? My dd really wants to type!
Becky |
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Becky -- not at all -- she's very easy-going; the program won't move your daughter "up" until your daughter is ready....you can track her performance and see where she needs help (this is always a useful thing as my kids hate if I "hover"  ).
The games are fun too for the little ones ...
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MaryG
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teachingmom
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I bought Mavis Beacon (version 15) at a site called "$5 Software" (or something like that) this past summer. My 11yo has been spending about 15 minutes with the program a few days each week. She told me yesterday that she has now learned all of both the middle and top rows of letter keys. And she has only been doing this for three weeks. I am very impressed with her progress in such a short time. And I love that I don't have to do anything to help in this one subject!
My 9yo still prefers "typing light" and a more fun and games approach. By that I mean a software program called "Adventures in Typing with Timon and Pumbaa". It's from Disney Interactive, and I bought it from Scholastic.
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Karen T
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Lissa wrote:
Typing was the only elective my mother forced me to take in high school. I was furiously resentful! About five years ago it struck me how dependent I am on this particular skill, and I sent her a thank-you note...LOL, only 20 years after the fact. |
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Hey, you're not the only one. When I was in high school my mom also made me take typing. This was back in the days of typewriters, and they weren't even electric! No correction keys or anything, you used correcting paper you put behind the key. I was SO mad about "wasting" a whole year on this; I knew I'd never need typing, since I was going to be a vet. Well, who knew we'd all be so dependent on keyboards now, but even just a few years after the class in hs, I found it handy to be able to type my own papers, even after midnight when they were due the following day. My non-typing friends had to write theirs early enough to pay someone else to type them and get them back to them in time!
I've used Mavis Beacon for ds 12 and it has definitely helped him use all his fingers correctly (touch typing) and improved his accuracy and speed. and it's got a few games built in but not so much that it's too cutesy or anything at his age.
Karen T
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Karen T
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Mary G. wrote:
One thing that they teach now (vs the old days of typing class ) is only one space after periods, etc. She goes into all this so the kids really know how to type when they're done -- includes business letters, etc too.
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I learned this the hard way when giving myself a few speed tests just to see where I'm at now, and I kept getting all these errors on a perfectly typed paragraph, b/c of the spacing! I think I even posted here about it; I'd not heard of that until then. wonder why the change?
Karen T
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Mary G
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Karen T wrote:
Mary G. wrote:
One thing that they teach now (vs the old days of typing class ) is only one space after periods, etc. She goes into all this so the kids really know how to type when they're done -- includes business letters, etc too.
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I learned this the hard way when giving myself a few speed tests just to see where I'm at now, and I kept getting all these errors on a perfectly typed paragraph, b/c of the spacing! I think I even posted here about it; I'd not heard of that until then. wonder why the change?
Karen T |
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Karen T:
The change has something to do witht he fact that all typesetting is now fairly standardized by the advent of the computer -- Typesetting newspapers and other periodicals is now done on cmputer and it's not a problem ensuring the understanding of the period vs comma or colon......
Clear as mud
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MaryG
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Kelly
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I tried Mavis Bacon with my 10yo ds and I guess he just didn't "groove" to it. We have an older foreign student who lives with us who likes Mavis very much, but for ds, we switched to "UltraKey" and have had much more success. Another one that we've used for the younger set has been Type to Learn. It reinforces phonic sounds as they learn to type, and came highly recommended from teachers at my old school. It worrked well for my older children when they were younger. We've liked Jumpstart Typing in the past, too.
Kelly in FL
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Topic: Typing tutor
