keyboarding

Mavis Beacon was one I’ve used with some success with middle schoolers but there may be better ones now.

I’ll take a look at that one.

Thanks for your response!

Read, WRite & Type is great for younger kids.

For older kids & adults I like to use a book, not software — DIana Hanbury King’s _Keyboarding SKills._ It goes through the alphabet and then short words so it is less taxing on the “memory for nonsense” that our kids so often struggle with. It can be had from EPS (www.epsbooks.com) — the other is at www.readwritetype.com

Hi,

My son is 10 years old. I was hoping for something fun as well as educational. I’ll check out the websites you mentioned.

Thanks!

-Ana

Hi,

I looked at the “Read, Write and Type” web-site and I don’t know if it’s a good fit for my son or not. He’s a just turned 10 yo, 5th grader reading at an early 4th grade/late 3rd grade level. His word attack skills stink and he has dysgraphia as well as dyslexia. Given your knowledge of the software, could it work for him?

Thanks in advance!!!!

-Ana

It’s cute. If he’s very sensitive about doing things that are “young” he may feel insulted — but it’s also fun. I have an old version and if you surf you can get those for pretty cheap (they were put out by The LEarning Company & that’s been bought & sold a few times — the new version is better of course, and the folks who worked to put it together who actually know something about education would get more from the sale). I think he’d get a lot out of it because it teaches the typing through the sounds of the letters, not just their names — lots of really good review and practice of the foundations of phonics that are such a challenge for him.

My son still plays with this program “Read Write and Type” and he is in 7th grade with reading problems. We went through the program when he was in 4th grade and did it all over in 5th grade. It is a very good way to get kids to learn the keyboard and reinforce phonics.
Brenda

Well, you’re right that the old version is cheap in comparison with the new one! Cheap enough to buy just to see if he likes the general concept. (Hurray for on-line auction sites :o))

Thanks for your input.

My son’s just been going through some testing and the psych. told me to get him working on the computer ASAP. My kid hates writing, but he’s been sitting at a computer all afternoon hunting and pecking on the keyboard and writing sentences. Hope it lasts!

-Ana