Learning the new upgraded technology related to education can help in strengthening the literacy skills of children. They’ll adapt how to deal with challenges of learning and improve overall performance across the high school routine.
While it is true that there are too many ever-evolving apps that make it to the headlines for their adaptive lesson plans and big data algorithms, yet one of the best ways to improve these skills among children is by getting back to the basics.
Why not enrol your kids in programs that teach the best keyboarding skills? For using a computer or for playing educational games, it is imperative that you teach them touch typing.
Having the capability to type without looking at the keys of the keyboard means that the kids can focus entirely on the task that they’re doing in front of them. They won’t get distracted in searching for the right letters.
Knowing how to type utilizing a multi-sensory approach can even strengthen writing, reading and spelling skills by stressing on phonics. Children get prepared for grades as they can use the computer effortlessly for finishing their assignments.
Whenever kids engage themselves in learning touch typing, they are actually leveraging their muscle memory to work on the keyboard. This is an even better method of translating ideas in thoughts, languages, and ideas that flow freely through your fingertips.
Typing also helps in sharpening your writing skills, makes tasks like revision and editing easier and is also a perfect way for kids suffering from dyslexia, dyspraxia or dysgraphia. They can complete their school writing assignments without having to face the challenge of writing on their own.
When is the right time to teach your kids typing?
These days, children get exposed to using keyboards since a very early age. They have easy access to the laptops and smartphones of their parents and hence they already have the basic idea of typing.
Typing is a skill that can be mastered at any age, however, the younger, the better. The sooner your kid starts learning typing skills, they’ll get more time to refine and hone the skills.
Your kids will also be at a lesser risk of developing the poor typing habits that are tough to unlearn like the hunt-and-peck method. Usually, it is considered appropriate for kids to learn typing when their hands have become big enough to fit in with the size of a normal keyboard.
This can be usually done around 6-7 years of age and this time also coincides with the time period when they have started learning writing and reading at school.
Why should kids be taught typing skills?
If you’re a parent who is reading this post, you must be eager to know the potential reasons behind learning how to type. Here are few valid reasons you should know of.
Reason #1: Better reading skills
If you have to know how learning new things supports literacy, you have to know the process of how reading works. You must be aware as a parent that one of the first skills that kids learn while reading is mapping the sounds to different letters.
By learning this skill, they can decode words. In case of multi-sensory typing courses like Touch-type Read and Spell (TTRS), kids pay attention to a letter that is read out loud, they watch it on screen and then learn how to type that letter with the help of the corresponding key. This helps their phonics work better.
Once there is progress in the kids as readers, they start identifying high frequency words at a glance. This clearly means they can decode tougher words now.
Reason #2: Sharpened spelling and writing skills
When writers write things on a computer, rather than on a paper, they can organize several ideas, work in draft form, revise and edit the tasks. This entire procedure is critical for kids who are new into learning how to express themselves in written form.
Basically, humans think much faster than they write and as your kid learns touch typing, he can translate his ideas into language through movement of hands and muscles.
Typing is much easier when you don’t have to search for the keys. If you have to use the hunt and peck method, you can get easily frustrated with translating your ideas into writing.
Reason #3: Improved self-confidence
Based on the way in which the typing games have been designed, learning how to type can work wonders in boosting the self-esteem of your child. This is particularly true for children with learning problems, or behavioral issues that have kept them from achieving success in an academic setting.
Modular courses like TTRS mean that the student will learn at a pace that is perfect for him. This is a form of self-directed learning that assists in encouraging motivation and self-efficacy which can be carried over and utilized in several other areas of a classroom.
Reason #4: Lifetime computer skills
Being comfortable while using a computer and typing quickly and correctly are skills that help students when they enter their high school and university campuses. Longer assignments take very little time to complete.
It also becomes easier to grab a job, especially one that needs typing skills and this skill also comes in handy while you have to browse the web or write personal emails.
Learning touch-typing at school
While there are a handful of schools that find it important and necessary to teach kids how to type, not all schools offer touch typing courses. They are not nationally bound to offer such courses.
Given the current era we live in, where technology rules all aspects of the world, it is surprising to note that schools still don’t have programs to teach their students touch typing from a basic level. So, even though your school doesn’t offer you such a course, get enrolled in an after-school program.
Therefore, if your kid has started learning English words and spellings, make sure you teach him touch typing so as to make him adept in this computer-ruled world.
