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Typing – what do you use and when
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What age do most of you teach typing? Also, we are MAC users and a few reviews on Amazon said the Mavis Beacon didn’t work well with their mac. Have any of you had problems with it? What are other options you have used to teach typing? How many days a week do you assign it?
Thanks,
Amy
We started typing with our 8yo this year. We began in August when he was 8.5; he is now 9. We use a pc for homeschooling, and Mavis Beacon has not given us any trouble. I like the program, and ds does too. The only thing that frustrates him is that sometimes the program “rewards” you at the end of a lesson by having you play a timed typing “game”. Ds DOES NOT enjoy these because he has never been able to type fast enough to win. The program doesn’t give you the option to skip the game, so you have to play it to move to the next lesson. I started completing the games for him. The games kept him from enjoying the lessons and made him very nervous. It just wasn’t worth it to me, and the games aren’t the important teaching part of the program anyway. Another thing I haven’t liked about the program is from the CM Organizer aspect. I haven’t found a way to distinguish when one lesson ends and another begins,
and the Organizer has the program divided into lessons. I guess as best as I can for my record-keeping purposes. Mavis Beacon doesn’t give any clues like “Let’s move on to lesson four” or “Congratulations! You’ve just completed lesson 6!”
Overall, however, I’ve been satisfied with the way the program
has taught ds to type. He can type 11-13 wpm with consistent 97% accuracy. So his speed needs to improve, but I’m very happy with his accuracy and knowledge of the keys.
Hope that helps,
Lindsey
(Typed this from my iPhone. Sorry for any errors!)
We use Typing Instructor for Kids Platinum (and they have a Mac version, though we use PC). My oldest has gone through twice but not this year. We’re planning to have the 3 older kids (7,8, 11) spend time working on it this summer during our break. I love that you can adjust the goals (accuracy/wpm) as much as you wish so we began my 11yo with an easier goal her 1st time through the program, then increased goals the next time. It helped us find a level that would challenge her without frustrating. She’s typing pretty well now though we rarely use the computer for school so speed isn’t her thing. I plan to have her start typing some of her written narrations next fall so this summer of typing practice will get her speed going again. The other 2 who will be using it for the first time this summer have a goal to start typing emails to family members in other states at least weekly, so they need typing experience (they have NONE).
We simply use Dance Mat typing. It’s free online. I own Mavis Beacon but never have used it since this was so simple to assign:) They did It at around 3rd or 4th grade. Then once my daughter started e-mailing friends and my son started doing a computer game/texting they got pretty quick at it! Blessings, Gina
This summer we’ll assign in 4 or 5 days per week. It’s a big change because usually my kids have no computer time, which is why we prefer to do it for a season instead of year round.
We use Typing Instructor for Kids, too. I usually assign it 2-3x/week, but once my oldest was able to type with proper hand location, I dropped the typing and let him practice his skills while he does his blog, etc.
My younger DC use Dance Mat Typing on their own computer time (not part of school). We start Mavis Beacon at 4th grade (although I’m sure my younger ones have been on it as well). I aim for 2-3 lessons per week. Since it’s hard to find a starting/stopping point, DD types for 15 minutes or so.
Ds types two days per week: Mondays and Wednesdays. I let him stop whenever he wants to stop, usually after 10
or so minutes.
My kids use Typing Instructor Platnium everyday for 15 minutes. They start in 2nd grade with just how ever long they want to. Some days they do lessons some days I assign the games. I like that I can switch it up and that they can change the “theme” of the day on there own. Makes it different every day.
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