10-12 WPM fast enough to sub keyboarding for writing?

[caedmyn]

I was hoping my upcoming 5th grader would be typing fast enough by fall to type her writing assignments and dictation exercises, but she's been stuck at 10-12 WPM for a few month now in spite of practicing typing about 4 times a week.  Is this fast enough to make it practical for her to type things instead of writing them?  She's not all that fast of a writer and really dislikes writing things by hand though she doesn't appear to have any actual physical difficulties with writing.

[OneStepAtATime]

1. What are you using for typing practice?

 

2.  It might be better to start slowly, with just one short assignment a week to see how she does.

 

3. How accurate is her typing?  Is she making a lot of mistakes?  Are her fingers positioned correctly?  How is her posture while typing?

 

4.  How long has she been working on typing?

 

5.  If she doesn't like writing, is it more of the getting thoughts onto paper that is the issue or the physical act?  If it is getting thoughts onto paper then typing probably won't help.  She may need a very systematic, broken down into tiny pieces, writing program to help her get over this hump.

 

6.  How is her letter formation when she hand writes?  Spacing?  Sizing of letters?

[Ellie]

I was hoping my upcoming 5th grader would be typing fast enough by fall to type her writing assignments and dictation exercises, but she's been stuck at 10-12 WPM for a few month now in spite of practicing typing about 4 times a week.  Is this fast enough to make it practical for her to type things instead of writing them?  She's not all that fast of a writer and really dislikes writing things by hand though she doesn't appear to have any actual physical difficulties with writing.

 

 

No. It's not.

 

I'm a meanie. I'd make her write. Give her a fountain pen, so that she cannot grasp it too tightly (which would make her hand and arm tired), and make sure her posture is correct for writing. The more she does it, the more "fluent" she'll be.

 

Assuming that she doesn't have any actual physical difficulties, of course.

[Arcadia]

That typing speed would be okay for writing but not for dictation. I would aim for at least 30wpm and preferably 50wpm before switching to typing for dictation. The executive secretaries at my previous employment had to have typing speed of about 100wpm.

 

My DS11 has all along physically tire from writing. His muscles are generally weaker than my DS10. We work on handwriting and typing separately.