Why you should teach typing with KidzType
Why you should teach typing with KidzType
Even though there are times that we don’t like to admit it, we know it is true, technology is taking over our LIVES! Typing today is an essential part of our everyday lives. Whether it is in our work, study, shopping or communicating with family and friends computers and typing is the go-to instrument to do it! Typing is an important part of our world which is why it is important to teach our kids. Won’t they just pick it up? They will, however, don’t you want them to learn the proper most efficient way to type? Not only can your kids learn touch typing for FREE they will also have tons of fun with KidzType.
Wait! What is touch typing?
Yeah, I kinda just threw that in to see if you would catch it. It isn’t Touch typing is the act of typing quickly without using your sight to determine the keys. It also refers to using all ten fingers without removing them from the keyboard, but rather sliding them. This makes for efficient and fast typing skills and many offices even require employees to have touch typing skills. Whereas people who cannot touch type write up to 35 words per minute, people who can touch type can type up to 65 words per minute. There are even health benefits to learning touch typing. Touch typing allows typists to keep their spine straight, the wrists easy, and their overall posture relaxed, reducing the risk of health problems that come when you hunch over your keyboard for too long.
I didn’t practice typing and I am fine.
I don’t know about you but I grew up at the early onset of the technology craze, we pretty much just picked up typing. Sometimes if we had a computer class we would practice typing with an ancient edition of Mavis Beacon (we are talking floppy disks). For the limited about of practice time, it seemed so professional and boring! No one took it seriously. We picked it up messing around with computers eventually, but as someone who spends hours on the computer, typing is important. Typing nowadays is a part of ALL jobs and most daily activities.
Learning to type using touch typing helps give kids the ability to make their typing flow, which will help them to communicate more effectively and creatively without having to search for each letter as they type. So why not teach your kids early how to type most efficiently for their future?
When should I start teaching typing?
As we have seen, kids pick things up so quickly and since they are growing up in this technology craze they are bound to start typing early. Most experts agree that elementary school is a good place to start. Starting early helps the students in upper grades type more efficiently giving them the opportunity to reach 30 Words Per Minute by middle school! They don’t even need to practice for a long time each day, 10-15 minutes is sufficient to teach them!
What is KidzType?
KidzType is an online typing website where your kids can practice touch typing for FREE! It isn’t boring typing practice either, it is fun!
- Typing Lessons – these lessons teach the hand positions and letters.
- Typing Exercises and Practices – The exercises teach the lesson again and the practice sessions provide more help on specific rows and letters. After working through all the levels of Dance Mat Typing we started diving deep into the typing exercises and practices to improve our skills.
- Dance Mat Typing – KidzType uses fun graphics and sounds to teach the lessons.
- Typing Games – These fun games use the skills from the lessons to have swimming races, hunt vampires, and even pilot your way through UFO’s!
- And, Typing Tests – On KidzType’s sister site, TypeDojo you can take typing tests to determine Words Per Minute or WPM and accuracy. There are several tests including a ten-key test! The only thing about this site is the advertisements which are displayed on the site.
My thoughts on KidzType
Just to let you know I was compensated for my time to review and share this product, however, all opinions are my own. Personally, I think that KidzType is a great way to teach typing. I love that it is FREE! I also love that it is really great in terms of quality and entertainment. I don’t need to download a program to my computer I can just hop onto a website. My daughter loved the games and how some of the lessons like Dance Mat Typing is full of fun graphics and are very entertaining. It was also super easy to record what she did, for how long and all her progress along the way. If you are looking to introduce typing to your kids I highly recommend KidzType.
Let us know
Do you teach typing in your homeschool? Have you tried KidzType? Let us know in the comments below!