Homeschool Typing Practice Tips with TypeDojo Homeschool Typing Program

In today’s world, having good typing skills is an important life skill for our children. As homeschool parents, it’s our responsibility to teach these skills to our kids, and using a homeschool typing program can help. In this blog post, I’ll share some practical tips and tricks for teaching typing to students at home.

I received compensation in exchange for my honest review, but all the opinions in this post are my own.

Essential Typing Skills for Homeschool Students

When teaching typing skills, it’s important to begin with the basics. Here are the basics of good keyboarding skills that any homeschool typing program should include. 

Keyboard and Its Parts 

First, homeschool families should explore the keyboard and its parts. Familiarize your child with the different sections, including the letter keys, number keys, and special function keys. Understanding the layout of the keyboard is the first step in developing good keyboarding skills. As homeschoolers, we can use various methods to make learning about the keyboard fun and engaging, like creating a keyboard map or using online resources.

Typing Posture 

Typing posture is crucial to prevent strain and injury while typing. Teach your child to sit up straight with their feet flat on the floor and their elbows bent at a 90-degree angle. Ensure that their wrists are relaxed and not resting on the keyboard. By encouraging proper typing posture, we can help even young children develop healthy habits for long-term typing success.

Finger Placement 

One of the key components of good keyboarding skills is proper finger placement. Teach your child to place their fingers on the home row, where the left hand covers the keys “A,” “S,” “D,” and “F,” and the right hand covers “J,” “K,” “L,” and “;.” This position allows for easy access to all the keys on the keyboard. Fun activities like finger warm-ups or typing games are a great way to help your child become comfortable with this finger placement.

Touch Typing 

Touch typing is the technique of typing without looking at the keyboard, relying on muscle memory to know where each key is located. Encourage your child to practice touch typing by gradually reducing their reliance on looking at the keys. This skill is developed through consistent practice and repetition. One simple way to increase your student’s skill level with touch typing is to cover their hands with a piece of paper while they are typing. Kids can have a friendly competition to see who can type quickly and with accuracy without looking at the keyboard.

Improving Typing Skills with Typing Practice

To help students develop their typing skills, it’s important to give kids plenty of time for typing practice. This allows them to build their typing speed and accuracy over time.

Daily Practice

Practicing typing skills regularly is the best way to help both younger and older children improve their skills. Set aside dedicated time each day for typing practice, and make it a part of your family’s routine. You can plan a designated time for typing or incorporate it into your daily lesson plans. Encourage your children to practice typing through various activities, such as typing exercises, online programs, computer programming, or even typing their assignments for other subjects on the computer.

Using a Typing Curriculum

There are several typing programs specifically designed for elementary-aged homeschoolers that can help improve their typing skills. These programs offer structured lessons, engaging exercises, and progress tracking to ensure your child stays motivated and on track.

Look for a typing program that teaches skills sequentially, adds new letters gradually, and gets progressively more difficult as students’ skills increase. A program that monitors student progress and allows parents to access a progress report for each individual student is helpful as a homeschool mom, too.

Building Typing Speed and Accuracy 

Improving your child’s typing speed and accuracy is essential in today’s digital world. Try these tips to help you teach your child to type more quickly and accurately:

Teach Touch Typing

Introduce your child to touch typing, which involves typing without looking at the keyboard. This technique relies on muscle memory and requires consistent practice. Encourage your child to focus on using the correct fingers for each key, and with time and dedication, their speed and accuracy will improve.

Set Goals and Monitor Progress

Help your child set achievable goals for their speed and accuracy to keep them motivated and focused. Regularly track their progress using online typing tests or progress-tracking features in typing programs. Celebrate their accomplishments and adjust goals as needed to continually challenge them.

Encourage Regular Practice

To see improvement in typing speed and accuracy, it’s crucial for your child to practice consistently. Set aside time each day for typing practice, incorporating a mix of exercises, games, and real-world typing tasks. Consistency is key to building muscle memory and refining skills.

