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The Lost Art of Keyboarding

Elementary Techie
Jul 19, 2015
4 min read

I was amazed when my computer teacher friend told me that their public school curriculum does not allow them to teach keyboarding lessons. Sure you can let them play keyboarding games as something extra when they have finished their work. But a whole lesson on keyboarding? No way. The reason why? It is ASSUMED that children entering kindergarten have had some type of exposure to computers and technology. Sure, in today's society of the 'touch generation' they can navigate phones and tablets. I know my 18 month old nephew can navigate his dad's photo like a pro. He can launch apps that he wants to play or he knows how to get to videos he wants to watch or he knows how to swipe to look through his dad's photos (he likes to see all the photos of himself!). That's great but do they TYPE? I can tell you I dread September when my new little ones start computers as each year I watch little hands almost smash through the computer monitor trying to 'touch' the icons and play games. It's a completely foreign concept to many of them what a mouse is let alone what this weird thing does. And so September and October go to teaching mouse manipulation and developing not only their hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills, but for buidling general independence. Once we have the basics of computer skills down then we move onto keyboarding.

I am a fan of teaching keyboarding. It is an important skill that needs a solid foundation in order for the students to go on to be successful not only in my class but in all their other classes, in classes later on in their schooling and even later when they join the workforce. When do we introduce keyboarding? I introduce it at age 3. It's super easy and effective.

One of my students favorite 'games' is called Alphabet Typing on ABCya.com. The concept being taught here is general key placement, the concept of pressing the key causes an action on your screen, finger and hand placement and letter recognition.

At four we switch and move on to a new typing program. We will use this program for Pre-K and K. The program is called BBC Dance Mat. A fun, colorful, engaging, interactive program designed for little ones. This program emphaisizes finger placement and skill mastery through repeitition. We begin Microsoft Office in Kindergarten. Being able to type quickly and efficently allows us to cover topics in a timely manner.

At first grade we switch to a traditional typing program provided by Typing.com. Each child has their own log in information which allows me to track their progress. It tracks their log in time, the duration of time they spent typing, and their wpm per lesson. In my class, students recieve a seperate grade for keyboarding. They are graded on a scale of 1-4. This program has made it easy for me to track and assess students. I log onto my teacher account and all the data is right there. Each grade has a set wpm they are expected to hit by the end of that year (see below). The average child can hand write 5-9 words per minute. Typing becomes effective when they can exceed their hand writing speed. Students in this section are required to practice keyboarding for 30 minutes each week at home as homework. Our parents attend back to school night before the school year begins, so I introduce the homework and typing component very carefully. I know that the students have other activities and have homework for other classes. I make sure to mention that the 30 minutes can be split into two 15 minute sessions or three 10 minute sessions. Most of the parents have been with me for a few years and not only know the drill but have seen the progress their child has made and will sing your praises on this assignment. I make sure to speak about the process. There comes a point where keyboarding goes from 'work' and it becomes fun for the kids. It becomes fun and easy when they know how to do it! I have many success stories of students going from 6 wpm at the begining of 4th and leave our school at the end of 5th grade typing almost 30 wpm. Similarly I have had students who were okay typers to begin with go from 20 wpm at the beginning of 4th and leave 5th typing 45 wpm.

According to the N.E.T.S. for Students, Students should be able to type (Grade Level) Words Per Minute. So 2nd Graders type 2wpm and 5th graders type 5 wpm and so on. I like to set the bar high and most of the children exceed these expectations.

Keyboarding can be tedious and boring. This is why one of my biggest area where incentives and rewards are used is during keyboarding lesosns. (See my post on my prize system). I have had great success with my reward system. I have children BEGGING to keyboard over playing educational games during free time. i works THAT well. I also let the children listen to music. It keeps the noise level in check, they enjoy the class and it helps the time pass quickly. (See my post about music in the classroom!). The main purpose of my program is to use class time to teach keyboarding when they are younger. Once they have the concept and placement, it's all about practicing those skills. My job is making sure they can practice on their own, (homework), effectively.

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