I teach elementary school. I am wondering developmentally what is the earliest age one should teach keyboarding skills to a child with fine motor difficulties.
Re: Keyboarding Skills
I’ve read that third grade is about when their hands are big enough and the motor skills have come far enough along — but I would imagine that it would depend on the individual.
Re: Keyboarding Skills
there is a standard keyboard made for smaller hands of children called Little Fingers. www.edresources.com sells it. They start at 49$.
www.edresources.com is a major supplier for schools-they also stock keyboarding programs aimed at young children. I haven’t used it but they carry the Mavis beacon program for k-3rd grade. I have used the Read, write and Type and like it very much. Do a keyword search for keyboarding for all that they stock.
Good luck
Based on my son’s experience, diagnosed at age 5 with severe developmental coordination disorder, I’d say as soon as possible. My son started to learn keyboarding at age 6, but we did not insist he use proper touch typing unless he was practicing the skill. Eventually, he chose to use proper finger placements, because he saw that it was easier and faster than hunt and peck. At age 11, my son types 35 wpm, with 95% accuracy. “Read, Write and Type” is a good typing program for younger children.
Andrea