Emphasize Accuracy Before Speed

While working on improving their typing skills, remind your child to prioritize accuracy over speed. Encourage them to slow down and focus on hitting the right keys. As their accuracy improves, they can gradually work on increasing their speed. Remember, it’s better for them to be accurate and a bit slower than fast and prone to errors.

Promote Breaks and Proper Posture

Preventing strain and maintaining focus are essential for improving typing speed and accuracy. Teach your child to sit with the correct posture and remind them to take regular breaks during practice sessions. This will help them avoid fatigue, maintain concentration, and perform at their best.

By following these tips and providing support and encouragement, you’ll help your child develop strong typing skills that will benefit them in their academic and professional lives. 

Typing Speed Tests

A typing speed test can be a valuable tool when teaching your child how to type for several reasons:

Assess Current Skill Level

A typing speed test helps you gauge your child’s current typing abilities and provides a baseline to measure their progress. Knowing their starting point allows you to customize your lesson plans and set realistic goals.

Monitor Progress

Regularly taking typing speed tests enables you to track your child’s improvement over time. This information can be motivating for both you and your child, as it provides evidence of their progress and helps maintain their interest in learning.

Identify Areas for Improvement

Typing speed tests often provide a breakdown of speed and accuracy, highlighting specific areas where your child may need additional practice. By pinpointing these areas, you can focus your teaching efforts on the skills that need the most attention.

Goal Setting and Motivation

Encourage your child to set personal goals for their typing speed and accuracy. Typing speed tests can serve as benchmarks for these goals, motivating your child to keep practicing and improve their skills.

Friendly Competition

If you have multiple children learning to type or if you want to participate in the learning process, typing speed tests can foster friendly competition. This can make the learning experience more enjoyable and encourage everyone to strive for better results.

Incorporating typing speed tests into your child’s typing practice routine not only helps assess their current skill level and monitor progress but also aids in maintaining motivation and identifying areas for improvement. By using typing speed tests as a teaching tool, you’ll provide your child with a fun and engaging way to refine their typing skills.

Try a Free Typing Speed Test

The Typing Speed Test App offers a free 60 second typing speed test. After typing random words for one minute, the test will display your child’s words per minute, characters per minute, and accuracy. This is a great way to track your child’s progress!

We use typing speed tests as a way to help my son see how his typing skills are growing over time. He took a speed test before he started practicing typing in homeschool, and he takes one regularly to see if he can improve his previous score. He is always so proud to set a new personal record!

After completing a speed test with the Typing Speed Test App my kids love to see which animal they earn as well.

TypeDojo Typing Speed Tests and Lessons

TypeDojo is an online resource perfect for helping your child develop and improve their typing skills. This user-friendly website offers a range of tools and resources, making it a great addition to your homeschool curriculum. Here are a few reasons why my family loves TypeDojo for Typing practice.

Typing Speed Tests

TypeDojo provides multiple typing tests that assess your child’s speed and accuracy, allowing you to track their progress and identify areas for improvement. The tests are available for grades 1-8 and in various time intervals (1, 3, and 5 minutes), which is perfect for different skill levels and attention spans.

My kids love that they get a certificate after they finish a speed test. They often want to take the test multiple times to try to improve their score!

Customizable Text

You can tailor the typing tests to your child’s interests and needs by choosing from a variety of text options, such as vocabulary from different subject areas or words kids are learning how to read. This personalization helps keep your child engaged and motivated.

Progress Tracking

When you create a free account for your child, TypeDojo allows you to monitor your child’s progress in each lesson. This makes it easy to see how their typing skills develop over time.

As a busy homeschool parent, I love this feature because I can see how each my kids’ typing skills are progressing at a glance.

Free Access

Because TypeDojo is supported by ads, the app is completely free to use. This makes it an accessible and budget-friendly option for homeschool families.

Try TypeDojo in Your Homeschool!

TypeDojo’s variety of features and ease of use make it an excellent choice for incorporating typing practice into your homeschool curriculum. Get started with the TypeDojo English Typing Test today and help your child develop valuable typing skills that will benefit them in today’s digital world.