for those who have taught their child to type

What about a program along the lines of inspirational or kidspirational software? http://www.inspiration.com/

I downloaded the free trial to see if it was something worthwhile. It would allow your son to use his typing abilities and learn to be a better writer.

K.

My son going into 6th did Type to Learn (Sunburst) in school, but it was e-mailing his friends that made him want to type! Get your son an e-mail buddy!

Beth,

I would take some of his homework that he needs to write sentences for and have him dictate to you and then let him type from the version you hand wrote.
The goal would be to move on to his composing on the computer. There is a big increase in written work in 4th grade.

If he has friends who are computer smart setting up a group to Instant Messenger each other is another way to build up typing speed.

My son learned typing with ‘Type to Learn”

My daughter started out with keyboarding using Mavis Beacon. She also uses Jump Start Typing at home. She does almost all her spelling and english homework on the computer, as well as use of computer in class for almost everything except forms/handouts.

We did both dictation and copying lists of words when she first began (2nd grade). She has just started e-mailing and really LOVES that, so that would be a good “carrot”. BTW, she now types 20-25 wpm on straight text.

Good idea but hard to imagine. He avoids everything with writing like a plague.

Beth

They have this at school, I think. His typing was so slow that it wasn’t useful. I am not sure it still is fast enough but we’re getting there.

Beth

Helen,

This is a really good idea. I will just have to be careful with my handwriting. I tend to mix cursive and print and he can’t read it.

Beth

Wow, that is fast!!! Did she get that fast just through typing her work or did you have her continue to do drill type work after she finished the Mavis Beacon program?

Did you have any trouble getting her to use a computer at school? Can she write on it?

Beth

Beth,

If your son is doing so well with typing and his problem is with the physical act of writing as it is with my son he may find the act of writing via the computer so much easier that his attitude toward writing changes.

You also might want to take a look at this product Form Pilot. It allows you to scan in a worksheet and then fill-in the worksheet while maintaining the spacing on the worksheet. You can download a trial version.

http://www.colorpilot.com/typewriter.html

Helen

Both of my kids, going into 4th and 6th LOVE e-mail; you might be surprised how much it’ll improve his writing, since he’s communicating to his friends. My mother(72) even e-mails the kids, and they respond to her.

My son taught himself to type (sort of) when he was about 10. Not pretty, but he gets the job done. The motivation was looking for cool stuff on the Internet. He found a movie sight where he could talk about campy horror movies, and also a rogue Nintendo site where he could find out how to win his video games. Both were big motivators. Bulletin boards are great, because he can read his own postings. He doesn’t really care if people respond to him or not. Learning how to use search engines like Yahoo really helped him become more precise with spelling and phrasing. Word of caution: definitely use parental controls.

We do both (I am a hard taskmaster). IF she doesn’t use the computer at school, she has to do practice at home 2-3x wkly during her free time. (so it only took about 2 wks for her to want to use the computer at school ). She has to practice typing for 20-30 minutes every other day during the summer. The teacher this year is reallly “encouraging” her to use the computer and makes a big deal of it to her classmates about how cool she is b/c she can type, etc. (Thank God for good teachers).

At home, when she has to do spelling words, - like write them 3x each or ABC order, she does this on the computer. She sometimes uses different scripts and colors (to impress her teacher I think) and it keeps her interested.

She also uses draft builder and inspiration/kidspiration on the computer for writing assignments to help her with organization and auditory spellchecking.
She has realized (after 3rd grade) that her work is much “prettier” and more accurate if she uses AT.

Currently she uses a stand alone in the general ed classroom and a laptop in her resource room. I think we will probably buy her one of those really lightweight laptops to use in middle school - maybe even for 5th grade. Our plan is to send her in the first day and say, what do you mean she can’t use this - she’s been using one in class for the past two years.

She began keyboarding lessons in 2nd grade with a “real” teacher (not mom) who got her started learning the keys and touch typing. She loves technology/computers and now has begun to email friends so that’s an added “practice time” that she’s not aware of.

Hope this helps.

Beth,

It sounds like your son’s writing problem is both physical and cognitive. Probably his physical difficulty led to his reluctance and cognitive difficulties with generating written work. My son had similar problems. Once he learned how to type, we started using word prediction software to help him with the cognitive aspects. We found Co:Writer to be an excellent word prediction program. Another program that is fun and sneakily useful is Hollywood. It is a computer game in which kids write a script and then animate it using various characters and sounds. My oldest, who does not have LDs but did have relative weaknesses in written expression, started playing this game in 6th grade and his writing improved dramatically. My reluctant writer also thinks this is great fun and his writing has improved as a result.

Andrea

Helen,

I am hoping that you are right–and that he will do much better with writing on the computer. They tried out Co-writer at the end of school last year and his sentence structure did become more complex. He complained about not knowing where the keys were though. So maybe it will be more helpful now.

I also saw his endurance increase after we did IM. But we haven’t had him do any writing by hand this summer. At one point, he told me he would learn to type or learn to write, but not both!!! I had seen how much difference typing made for his older sister, who is not LD but has always had some issues with handwriting (turns out I am the only one in my family who holds a pencil normallly–). So we pushed the typing.

