When my children were growing up, we had “Mommy School” every summer. I am not sure they look back on it as fondly as I do, but both kids had a special project for the summer. Of course, they had to read at least 30 minutes a day. That was not a summer thing but just a day-to-day thing. In addition to that, each had a project. One summer, I bought a book to teach one how to write in cursive since the schools were spending very little time on cursive writing (she still can’t write in cursive, by the way). Another summer, we mastered multiplication facts. Learning multiplication facts, surprisingly, was one of the few things a few years later that he revealed “actually helped me” (high praise from a teenager!).
This summer, I am encouraging parents to seriously consider making learning typing skills a priority in addition to the daily reading time. I am sure you have noticed that students are spending more time on devices for learning and assessments, especially since COVID. Some as young as 3rd grade even take their weekly spelling tests online!
The advantages of strong typing skills are obvious. Have you spent an evening helping your child with an online homework assignment as you painfully sit there and watch them peck out their answers? Typing skills improve efficiency and allow for the free flow of thought which can impact how much a child writes. If it is difficult for them to type, they often will write shorter, less complex sentences. On the other hand, if you have a child who can type, their thoughts automatically flow to the paper without interruption. Beyond high school, the majority of assignments and essays in college are expected to be typed. By learning to touch type, children could shave hundreds of hours off the time they spend producing their work.
For a child with ADHD, typing can help them produce a neater product than what they might produce by hand. Children with dysgraphia (a writing learning disability) can find it uncomfortable to hold a pencil which makes it a struggle to produce hand-written work. They may be able to produce better written work when typing on a computer keyboard. For children with dyslexia (a reading learning disability), typing can help children to break words up into component sounds. Also, the spell-check and grammar-check features of typing can help students with learning disabilities improve their final products.
Some suggest that children as young as seven years old can learn how to type, and the younger they start to learn proper technique, the less un-learnng of poor technique has to happen.
So do a little research and find a fun program for your child and build in some time to each summer day to learn how to properly type! Nitrotype.com makes learning typing into a car racing game. Personally, I tried out a few and liked typingclub.com. Typetastic.com and Typing.com are also options.
If your high schooler does not know how to type, I implore you to make them learn how to type before they leave for college. Everything will be infinitely more difficult if they are still looking at their fingers and hunting and pecking in college. They won’t believe you that it is important but have them spend a summer learning how to type anyway.
With any age child, you can build in rewards for time spent learning to type or for improved skills and speed. Set goals for correct words per minute and keep track of your child’s progress. Rewards can be financial such as extra allowance, or non-financial, such as extra screen time, going out for ice cream, or visiting a park. Keep it fun, and build some typing time into your summer routine. It is a “must” life skill for our children.