When do you stop "learning to type"?

[rafiki]

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[Hillary in KS]

I, myself, never really learned to type. So take my opinion with a grain of salt....

 

In our house, we bought typing software. Ds 12 worked through it daily, until he reached a consistent speed of 25 wpm. (He started at 8) By that time, he'd finsihed all of the "lesson" part of the software.

 

Now, he just does the review sections and works on increasing speed. We have it on our schedule for 2 days a week, 15 minutes each session.

 

I'm not sure at what point we'll stop. His speed increases with practice, though, and I want to make sure he gets plenty.

 

HTH

[emelsha]

I think that once you can hit every key without looking and with accuracy, then you have learned to type. Practice builds speed. Right now I can type 60 wpm with few errors, but still have to look to type my numbers. So, technically I still need to learn typing. :001_huh:

[Peela]

I tried typing programs with my kids but they really, really disliked them all- I tried several.

Yet both type well just through practice. So do I and I never "learned " to type. Our accuracy could be improved- we all have to go back and correct errors- but if accuracy is good...speed just increases with practice anyway.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

To pass the Civil Service Exam, you need to keyboard type 40wpm. I consider that to be adult proficiency. I don't know if I'll require that of my kids. Practice will build their speed. I'll probably let them stop daily software practice at about 25wpm.

[Vanna]

I learned to type the good old fashioned way: on a non-electric typewriter with the chart in the front of the room that you had to keep your eyes on (and not your hands).

 

Just this year, I had my 2 younger dc do typing on http://www.freetypinggame.net. They practice 2x/wk. Older dc got interested b/c the youngers were doing it and joined in. I told them they couldn't play the games till they mastered home row. I think that website messed up my computer with its nasty pop ups. Anyway, they'll keep practicing on it till I'm satisfied that they *know* just about where every key is. How long will that take? Don't know, but I'm open for suggestions.

[Christine]

I didn't have a WPM that we stopped at. We did 2 different typing programs and we stopped when the boys were satisfied they could type. (I guess I was satisfied also, as it's totally unlike me to let them determine when they can stop something. . .but it's been a number of years, so I can't recall.)

 

As teens now typing is very important to them. They have a number of online friends and they get very frustrated if they have to take too long to type anything.

 

Of course, this leads to the dreaded "texting shorthand" sometimes, but I have to say I've looked over their shoulders enough that generally they do quite well about trying to spell correctly and use proper punctuation. (In fact, since this has come about my 13 yo's spelling has improved.)

 

I did start them typing at ~ age 8 or 9 and they probably did the lessons for 2 years.

[RoughCollie]

My kids can stop taking Mavis Beacon's lessons after they can type 50 wpm, adjusted for errors.

 

Two of them type a lot because they spend a couple of hours a day writing books. BUT I am pretty sure they are using their own methods for this, and I am trying to encourage (force?) them to type the right way by reminding them that practice will get them out of taking typing lessons a lot faster than they otherwise would.

 

RC