He copied notes from the board yesterday. His handwriting is so much better. But he still skipped some letters. As always, his problems seem to be multifaceted.

Beth

Both grandmas have tried email with my now 7th grade daughter and didn’t seem to go over that well. I suspect that is because it was before she really could type so just seemed like work. I don’t think my 4th grade son has friends on email (he doesn’t have many friends either but that is a different issue). I think it sounds like a great idea in theory though.

Beth

Andrea,

Yes, I think you are right. The school tried Co-writer at the end of the year last year and it seemed to help some. The problem then was that he didn’t know where the keys were at all. Now he does so maybe it will go smoother.

Did he grow into writing such that he no longer needed Co-writer?

Right now Co-writer is in the resource room. Do you think I should try to get on the computer in his regular classroom as well? Is it available for home purchase?
Beth

My son has not ventured onto the internet at all. His sister, at age 11, became quite an expert when she decided she were doing nothing about the dog we had promised and she wanted. We now have a darling dog originating in Cubu (and my daughter’s searching is the explanation when noone has ever heard of the breed).

Beth.

Leah,

Yes, you are the task master! Tell me how you have her practice her typing.
Do you have inspiration at home? Did she ever use Cowriter or similar word prediction package?

I am just impressed by how early you have got a handle on this. I thought last year that my son’s writing would come once the reading started to improve. Alas no.

Beth

Beth,

My son did “outgrow” Co:Writer. Now he relies on Microsoft Word and its spelling and grammar checks. We like Word because it will underline errors (red for spelling, green for grammar) as you type, prompting my son to make corrections as he goes along. You can buy Co:Writer for home use, but it is pretty expensive (upwards of $200, I think). Based on my son’s experience, having a computer available at all time for written work is very helpful. This year my son is carrying a laptop with him everywhere to use for note-taking, longer written assignments, recording homework, etc. Another possibility is using an Alphasmart or the new Dana (made by Alphasmart, uses the Palm OS). Alphasmart has developed a Co:Writer applet that will run on both the Alphasmart keyboards and the Dana. The Co:Writer applet may be cheaper than the computer software.

Andrea

Usually, I just have her do about 20 minutes on her jump start typing. She likes the timed tests. She also types almost all her school work. So that helps and we also have her type text or I dictate and she types. I want her typing almost everything by middle school.

She used Cowriter in 2nd grade, and some in 3rd. She doesn’t like it b/c it has become too “slow” for her. She has graduated to Draft Builder, her personal favorite. And also can use Inspiration though not as much as Draft Builder.

Some people commented (teachers mostly) that I was “pushing her too hard” in 2nd grade, but now that same teacher tells me, “This is not the same kid as a year ago”. She has good days and bad, the typing speed fluctuates - it’s not always a consistent 20-25.

I am very interested in getting texthelp. read & write, but it’s like $650.00 for the software, so I’ll have to swallow hard b4 I buy. I told her I will buy anything that will help IF I see her using it consistently.

Beth, B4 you buy, just know that the school furnished us a copy of co-writer for at home use. IF he will use it they will put it in his gen ed class but you might have to raise a stink (I’m good at that - my friend tells me I should start a business “Letters By Leah” b/c they get good results at the school :-).

Andrea, how old was your son when he started carrying the laptop?

Beth,

Our kids can have the testing modification of dictation to a scribe. Can he have that in FL?

Janis

Janis, I live in Florida too. Yes we have the modification re: scribe in the FCAT. We will decide about that for my daughter in about November. She knows about it and wants to do it. I am more hesitant. If we do it, we will start praticing for that.

They have already put it in his regular class and in resource room. I will ask about home copy. A good idea!! I have Jump Start Typing so I think I will have him practice using that.

Beth

He has just started doing so. He is 11 and in 6th grade.

There’s a lot of great information here! I hadn’t thought a lot about teaching my son to type (I’m still hoping that he may become more proficient in writing by hand). But it sounds like I should start up some daily typing practice and not wait any longer!

Beth, since you have Jumpstart, that’s probably a good place to start or build from. I had originally bought (for my daughter who is non-LD), a program called Typing Instructor. She never liked it (not fun!) so it didn’t get used and I can’t recommend it. But she used Type To Learn at her elementary school and she liked it quite a bit. I could never find it at any stores, but I did pick up Disney’s “Adventures in Typing with Timon & Pumbao.” I’m not sure how good it is, but it’s much more fun so my kids both like playing it. At the very least it gives them some typing practice and it was very inexpensive ($9.99 from Office Max).

My daughter’s in 4th. I’m thinking of starting in 6th, maybe 5th.

Laura,

I will tell you from experience that you really have to be dedicated to typing for it to make a difference. My nonld daughter played with it, when I insisted, for two summers but really never learned to type. My son spent at least 30 minutes every day this summer on typing.

My son’s handwriting has improved a lot over the past year, due to various therapies. He still doesn’t like to write though and at the end of last year the recommendation from one of his therapists was to teach him to type. I saw how much difference it made for my daughter—she was always slow at writing. She started typing all her notes and suddenly she became a straight A student. Now I am not expecting that—just maybe a coherent paragraph or two….

Beth.