When and how to teach children to touch type...

[acebaby]

DS1 (almost 5) is starting to muck about on the computer a little bit - writing little sentences. I am keen for him to learn to touch type at some point - mainly because I've found it such an incredibly useful skill myself.

Obviously he is too young at the moment, but when and how should I teach him? Are there any good typing cd-roms for children?

I taught ds to touch type in the summer holiday before he started secondary.

Didn't bother with a cd rom or anything but I'm sure there must be some available.

There's a good learn to type program for kids on the bbc homework site somewhere.

But we've bought nessy fingers which I quite like.

My DS is in Year 5....

Try the bbc schools one.

Thanks for the link!

Thanks everyone, some great ideas! Very relieved that people aren't trying to get their 5yos to touch type .

Those online resources are fab. Things have come a long way since we sat in rows at secretarial school typing and chanting 'fgf space jhj space' for hours at a time.

I'd definitely recommend the bbc one - dancemat I think it's called. My DC's school recommended it at the start of year 3. The teachers said that when they are doing ICT, they take so long to type that it's really hard for them to learn much otherwise. It really helped DS1, although he still can't touch type he knows roughly where the keys are

I started learning to touch type when I was 8, and to this day people still always comment on the speed of my typing.

I can't remember the book I used, but it required a lot of

fsd fsd dsf dsf fsd fsd typing

You only have to watch teenagers type these days to know you dont have to teach them, they pick it up themselves.

My mum was a secratary (sp) and later an office manager. She was taught to type the old way. All that fsd dsf malarky and she was a fast typer.

DD is 14 and been round computers since she started school. She can type just as fast and as accurate, although her fingers dont follow the rules. I think its just a skill children pick up these days. DS1 is 11 and his speed is picking up all the time.

I disagree teamcullen. I know lots of teenagers that can type very fast, but many people who "touch type" properly can type much, much faster and it is a real advantage.

At school students are invariably and constantly astonished at the speed at which I can type.

Maybe Roisin. Im only going on personal experience, watching my DD type and knowing how well my mum types. Maybe DD is exceptionally fast.

Personally I think they should bring back teaching shorthand. I wish somebody had taught me that. I never understood how my mum could make sence of all those squiggles.

Do you need to teach touch typing? People can type pretty fast and error free when they look at the keyboard.

My mum can touch type but she is quite slow, my sister types by looking at the keys and she is comparatively faster.

Surely its all about confidence and knowing where they keys are?

If you can touch type properly, you can also multi-task. Believe me, watching someone type who's looking at the keyboard, is always going to be slower compared to someone who's looking at either what they are getting the information that they wish to type from, or are looking at the screen as to what the layout of their typing looks like.

Also whilst teaching someone how to touch type you are normally taught how to properly lay out letters etc, which believe me in the workplace is a skill that is dying, the number of saved documents that I have to correct before they can leave the department is shocking, because people don't know how to lay it out.

I agree, touch typing is a world away from look n pick, no matter how fast someone gets at that. It means you can think and type at the same time as you don't have to think about the typing at all.

I learned as a child using Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing - this is excellent and fun for children.