Typing

Typing websites

This is a great resource to start at the beginning of typing skills and work gradually to more complex typing. The website has a visual reference to show your child where to place his/her fingers to depress the keys (home-row positioning). As they progress through the program, it will give them feedback on their typing speed and accuracy.

A similar free program that we have had success with is Door Way Text Type that has visual and auditory cues as you type that are helpful to many students.

This is a cartoon-based typing curriculum that will start a student from the beginning. It was created by the BBC

This is a quick way to test your child's typing speed and accuracy. The test is only a minute long and can be used over and over to practice.

A fun way to work on typing speed.

More fun games to explore. Some are slower and allow more time to locate keys and others are quicker to make it more challenging.

Typing activities

  1. On your computer, on a blank page or google doc, type out a sentence or paragraph for your child to copy and type right underneath.

  2. Practice typing sentences/paragraphs from near point reference. Have your child choose a favorite book or magazine and place it to the side of their computer while they practice typing a sentence or a paragraph. This is a more challenging activity since your child will not have any visual cues (such as offered in typingclub.com) to know where to locate keys or to know which fingers to use to depress the keys. If you are working with your student on this skill, you can still time them for a minute to know how many words or letters per minute they are typing. Again, to increase the complexity, have them type things from far point reference, as well, to get used to looking up and away from the computer.

  3. You can also dictate sentences/paragraphs to your child to type to improve on this skill.

Typing alternatives

2020.03.27 - Speech-to-Text Access.mp4

Speech-to-Text

For older grade school students who continue to struggle with handwriting, typing, and spelling, they can explore alternative methods of writing like speech-to-text. Google Docs provides a free option for any computer equipped with a built-in microphone!