For each of my kids, I’ve started teaching typing early, as soon as they’ve got the basic idea of letters making words and words making sentences. Why so early? Shouldn’t I just focus on reading and writing?
Teaching typing is my stealth-mom way of sneaking in a few reinforcing lessons to all that I’m teaching them in reading and writing; it’s kind of like sneaking the veggies into the pasta sauce. Here are the 5 surprising benefits I’m sneaking into their day by teaching typing early.
5 Surprising Benefits of Teaching Typing Early
Reinforcing Letter Recognition
At the earliest stages, typing is my way of sneaking in some basic letter recognition. My kids get use to seeing and finding the letters on the screen and as they type. They quickly learn where their little fingers ought to go, and they love being able to do school on the computer like their older siblings.
Reinforcing Letter Matching (capital to lowercase)
Another great benefit is that my kids are having to match lowercase to uppercase. I’m not a stickler for keeping my kids from peeking at their fingers while they type. Eventually, they’ve all gotten fluent enough in typing that they no longer need to watch their fingers. But early on, as they are learning, they have to be able to match the uppercase letters on my Mac keyboard to the lowercase letters on the screen. It’s a great reinforcement to some of the other lessons we are learning through the day.
Reinforcing Spelling
As my kids have gotten older, teaching typing has allowed them to practice their spelling. Particularly for my kids who either have dyslexia or show some definite warning signs for dyslexia, teaching typing early is a huge benefit as it gets them familiar with the spellings of words in a sensory/visual experience rather than strictly phonetical. My first grader also shows some potential for dysgraphia, writing is extremely hard for him. Teaching typing early allows me to continue some of these spelling lessons without exacerbating his weakness in writing.
Reinforcing Reading
Teaching typing early is a fantastic way to expose my child to not just spelling but reading words. It helps them understand, in a multi-sensory way, this idea of putting words together one letter at a time. They want to understand what they are typing, and as their reading skills grow they practice those skills while they are typing. Not only that, but as my kids get older, it also teaches them to read more quickly as they race to type words and sentences faster and faster.
Reinforcing Sentences and Punctuation
One of the most effective ways to teach writing, punctuation, and sentence structure is simply to expose your child to it, to allow them to see good writing. Teaching typing is one additional way to expose your child to sentences and punctuation without it feeling like one more grammar lesson. From simple sentences when my kids are first starting out, to complete paragraphs as they get more skills—typing teaches my kids’ language arts in a subtle, multi-sensory way, without them realizing what they are learning. Additionally, I’ve noticed that my kids are less resistant to writing assignments when I allow them to type those assignments.
Why I like KidsType for Teaching Typing Early
I was compensated for my time reviewing this product. All opinions are my own.
Teaching typing really is an aspect of learning through play, especially with a fun typing program that feels like play. Each of my kids began with DanceMat typing and have super fond memories of the fun characters and silly songs that first introduced them to typing. Roughly four years ago, I started using this resource with my older, and now my youngest is getting started with both DanceMat and KidzType.com (from the same company) to begin his first typing lessons, and he’s making great progress. Best of all, it’s a free typing program, so you can bookmark the page and get started right away.
KidzType also has a sister-site TypeDojo.com that offers free typing tests to assess where your child’s skills are at. After your child takes the free typing test, you can print off a certificate of completion for your child with his words per minute and accuracy.
KidzType also offers free typing games with a range of skills to practice while kids pop balloons or firecrackers or race airplanes as they type correct answers. It’s my favorite part of this program. The fun games, badges, and interactive lessons are both enjoyable and engaging, making typing one of our favorite subjects of the day.
Just don’t let my kids know about all of the extra learning I’m sneaking in when they least expect it.
