wallingjan Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 I've been having a terrible time as well. I have called customer service for 3 different issues. On the positive side, they always clear it up easily. I had so much trouble last week with how the program was running that I wrote an email telling them that Keyboarding without Tears was bringing me to tears. They replied that they were down for unscheduled maintainance. Hopefully, they are just getting the kinks worked out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
librarymama Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 We were using the program fine for a couple of weeks - after initial set up drama - but now the program is "down for maintenance" and has been this way since Friday. Finally yesterday it let him in and after doing the program for 5 minutes it popped up with that message again and kicked him out. I actually like the program, but I am about to throw my hands up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 We were using the program fine for a couple of weeks - after initial set up drama - but now the program is "down for maintenance" and has been this way since Friday. Finally yesterday it let him in and after doing the program for 5 minutes it popped up with that message again and kicked him out. I actually like the program, but I am about to throw my hands up. Was this east coast time? It has never been down for maintenance when we have needed it and we use it daily. It is definitely back up now since my kids just logged on. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
librarymama Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 I tried just now and it gave me the same message. Maybe I need to uninstall and try again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Hmmm, I am looking for a good program for my dd to use, but I think I will wait and let them work the bugs out of this before jumping in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 I took a chance and bought the program on Sunday, installed it yesterday, and dd has been working on it happily since. No issues at all with getting it running and logging back in. Dd really likes it, too. I bought the Grade 3 for her, in case that is of interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest texasteacher7 Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 I have been very dissatisfied with the Keyboarding Without Tears. I pre-registered and have been using it since its launch in July. The concept and exercises are great, however, the inability to go back and re-teach lessons makes it completely useless for my population (children with autism). I am sorely disappointed, even more so after contacting HWoT and expressing to them the necessity to accommodate learners who may not master the keyboarding skills as quickly as most. The representatives I spoke with at HWoT simply stated the program was "not targeted towards children with special needs." I wouldn't expect that from the program, but for them to expect that all children learn at the same rate is ludicrous! I have been a huge proponent of HWoT materials for years but the lack of individualization in KWoT makes me question the entire company's reasoning now. I will be going back to Typing Instructor for Kids. Even though not as developmentally appropriate in sequence, at least it lets me repeat lessons with my students until mastery! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmtzc2009 Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 We've had a tough time with it too! It downloaded to our computer without any trouble and ds played it the first day we purchased it. Now it's like it's frozen when I open the application. I need to email them again and see how to rectify this new problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caedmyn Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 I'm asking for a refund, and if they won't grant one I'm going to contact my credit card company and see if they'll refund it. Still won't accept my password, still won't take it when they send me a new one, and the download freezes up my computer every time I open it. Ridiculous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
my3daughters Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 We have been using it since it launched without any issues. It has frozen up maybe twice but as soon as we log back in it is fine. My oldest seems to be flying through it (granted we chose a grade lower to assure she didn't miss anything). One thing I don't like is I can't see her accuracy. Even though I can see she is progressing through the lessons there doesn't seem to be any way to track if she is becoming more accurate (at least not at the 2nd grade level). Going to contact the company at some point with my pros/cons list but want to make sure I have a good handle on what they all are first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justified Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Anyone using the iPad version? I am hesitant to try it as I have a real problem with not being able to redo lessons, but I am still interested in the experience of those using the iPad version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnointedHsMom Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 I bought the 3rd grade and everything was fine but all of the sudden it's not taking my child's 3 digit code to log in. I'm frustrated as I wanted him to use it today and we couldn't use it because of this. I'm calling tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horsellian Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 We've had a couple of times when we couldn't log on, but they were only temporary (and given our time zone, they were in the middle of the night in US time zones, so might've been scheduled maintenance or something similar). I don't think the being unable to repeat lessons is a particular problem (at least with the grade 1 level we're using) because there's a lot of repetition between the different activities, but we're not that far through yet, so we'll see, I guess. I also watch E while she's doing it, so I've got an idea of how she's getting on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathy_overman Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 Our 2 boys have been using it, and it is super. They have said they learn much more with Keyboarding. We also used Typing Instructor for Kids, and we much prefer Keyboarding without Tears. We highly recommend it. Our boys use the 5th grade and above lessons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrousel Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 We are having the same issue with it was working fine, now needing to uninstall, reinstall, reset everything, etc. My kids do not love it, but they don't hate it either. It's usually the last "extras" box of the week, they leave it til last. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitten18 Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 I've been following this thread. I was wanting to try the program, but ugh. I guess I will wait awhile to see if anything gets resolved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horsellian Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 Also, I don't understand why people are needing to re-install the progam. We use Linux, so the installers for Windows & Mac don't work, but we just point our web browser at http://program.kwtears.com - that seems to works everywhere. DD showed it to her grandparents at their house on their Windows PC this morning. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 ^^That is what we do as well. I think the program has frozen once total and we've used it daily since August. