Keyboard Readiness: When, Why, and How?

Kids start using a computer in school as soon as kindergarten, but many don't start to learn to "type" until late elementary or middle school grades -- so why let them start bad habits of hunting and pecking for letters on the keyboard. Teach them to type correctly and make their life with technology a lot easier!

When is your child ready to start? Your child is ready to start typing if he or she: 1) shows interest in writing words or typing letters on the keyboard (not just playing games using the mouse), 2) can identify all or most of the letters of alphabet with good consistency, and 3) can move each of his or her fingers individually. What do I mean by that?! Can your child show the numbers 1-4 using his fingers? Can she imitate you making the American Sign Language (ASL) letters of the alphabet or "I love you" sign with one hand? If these skills are present, then the skill of "moving the fingers individually" is also present, and your child will have greater success learning how to type.

Why teach your child to type at such an early age? As mentioned above, typing is becoming one of the main methods of communication. Knowing how to type correctly will stop your child from developing the bad habit of hunting and pecking, which is slow and will make homework take much longer! Young children develop "motor memory" very quickly. It is much better to teach correct typing early on rather than allow a bad habit to be started which will later have to be broken and replaced by correct typing!

How should you teach your child to type? Practice, practice, practice! But make the practice sessions short (as little as 5 minutes for younger children), fun, and motivating. There are numerous free typing websites on the internet. Just search for "free typing games" or "free typing practice." There are also quite a few types of children's typing software available. Beyond that, have fun with these activities:

• Using a word processing program, let your child make patterns with the letters she has learned on the keyboard. Encourage exploration by changing the font, font size, and font color. Make sure hands starts in homerow with the pointer fingers on the f and j keys. Place a bright colored string down the middle so your child knows which hand to use for which key.
• Once familiar with all of the letters on the keyboard, start by typing simple letters to family/friends. Print or email them and wait for a response. Kids love getting their own emails from Grandma!
• Practice spelling words by typing them. This will help with typing and also help with memorizing the correct spelling!
• Type stories and journal entries. For added fun let your child add clip art as well as changing font, font size, and font color.

Remember, keep the session short and have FUN typing!

Happy Keyboarding,
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Toni M. Schulken, MS, OTR/L