Fun Ways To Develop Keyboarding Skills This Summer!

I've spoken with several families about increasing their child's familiarity with letter location on a computer keyboard. Typically before having a child do more of their writing on the classroom computer or considering assistive technology options for fine motor/handwriting difficulties, it is important for students to be familiar with the keyboard and be able to quickly locate keys. Hunting and pecking is fine, but needs to be able to be done pretty quickly in order for it to be a help and not a hindrance for students.

If you think that you would like to discuss having your student complete more writing assignments on the computer or requesting assistive technology such as a Netbook or an Alphasmart next year, please have your child spend time this summer using the computer with the goal of becoming faster at typing.

The kids can email me at kelley.hively@austinisd.org to practice typing or perhaps a family member or friend. They can also play computer games for 10 minutes a day and will develop skills quickly. If your child is a video game fan, I recommend requiring them to practice a typing game for 10 minutes before they can access the video game of their choice.

Here is a list of great (free!) online resources for keyboarding games:

typingweb.com 

This site has excellent instruction as well as games. The section under "courses" is unfortunately dull, but good to do if you can get your child to work on it for 5 minutes or so. The section under "games" is fun and good practice.

Dance Mat Typing

learninggamesforkids.com