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deerforest Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 We have no technical issues, but I think the sign-in screen has too many clicks to it. The UI could be significantly improved. Plus, I hate that there is no reporting or insight for parents to know what the kids are working on or struggling with. DD likes it enough that we're using it mostly because she hates the chaos and noise of all other typing programs. It was inexpensive too, but I'd pay more if it got me some reporting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbk mama Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 So glad this program was so cheap as it was completely wasted $. Took forever to actually get started. And then it was awful. I did the mouse clicking exercises for DD (2nd grade) because they were ridiculous for a 2nd grader and she begged to skip. Then the actual typing portion was bizarre. There were no instructions, so at first we were literally typing every key trying to get the screen to work. Then we finally figured out that you were to HOLD DOWN one key that was highlighted with your right index finger while you TYPED the keys that were highlighted with your left hand. My main issue (other than why on earth would you have the kid hold down the J key while typing with her left hand?) was that the keys she was supposed to type were BLOCKED OUT so that you couldn't see them - you just figured out which ones they were based on their position on the keyboard pictured. Such a bad idea when you're supposed to be teaching which LETTERS go with which hand movements - the letter should be clearly shown, not blocked out. Didn't bother continuing after that. Back to Mickey Mouse typing, which is actually pretty good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haley Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 I feel like I have wasted money on this program. We've not been able to use it for over a month now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajfries Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 I got this e-mail from the Keyboarding without Tears team this morning We are very sorry. We have recently experienced some issues which rendered Keyboarding Without Tears inaccessible. Over the last couple weeks, our server hosting partner, Amazon Web Services, experienced extraordinarily unusual system outages that affected us and some very large sites around the world.We have made changes in the last few days—including incorporating an additional hosting partner—that provide options to keep the Keyboarding Without Tears service running, regardless of system and network issues. We are confident these steps will help avoid problems in the future, and enable us to keep our Keyboarding Without Tears service up and running.We deeply apologize if this affected your school day and we will continually strive to prevent this type of outage from happening in the future.Thanks,The Keyboarding Without Tears Development and Technical Teams Why the heck would they not write this e-mail over "the last couple weeks"?!?! I understand that things happen with new software/servers. I get that. But to leave the customers floundering and questioning until AFTER "changes have been made" is inexcusable. They should have been more proactively reaching out to their customers to keep us in the loop. It takes less than 5 minutes for someone to draft an e-mail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest michgutierrez Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 DON'T PURCHASE!!! I have purchased this for a school. We love the HWT program so I dove in and bought licenses for 3 grade levels. Terrible customer service (none really). Installer won't work so I can't even use the program. If you want to know more, I will share below. Issue - I attempted to use the Installer, but each time I download the installer, I get a message that the file is damaged and should be moved to the trash. I am downloading the iOS version. Can you look into this? Also, I prefer to have a link for the students to access, is it possible to use a link to bring them to the KWT site? We already have a method for managing those links for easy access by students. (Never got a response, so 2 weeks later I am asking again) I wanted at home use as well, but there is an issue. Here is what I have asked, but have not heard back yet. - I would like my students to use the KWT product at home but I am not going to put the emails of the parents into your system. I need to know how I can allow students to use KWT at home without giving you that information. I have never seen a company ask for that information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horsellian Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Installer won't work so I can't even use the program. The installer may not work, but that doesn't mean you can't use the program. Just create a link on your desktop to http://program.kwtears.com - the installer is entirely unnecessary. (I assume, but can't check since I don't use Windows or Mac) that that's basically what the installer does for you.) This link would also allow students to use the program at home, but they would all first need to enter the 'pin code' for the master account (can't remember exactly what it's called). I've done this on my in-laws computer when we were visiting there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umsami Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 Not sure if bumping this thread is the best way..... but any recent thoughts/reviews on it? Was getting ready to order DD her next HWOT book and saw that I could add on KWOT for about six bucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zarabellesmom Posted October 1, 2016 Share Posted October 1, 2016 We tried it and didn't get much out of it. There are some other things that are free that I prefer. We just discovered Burning Cargo which is game based and has my daughter actually trying to improve instead of just getting through it because I asked her to. If you don't want a game, typing.com is also free and I liked it better than keyboarding without tears. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Geek Posted October 1, 2016 Share Posted October 1, 2016 We tried it and didn't get much out of it. There are some other things that are free that I prefer. We just discovered Burning Cargo which is game based and has my daughter actually trying to improve instead of just getting through it because I asked her to. If you don't want a game, typing.com is also free and I liked it better than keyboarding without tears. Thank you for this, I just started dd on typing.com. So far so good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
City Mouse Posted October 2, 2016 Share Posted October 2, 2016 I attended the official KWT training last spring. Some of the issues that were reported on this thread seem like they were addressed in the training. There is a separate site for the teacher to manage students. I was impressed with what I saw during the training, but it might not be worth a parent of only 1 or 2 kids to pay for the training, although the training did include a free student acccount for each level of KWT. fWIW, the program as more than just straight keyboarding. There are lessons in the teacher's guide that are not on the student site on internet safety and general digital citizenship. l think it is a better program than what my school is using now for keyboarding and internet safety, and I wish we could switch. There are also lesson and activities to help with keyboarding skills that do not require a computer, so that if a class only had a few computers to share, other students have something they can do. There is a way to manage students to keep as student form moving on in the lessons if that student needs more practice or is moving too fast. But it does not allow students to repeat the level. Once the lessons are done, the level would have to be purchased again. As with the handwriting program, there is a lot more to it than just what the student sees. Most of the complaints I hear about are from people who have tried to use the program without the training, but the cost of all the trainings puts this out of range of many individual families. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted October 2, 2016 Share Posted October 2, 2016 (edited) I got the free demo of a game called, "epistory" and it looks beautiful, plays well. BUT, unless their is a problem with the settings the easiest level is not that easy. When Youngest had to fight a hive I needed to take over and I even failed once on the second hive. I'm not sure what my typing speed is, but it is definitely good enough that I should have had NO problem with the easiest setting. ... I just checked my typing speed. It is 55 words a minute. http://www.epistorygame.com/ ETA: I bought the game. Youngest was playing it today, and enjoying it. Edited October 3, 2016 by Julie Smith 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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