Software to Teach Keyboarding

My nine year old has had some success at home with a JumpStart typing program. At school, he has used a Mario Brothers Program, which he seems to find more fun. Unfortunately, it is not compatible with our computer at home.

I use many programs in my lab as different kids have different preferences. On e that is popular woth the boys is Slam Dunk Typing. They also like Timbo, a Disney release, and Mavis.

We are using Mavis Beacon at home. It has a wide age range and has games on it that are used as a reward once you reach certain goals. I got it for my daughter but the whole family has decided to learn how to type.
Dianne

This is not a software program but it works real well with students with learning disabilites. http://www.herzog.com.
It is a program that teaches the keyboard alphabetically which makes more sense to a lot of students. It can be used on a typewriter or in any word processing document. It comes with key caps for the letters “d” and “k” to give the students tactile reminders about where their hands should rest. We find that once the student goes through this program than any other way of encouraging them to use their keyboarding skills will improve their skills.
Our students also have used Type to Learn.

I have a student who is dyslexic and visually impaired. He uses Talking Typer. It reads the directions and names the letters to be typed and what is being typed.

Read, Write and Type by the Learning Company is another program that many people like for teaching keyboarding skills. My son used it a few years ago (when he was about 8). He thinks it is probably good until about age 9. After that it may be a bit too childish. It is especailly good if you are looking to reinforce phonemic awareness.

We have” Type to Learn,” from the Learning Company at our middle school. The kids like it and it helps with finger positions.

Hello,
My wife and I are Special Education Teachers in Tifton, Ga.
I have an autistic student that uses the Intellekey Program. This may or may not be beneficial to you. We have also looked up some resources that you might want to check out.

1.Programs for Learning for Students with Learning Disabilities-
…Learn keyboarding skills withDiana Hanbury King’s Method for teaching students with dyslexia
www.cyberpro.com/crossroads/learningPrograms.htm

2. Improving Reading and Spelling Skills via Keyboarding
Dyslexia Research Foundation The Learning disabilities/syslexia specialists…
http://www.avko.org/books/spell_key.htm

3. Type to Learn, typing tutor, keyboard—dyslexic.com
www.dyslexic.com/ttl,htm

Tifton! I used to live Ocilla. What a small world :)

I have found Mario teaches typing to be a good program for children and adults. My daughter (12)as well as my mother (54) used the program. It uses small stages of advancement and a certificate of completion when that level is completed. It has several other options that I found helpful with my daughters spelling lessons. You can create your own spelling lists and then the program puts it into games for the child to play. The best part is within three months my daughter could type enough to type her own papers for school. My mother on the other hand still hunts and pecks; she did not find the games as amusing.

Jump start is an excellent program for your son to learn about all areas of disciplines. Since your son have more fun with the Mario software, maybe you should try logging into funbrain.com this program is gear for all age groups and for all levels and discipline areas. Also, you may ask your son’s teacher if they have the Lightspan software at his school. This software is used with a Sonic playstation and your son will love this one also. It deals with Reading, Math, Language Arts.

Debra

Hi,
all the above software sounds good. What about software for an ability group of students with learning disabilities and mild mental impairments? They are working on an average of 3rd grade.