Summer is… the perfect time to teach touch typing!

This holiday is such a great time to work on skills with your children that you don’t usually have the time to address during the busy school year. 

Last summer, I embarked on a mission to improve my 11 year old son’s habit of ‘chicken pecking’ and turn him into a whiz on his laptop with impeccable touch typing skills. Within 3 weeks, he was typing 40 words per minute, and I thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent together learning to type properly. 

It amazes me that so many of our children are using laptops in school without being taught basic digital skills like  touch typing, image editing  and  file management. 

My son was given a laptop in school and within weeks had developed his own style of touch typing which was inefficient, slow and difficult to undo. He’s now in year 7, touch typing every day and we’re both grateful we put in the effort last summer to prepare him for secondary school. 

You can’t get a pen licence without learning to write properly - why shouldn’t it be the same for computers? Especially with many recruitment agencies now insisting on a typing test prior to interview, as corporations realise the benefits of their employees being work-ready and understand how this fundamental and key skill promotes efficiency and productivity.

3 steps to getting your child touch typing: 

1. Set out 3 weeks -this is sufficient to get rid of bad habits and establish new ones and get muscle memory working properly 
2. Sign up for typing club - it’s free
3. Get a long and narrow ( approx 60cm x 25cm) piece of cardboard, an external keyboard and some books and set up your child as in the picture below

Further guidelines - 

So for anybody who wants to give this a go, here is my guide to teaching touch typing:

• 30 minutes per day is sufficient to learn. 5 days a week. 

• It is essential that they do not look at their fingers. You must use a keyboard cover (see below). 

• You do not need to pay an expensive typing tutor - just some dedicated time, discipline and a few pieces of basic equipment will do. 

…and some focus and dedication! It takes much less time to learn than many other skills but is so much more useful!

Why not give it a try? And let us know how you get on!

https://turbofuture.com/computers/Learn-to-use-your-keyboard-without-looking-at-the-letters