Keyboard Practicing at Home
Learning to type is like learning to play an instrument or sport. 15-20 minutes of practice every day leads to success.
Students should put their fingers in the "home row" position EVERY TIME they are at the keyboard, whether it is for sending email, "IM-ing" their friends, typing reports or practicing their keyboarding.
By not using the correct fingering, they are "undoing" the training their brains are receiving by having the keyboards covered.
As your student is practicing at home, have them say each letter, space, and punctuation mark out-loud as they type it. Using this "See it, Say it, Strike it" method provides another reinforcement for them and encourages them to type letters, not words. Professional typists will type an entire page without knowing what they typed. They don't read and think about what they are typing. They just type the next letter in the line, and then the next. I am encouraging students to type that way. Even if they don't know a word they should just type the letters. When the passage is a tongue twister like "She sells seashells at the seashore." they do much better if they DON'T think about the words, but just type the letters.
Sites to teach you to type properly.
When using these sites, you are encouraged to cover your hands and keyboard with a box or soft cloth (a dish towel or scarf works great) so you are not tempted to look at your hands.
Learning to type is like learning to play an instrument or sport. 15-20 minutes of practice every day leads to success.
Students should put their fingers in the "home row" position EVERY TIME they are at the keyboard, whether it is for sending email, "IM-ing" their friends, typing reports or practicing their keyboarding.
By not using the correct fingering, they are "undoing" the training their brains are receiving by having the keyboards covered.
As your student is practicing at home, have them say each letter, space, and punctuation mark out-loud as they type it. Using this "See it, Say it, Strike it" method provides another reinforcement for them and encourages them to type letters, not words. Professional typists will type an entire page without knowing what they typed. They don't read and think about what they are typing. They just type the next letter in the line, and then the next. I am encouraging students to type that way. Even if they don't know a word they should just type the letters. When the passage is a tongue twister like "She sells seashells at the seashore." they do much better if they DON'T think about the words, but just type the letters.
Sites to teach you to type properly.
When using these sites, you are encouraged to cover your hands and keyboard with a box or soft cloth (a dish towel or scarf works great) so you are not tempted to look at your hands.