What grade were you in when you took typing as a class? Or how old were you when you self taught? I was a sophomore in high school when I had a typing class. We used real typewriters… with correction tape! Yes, I’m that old, but that’s not the point of this post. I realized recently, as I watched my 10 year old son typing up a report, that typing class should not be delayed until high school. As he was typing, he kept looking back and forth between his fingers and the screen. Not to mention that his fingers were all over the keyboard. I cringed inside as I heard my typing instructor in my head, “fingers above home row.” I was delighted, then, when I discovered the free game based typing lessons at KidzType.com.
Game Based Typing Lessons at KidzType
Picture it with me… you’re seated in front of a typewriter, with a document stand placed at the upper right hand corner of your visual field. The click clack of the keys is almost as annoying as the class teacher walking up and down the aisles between tables, randomly calling out, “finger placement” “home row, please” “stop looking at your keyboard…” My typing class was boring, if not downright annoying. With the game based typing lessons at KidzType.com, typing lessons no longer need to be boring.
Typing Games
KidzType.com provides easy to follow touch typing tutorials in the form of interactive games. The games are fun and keep kids engaged, so that their typing skills improve. KidzType typing games are visually stimulating and kids can select games based on their interest or level.
We’re fans of glider cats, because the faster you type, the faster your cat goes. Fun!
Typing Lessons
KidzType.com isn’t just fun and games. There are actual typing lessons, too. Kidztype typing lessons are divided into levels as follows:
- Level 1 Keys: A S D F G H J K L ; E I R U
- Level 2 Keys: T Y W O Q P
- Level 3 Keys V M B N C ,
- X . Z / Shift
The different levels are divided into lessons that are “dance mat typing” lessons.
On each lesson, the screen highlights the keys that are being taught within that lesson. The string of letters at the top of the screen indicate what the student should type next. The letters that have been typed are darker, the next letter is highlighted yellow, and the letters that remain in the string are bright white. The angels on the right side of the screen light up with speed and accuracy.
Each lesson is scored for speed, accuracy, and time taken. The accuracy score is given in “angels” as well as in percentage.
Typing Practice
More advanced students can choose to skip straight to typing practice.
They can choose 1 minute, 2 minute, or 3 minute timed practice sessions. The practice screens are reminiscent of my old typing class (but less boring). LOL
Like the typing lessons, typing practice sessions are scored. These sessions, however, display total keystrokes as well as error rate.
Typing Test
As I mentioned, the lessons and the practice at KidzType.com do score your child’s typing skills, which you can view while they are onsite. However, if you’d like to include a certificate in your child’s records, be sure to check out the typing test at Typing Dojo.
So far, my kids and I have really enjoyed using KidzType.com. They don’t feel like they are “doing school” when I tell them to play games online, which is a major win for me. We like to have little contests between ourselves to see who can score the highest on different games and such. The only drawback to the site is that it is ad supported and sometimes slow to load. We understand, though, that the ads are what keeps it free for us, so we just ignore it.
Game Based Typing Lessons at KidzTypeVisit Now
