Have you ever watched your kids try to type a sentence? Not on their phone, but on a computer? I remember hating the fact that I had to take typing in high school. I knew the basics of typing but I definitely wasn’t proficient. I was still a ‘peck-ing’ typer.
Correct Hand Position When Typing
We spent weeks learning the correct position of our hands and practicing typing each letter while holding our hands over the ‘key’ letters. And since we learned on typewriters, it was an easy transition to computers later. But while I thought it was a silly class to take years ago in high school, I couldn’t do my job now as efficiently without knowing how to type.
So why should your kids learn how to type?
With the world in a mostly digital state, typing is essential now. Students need to type their papers and will most likely have email at their future jobs, so typing is important. I know kids that hired other students to type their papers in college because they were so terrible at typing.
Typing Takes Practice
Typing is something you can’t learn by osmosis or by studying hard enough. It has to be practiced and used over and over to become proficient. And even then it can take years of practice and use to type with any amount of speed and accuracy. (Check out this video of someone who types over 150 words a minutes and how they continue to improve to become more productive.) That’s why I believe you need to start early with your kids. But even if you don’t, there’s still hope!
Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing is a classic computer software program that teaches correct posture, hand positioning, typing technique and typing skills. This is how I learned how to type over 20 years ago. It is still used in classrooms today to teach students how to type. This is a great resource to help your students at home to learn how to type as well. There are many different versions available, now there are even direct software downloads.
Learning to type doesn’t have to be boring or even hard. There are plenty of online games and programs your kids will love while they learn how to type.
TypeTastic – This program has over 700 free activities for kindergarten to high school. It can be used on Chrome, Safari, Edge, Firefox, iOS 11+, and Android 7+. “TypeTastic is an easy and flexible online typing tutor which gives the students the tools to learn fluent touch-typing technique through a variety of games and activities.”
KidzType – this program “provide[s] you with a step-to-step, funny and enjoyable touch typing tool that will turn your kid into a pro typist! Easy to follow touch typing tutorials are offered in the form of interactive games, to attract the kid’s interest and boost their efforts through different Levels of learning.”
Mickey’s Typing Adventure – If your kids love Mickey Mouse, then they’re going to love learning to type from Mickey and his friends, in this fun-filled adventure. Kids learn typing skills while they help unfold an enchanted tale through hundreds of lessons and challenges.
Check out this post: The Lost Art of Typing Plus a Featured Tool to Learn How
Type Type Revolution – This is a fun game where kids type letters as they appear in the box and gain points for those they get right. It has three levels – easy, medium, and hard, which determines the speed of the letters.
Dance Mat Typing – this program is put out by BBC and is fun, interactive, and easy-to-use for both student and teacher. It has four levels with three stages for each level. There are no logins and it is 100% free!
Type Racer – This fun (and free) game allows anyone to practice their typing skills while racing against their friends and other types!
Nitro Type – “Improve your typing skills while competing in fast-paced races with up to 5 typers from around the world. Compete against your friends, earn new cars, track your scores, and so much more… all for free!”
Typing Club – Learn Touch Typing for free with Typing Club! Students will keep practicing every lesson until they get all 5 stars, which helps them improve not only their typing skills but their accuracy too.
10 Fast Fingers will help to improve your typing speed with free games. There are typing tests, you can even create your own, and there are challenges and competitions. I had a lot of fun seeing how fast I could type with this one!
Typing.com – This free site offers typing lessons for beginner, intermediate, advanced, or practice. And kids will love playing the typing games that make learning fun!
Turtle Diary Typing Games – Students can improve their typing skills through a variety of games aimed at kids from preschool to high school.
Alpha Munchies Typing Games – “Alpha Munchies is a keyboarding activity for elementary students. The Alpha Critters are hungry for your food! Quickly type the letters before the Alpha Critters land and start munching! Start off with the home row or select the typing level that work for you!”
Keyboard Climber – Kids will love helping the monkey get to the top by typing each letter they see as quickly as they can. This game is perfect for helping kids learn which hand to use for which letters.
Clockwords is a unique typing word game that takes place in Victorian London. You play as an inventor that has to ward off mysterious insects from invading a machine by typing as fast as you can to get rid of them.
Type Faster Typing Tutor teaches touch typing, where you don’t look at the keys as you are typing the words.
Chrome Apps That Teach Typing:
Typing Machine is a falling letter game that helps improve typing speed and skill.
Typing Word Game teaches position and will help you learn to type faster.
Typing Club is a touch typing program that helps improve typing speed.
Typing Test has free online typing tests that improves speed and typing skill by challenging your words per minute.
Type Scout is a typewriter training app that gives basic training lessons to help you develop typing skills in a game like way.
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Annette has been married to her husband and best friend since 2003. Together they are raising their six children to follow the Lord’s will, no matter what. Annette longs for the day when she will meet her angel babies who have entered heaven before her. She enjoys creating UNIT STUDIES and FREE PRINTABLES for homeschool families. You can follow her crazy life at In All You Do where she blogs about homeschooling, homemaking and marriage while trying to maintain her sanity. She is also the owner of Thrifty Homeschoolers where she shares her tips on homeschooling without breaking the bank.
