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.
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.
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!