Typing Archives - Eva Varga


April 4, 2019

I have vivid memories of sitting in front of an electric typewriter in a room with 36 of my peers typing as rapidly as we could, “The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy moon.” The clack clack clackety hum of the keys would inevitably cause me to develop a mild headache by the end of the class.

I remember asking my parents for a typewriter for Christmas. My parents didn’t see the value of a computer at the time but agreed. As a college student, I would be expected to write many papers and a typewriter would be a tremendous help.

Image of two teens using the Typesy Homeschool Typing program

By the time I chose to homeschool my own children, the presence of a computer and keyboard was common place. It seems they have grown up typing – composing short essays and writing emails to Grandma and Papa. Though they are familiar with the key placement, they have not had formal typing lessons since primary school.

Both teens are now dual-enrolled at the local community college and like myself, they are expected to write a significant number of essays and research papers. When my son claimed he could type faster than me, I took him on. While he is in fact faster, his accuracy is less impressive. I knew it was time to dedicate time to improving our typing skills.

Our family received access to the Typesy Homeschool Program in exchange for our honest review, and I was compensated for my time writing the review. All opinions are our honest thoughts and we have been using the program during our school time. Please see our disclosure policy

What I Love About Typesy Homeschool Typing Program

Cloud-based Program

I love that Typesy is an online program – everything is stored in the cloud and thereby we can log in from anywhere and automatically stay in sync. You do not have to download anything. We can begin training on our desktop at home and continue with lessons when we travel. Students have access to the same account, results, and course content no matter where they are physically located.

Individual Instruction

Typesy can also be used by multiple children – each at their own level. The lessons are adapted for each child; adapting to their individual needs. If a student is struggling with particular letter sequences, these will be repeated. The level of difficulty within the games will also adjust based on student progress.

image of a teen boy practicing typing skills with Typesy Homeschool Typing programThere are over 375 lessons broken into units that focus on specific areas of the keyboard (home row, top row, bottom row, shift keys, punctuations, numbers, and symbols) and many games.

With this program, students have the option to take the typing courses to learn proper fingering and key placement or play games to increase speed and accuracy. The games keep it interesting while the progressively challenging lessons ensure skills are taught correctly.

screen schot of Typesy Homeschool Typing Program

Each of the study units includes a step-by-step video , effective exercises, and fun games. Proper hand positioning is demonstrated and the keyboard strokes are explained – for visual learners, this is huge! I haven’t seen another program that provides this.

Goal Setting

While my teens are independent learners, I still find that I need to check in occasionally and encourage them to stay focused (particularly my son).  I love that I can schedule or assign lessons and keep track of their progress. I can even set word per minute goals and accuracy goals for each child.

Progress Reports

With Typesy Homeschool Edition’s admin accounts, parents can easily see student progress and print reports. Individual students can also see their own progress on their account pages. The stats page shows students several graphs: Typing Competency, Typing Speed, and Typing Accuracy.

screen shot of Typesy Homeschool Typing ProgramThe student dashboard also gives students their current typing speed and accuracy levels, thirty day progress, and their current level. There is even a “Hall of Fame” that lists the top fifty Typesy Homeschool Edition students based on points. If your child is like my son and thrives on competition, this is really great.

Well-Organized and Teen Friendly

I am grateful to have Typesy available for my teens. The lessons are very well organized and thorough – focusing on teaching accurate skills. This is a huge help for us homeschool moms who juggle so much. It is nice to know this skill is covered.

My daughter appreciates that the program is clean and that there are no cutesy graphics to distract from the material. “It’s not babyish and boring like most typing games,” she stated.

Typesy Package Details 

It only takes a few minutes to get started with Typesy. They have several different plans from small family (up to four users), large family (up to ten users), or even co-op! Each subscription also includes accounts for two or three parent-teacher admins.

Perhaps best of all, the entire site is 100% ad free and the subscription package is good for FIVE YEARS! 

I definitely recommend Typesy Homeschool if you are looking for a typing program. Visit Typesy to get started with the best keyboarding program today!  I plan to continue using it myself, also. Maybe I can even surpass my high school PR.

 

 



August 19, 2014

We live in an information age. Strong typing skills are critical to success – regardless of what career path students may choose to take as an adult.

I’ve tried numerous typing programs over the years and my son has always dreaded typing lessons.  He whines and complains all the while and has never moved beyond home row.

When I learned of TypeKids‘ pirate adventure storyline – I knew I had to give it a try.

I was given a free membership to TypeKids.com in exchange for a thorough review.  I also received monetary compensation for my time spent in reviewing the product. All opinions expressed are true and completely my own.

TypeKids1

TypeKids.com is an online typing course for kids, recommended for children 8 years and up. However, younger children who know how to read and are computer savvy can do well with TypeKids, too.

The course consists of 30 lessons, each taking approximately 25 minutes.  Ideally, the course should take about 10 weeks to complete, and your child will be typing faster and more accurately by the end of those ten weeks.

Kids learn to type by following the story of a pirate adventure. Each lesson has multiple exercises which are broken up by the video story and the opportunity to play games. The games continue to reinforce the touch typing that the child has learned so far.

My son has congenital nystagmus. As a result, small fonts and type are sometimes difficult for him to see. He thereby struggled a little in the beginning when the lessons were random sets of letters.

As he has become more independent academically, he is also more adept at verbalizing what troubles him. He stated that the font size was perfect and the text was clear; he simply had to move slowly to ensure accuracy.

This is true of everyone learning to type, I assured him. I strongly believe that the TypeKids.com graphics, fun games, and engaging storyline encouraged him to continue.

TypeKids2

TypeKids.com is an intelligent touch typing course – the program automatically detects which letters need more practice, and then instruction is adjusted accordingly. This means your child receives completely INDIVIDUALIZED typing instruction.

As the lessons progressed, and actual words were used, my son became increasingly motivated.  Because he is able to read, he was thereby able to move a little faster as he pictured each word in his mind.

As he moved beyond the basic lessons, he exclaimed, “This is really fun, Mom! Typing isn’t so bad after all.” He loved finding aeronautical words in the text and would gleefully point them out to me.

One of the things that I love about TypeKids.com is that it issues a progress report to me, the parent, via email when he completes the lessons. Whereas most other programs issue reports only to the child. This simple form of accountability alerts me of his strengths and weaknesses.

  • Consists of 30 on-line lessons.
  • Each lesson takes approximately 25 minutes to complete.
  • Instructions are given in the form of a video demo with audio narration.
  • Retail price of the entire course is $89.95, just $3 per lesson!