Touchtyping programme?

[treedelivery]

Hello - I have an 8yo I am home educating and she really finds writing both difficult and a chore. It holds her back as she actually has great VCOP skills and a good imagination when fired.

So I would like her to learn touchtyping. I had an online downloaded taster programme, but she's run out of levels now and it is time to spend some money on a package. I've seen lots on Amazon etc but would really value some advice.

Anyone have any tips?

[ripsishere]

Don't know what a VCOP is I'm afraid and my DD learned to type at school.
I've heard good things about Mavis Beacon from my DH. He is an IT teacher.

[treedelivery]

Sorry - VCOP is vocab, connectives, openers and punctuation. Sometimes with an extra 'P' for paragraphs. It's a sort of tool to help children look at their writing and improve on key features.

Thanks for the Mavis Beacon tip, I'd seen that on Amazon but it had mixed ratings. Will see if anyother ideas come up. Cheers for the reply.

[AgentProvocateur]

I think I have a Mavis Beacon CD rom somewhere (unopened), but I've no idea where it is. I can have a look for you if you like.

[Hassled]

My Dsypraxic DS2 learnt very easily with Mavis Beacon. He's astonishingly fast now.

[HauntedLittleLunatic]

BBC had a very good programme online aimed at kids. My dds both learnt with that at about the same age.

[Hassled]

But are you aware that without a diagnosis she will have to handwrite in public exams? Touchtyping is a great idea, but don't get her too used to it to the extent that she'd struggle when faced with 2 hours of handwriting in controlled exam conditions some years down the line. If the handwriting is very laborious and fine motor skills generally are a problem, it may be worth a chat with the GP for a referral.

[treedelivery]

Oh yes please AgentProvocateur - we could do a bit of business

I'll look at the BBC, hadn't thought of that. Free and good is soooo much better than not free and good.

[AgentProvocateur]

OK, I'll have a look for it in the room that's used as a dumping ground, and I'll get back to you.

[treedelivery]

I find calling that room a playroom, office or utility works wonders for the itchy need to deal with it. Thank you very much.

[merryberry]

Is good, the BBC course

[QueenofLouisiana]

We use the BBC one at school with children who find the process of writing very difficult. The results are good!

[basildonbond]

the BBC one is very limited though ... there's no way imo that you'd end up a proficient touchtypist through using it

Mavis B on the other hand did my dyspraxic ds2 proud! He's miles faster and more accurate than me now ... and I learned to type at a 'proper' typing college (had to be at least 40 wpm for my journalism post-grad)

[AgentProvocateur]

treedelivery, I've looked everywhere, and it's nowhere to be seen. The box that I thought was it, actually turned out to be an unopened "teach yourself Russian" CD! Sorry.

[treedelivery]

Not to worry - thank you very much for looking. We haven't done a jot of work anyway, so a lack of typing skills has not been a huge issue.


We are resolved to learn everything about everything next week.

[ISingSoprano]

My dd did a course called Pica Typing which seemed to do the job.

[ILoveChocolatePudding]

I have tried a number of programmes but by far the best is one called Englishtype. Used this with my son and he now types at approximately 50 words per minute and 95% accuracy (this speed achieve after a couple of years). The best approach we found was to complete the programme over the summer holiday with daily sessions. Both my husband and I touch type and can attest to the hard part being learning the position of the keys. Once this is mastered it is just a case of building up speed over time.

[treedelivery]

That's the one we had a sample of (and liked). Right - I'll start pricing up the various options.