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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: June 05 2013 at 7:49pm | IP Logged
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In this thread about summer school, Maryan asked about typing programs
Maryan wrote:
I'd also like to teach my oldest how to type, but I haven't figure out what program yet. Suggestions??? |
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My goodness there are a lot of options, and no two families seemed to use the same ones!
SeaStar wrote:
We tried Typing Instructor for Kids this year but it was a no go. We all found the program hard to navigate, even though it is highly rated.
Now I am looking at All the Right Type and Time for Typing, also both recommended.
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Mackfam wrote:
]Independent Work:Keyboarding Skills - Typist - apparently we're all working on keyboarding skills this summer!  We're on a mac, and Typist was a free app. My 4th and 8th grader are using it this summer to improve their keyboarding.
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Christine wrote:
I use Typing Tutor JR and Typing Tutor 10 with my children. My oldest daughter says that she preferred (and only needed) JR. She is a very efficient typist.  |
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Amber-v wrote:
Another free option is Dance Mat Typing from BBC - not as complete as some programs, but a good start and a fun presentation. I tried a couple different programs, but this was the first that really got my daughter going. After she had gained some familiarity and confidence I went to a more boring typing exercise type program, but since she had the hang of it already, she didn't find it so tedious. I am thinking of trying my son on it this summer.
Amber |
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kristacecilia wrote:
| We are doing summer school, too, which will also include typing. I just have Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing |
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Now, I've been planning to use Typing Instructor for Kids based on the Cathy Duffy review and the low price, plus it has a pretty high rating on Amazon with 4 Stars at 99 reviews. But you ladies have me second guessing what seemed like an easy decision. Perhaps I'm second guessing because it felt TOO easy
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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Kristie 4
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| Posted: June 05 2013 at 8:21pm | IP Logged
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We use the free typingweb.com
Honestly, I am a pretty fast typist and I learned via my grade nine typing teacher. She called out letters and words to the background music Eye of the Tiger (for the rhythm!) Basically, I don't think the program needs to be too complicated!
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Kristie in Canada
Mom to 3 boys and one spunky princess!!
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Maryan
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| Posted: June 05 2013 at 8:29pm | IP Logged
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Thanks Lindsay! And Kristie... hysterical!
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Maryan
Mom to 6 boys & 1 girl: JP('01), B ('03), M('05), L('06), Ph ('08), M ('10), James born 5/1/12
A Lee in the Woudes
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SeaStar
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| Posted: June 06 2013 at 5:27am | IP Logged
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Lindsay-
Your kids may well love Typing Instructor!
My kids are funny about likes and dislikes.. they didn't like the parrot who hosts this program. Why? Who knows. These are kids who still like Max and Ruby 
Using it myself, I did find it a bit hard to figure out where to go and how to navigate the program. However, I'm sure I would have figured it out more if we had stayed with the program. It is very cartoony, and the background music is something that you will like or will drive you nuts after awhile.
But we may revisit it just because I don't feel like spending a lot of money on All The Right Type, which my son really likes the looks of. The older version might be a little clunky to run, but the newer version requires a monthly subscription fee.
I might give my dc the option of a free version or Typing Instructor. The might think Typer Island is not so bad after a no frills program
ETA: I have the kids version of TI. I think the adult version would be the way to go after rereading the reviews.
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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kristacecilia
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| Posted: June 06 2013 at 6:41am | IP Logged
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Honestly, I just bought Mavis Beacon because it was the one recommended on the SCM website and it had decent reviews.
Of course this thread pops up now, after I already bought it. I won't second guess myself!! I refuse to!!! 
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God bless,
Krista
Wife to a great guy, mom to two boys ('04, '06) and three girls ('08, '10, '12!)
I blog at http://kristacecilia.wordpress.com/
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Mackfam
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| Posted: June 06 2013 at 7:32am | IP Logged
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There are really a plethora of good typing programs out there. I don't know that one is necessarily better than another, but there are some things to consider:** Do you want something to provide keyboarding instruction or does your child just need practice building skill and speed?
** Do you want/care for cartoon characters teaching typing skills as part of the program or are you looking for something less flashy and childlike? (Could be very important for older kids learning to type)
** Is there music? Some children are VERY easily distracted by extra auditory additions if they're trying to concentrate and remember where keys are and some programs have a LOT of auditory extras.
** Along the same lines - are there a lot of visual things going on? Planets floating by with letters on them...kangaroos jumping across the screen stomping on letters as the child types them...those kind of typing games. Not that there is anything wrong with a game approach - but ask yourself if your child might be distracted by extra visual stimulation...especially if you're asking them to build a skill. My son can be very distracted by this kind of visual extra and it prevents concentration on the skill I want him to build.
** Do you want the program to monitor and keep track of a child's progress?
** Can the program progress automatically, gauging a child's progress as he/she uses the program, or will you need to be aware and advance the child through different levels?
** What kind of written samples does the program use for their typing speed tests? (I've encountered some that use absolute nonsense sentences...in fact,they barely qualify as a sentence at all!) If you look around, you can find some that provide samples from classic literature. We use our dictation selections sometimes as a little monthly quiz so I can assess progress - then I can be sure of a quality selection.
** Cost? You can find good typing programs in every price range - even free. I'm just throwing those questions out there because over the years those are the things I looked for and scrutinized in finding a program.
I've taught three kids to type so far, and for all three I've had the best success with a two-fold approach:1) Keyboarding Skills by Diana Bradbury King - (newer version here) This flip book has been a staple for us for years! (In fact, my mom used it a gazillion years ago when she was homeschooling and taught my brother and sister how to type.) It doesn't require any special program! Just use whatever basic word processing program you have...or sometimes I'd have my kids practice their keyboarding skills in the body of an email and then have them email it to me. I kept all their practices in a special file in my inbox. This book teaches the skill of typing...sort of like typing class did for us when we were all in high school (I could be dating myself here...y'all did take typing class, right? I mean...there were still typewriters when y'all were in high school, right????? ) Anyway, I give my kids a year to slowly work those finger muscles and build muscle memory using this simple book with its daily exercises and then we move to a typing program that gives them a chance to build speed.
2) Typing program - We use Typist. I chose it because it was free, non-flashy, non-musical, offers classics as its writing samples, highlights the typing errors so the child can easily see if they're making consistent mistakes with a letter, builds a database of progress. It could be used by a beginning typist, but I think it would be extremely frustrating. It's best if used by a student that has learned how/where to stretch their fingers on the keyboard (in other words...they've learned home keys: asdf jkl; and also where all the keys are on the keyboard and which finger should stretch for it) and just need some practice in building speed. Hope this is helpful as you all consider keyboarding/typing programs!
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
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pumpkinmom
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| Posted: June 06 2013 at 3:37pm | IP Logged
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Mine have used the Dance Mat Typing from BBC and my boys enjoyed it. We had some extra time this spring and they used it for a few weeks. I'm not sure they actually leaned anything, but that was because we didn't stick with it (free time went away).
I bought the book Jen recommended (Keyboarding Skills) for my oldest to have some formal lessons. We will start that next month. I didn't want to use software because we have a laptop and it overheats when I run software and certain online games. I limit those!
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Cassie
Homeschooling my little patch of Ds-14 and Ds-10
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roomintheheart
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| Posted: July 01 2013 at 8:49am | IP Logged
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Typingclub.com is a free online typing program my kids love. We have tried others that they hated, so this was a great find for us.
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4Real Forums : Language Arts Come Alive
Topic: Typing Programs
