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At What Age Should You Start Teaching Your Child Touch Typing?

There is an amazing controversy about having the very young typist - those 7 and under - learn correct hand positioning on the keyboard. Those opposed feel the young person's hand are much too small, and the strain too great. So, they are allowed to hunt and peck at will. Soon they are doing very well at hunting and pecking, perhaps 18 wpm. Plenty fast enough to get by. Unfortunately, once they have taught themselves to type this way, they rarely will then learn touch typing, and excel up to 50, or 100 wpm. Once they have been trained in the hunt and peck system, they just don't want to re-learn. It is much like trying to teach grammar and diction to a teenager. It is a very difficult "sell."

I learned touch typing at 12, by 16 I was doing 100 page papers. Why?
Because I could, because it was fun, because it was easy, and because I only had one hand and the other kids had two! This was an area where I could show off. "Oh, you are only doing 20 wpm? Hmmm, must be all those fingers that are slowing you down."

Well, I never said I was NICE <G>.

Can you imagine a piano teacher telling, a five year old student to just hunt and peck until they get older?
I don't think so.

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Child Size Keyboards

The very young one hand typist does have a much harder task. A normal keyboard is too big for two small hands. It is unreasonably big for one young hand. I strongly suggest a child size keyboard.

see examples of small childsize kids keyboards

Personally, I think the concept of finger placement and not peaking, needs to be taught in the first grade. But, a child size keyboard is needed so they CAN use the right placement.

BTW, don't be fooled in thinking a SPACE SAVING tiny keyboard, is a child size keyboard. Take a ruler and measure from Q over to P. On a normal keyboard this is about 7 inches. If it is a child size keyboard, that measurement is anywhere from 10% to 30% less. From 5 .6 inches to 6 inches.

Most of the SPACE SAVING keyboards are the same distance from Q to P as a normal keyboard. These can be great one handed typists, but not for a child one handed typist.

Also, I was fooled into thinking the child's Winnie the Pooh keyboard was a child size keyboard. WRONG. What idiot made a Pooh Bear keyboard in an adult size????

So, take a ruler and measure from Q over to P. It must be 6 inches or less to be a childsize keyboard.

Lap tops?

There are very few laptops that can be used for a one handed typist. If you were using two-hands, the keyboard would center straight out from your belly button - the middle of your body. The screen would be right in back on that. So, you would have a straight line from your belly button, to through the center of the keyboard, to the center of the screen. HOWEVER, in ONE HAND TYPING the keyboard is offset to the side, depending on which hand the typist uses. If you use the right hand, it offsets to the right. If you use the left hand, it will offset to the left.

You center 'HOME BASE,' on the keyboard, (HOME BASE is the four keys in the very center of all the letters - F G H J) just about straight out from your hip.

To find just the right place for your keyboard, sit at your work area, and allow your arms to hang down. Keeping your elbow pressed lightly at your side, take your typing arm and lift just the lower arm up naturally. Keep the elbow at your waist. Your arm should not be reaching forward, left, or right. Ideally, it is also not reaching upwards, but coming straight out.

Position the keyboard so the F G H J keys on the keyboard are directly under your hand.

Lap tops are great because of the smaller keyboard. However, you must then move the entire device to the right, or left to center in front of the arm of your more able hand. This means the screen is no longer directly in front of your eyes. Unless the keyboard disconnects from the screen, a lap top is not a good alternative. A small keyboard is. Do not be confused by a space saving keyboard, and child size keyboard.

However, there is a new laptop out now that will work! But, if your child is under 10, you should wait until their hand is bigger before you buy it.

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Typing Tutor Software for the Young One Hand Typist

The closest you will find to a one handed typing tutor for the young typing is my CD. The exercises are simple. But, it is a not a fast paced video type game.

There is a very simple one handed typing tutor game called Unicorn Quest.

Unicorn Quest is a typing tutor game for DOS and for the Mac. The program has three levels: typing letters, typing words, and typing sentences. Each level has three stages of difficulty. You can type at beginner stage, advanced stage, and expert stage. After you have finished level 1, at any stage of difficulty, you can go on to level 2.

Unicorn Quest and can be used with right hand only, left hand only.

It is VERY simple, and NOT an advanced typing tutor game with those wonderful graphics you see if today's programs. But, it is the only game out there for the one handed typist, and will help the younger typist a great deal. I played it, and had a good time.

The problem with the very young one hand typist, is that they must first learn FGHJ, and all the keys for which the strong hand is responsible. Most of these programs show two normal hands in the traditional two handed QWERTY position. If the child is old enough to understand that they will ALWAYS need to look at things meant for the two handed person, and do a mental fix to adapt to themselves, then they can use any of the programs that show two normal hands. If not, you are just going to need to keep using the typing manual, and find ways to help make it fun. Once they have a good understanding of just which finger does which key, they can use any of the childs typing tutor softwares.

See samples of many typing tutors just for kids at this Amazon link:

click here

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Are you a parent of a one-handed child? We have an email discussion group.

Keyboards for kids