Typing for kids: when to start and how to teach keyboarding

Typing at home and school checklist

• Keep handwriting practice going, especially before Grade 2.
• Start touch typing when your child knows letters and can spell short words.
• Check posture: feet flat, wrists floating, screen at eye level.
• Teach the home row first, using the bumps on F and J.
• Add one row at a time, and type real words with known keys.
• Celebrate accuracy and correct fingers before speed.
• Practice 10 to 15 minutes, three to five days a week.
• Use a physical keyboard for learning touch typing.
• Aim to type at least as fast as your child writes by hand.

Try this today

1. Hand-map coloring. Trace both of your child's hands on paper. Color each finger a different color, then color a printed keyboard so each key matches the finger that presses it. Stick it beside the computer as a guide.
2. A home-row message. Help your child type a short message using only home-row letters, such as a sad lad, dad has a flask or all fall. Read it aloud together, then add one new key and see what new words you can make.
3. Find the bumps. With eyes closed, your child finds the bumps on F and J, settles all eight fingers on the home row, and types a letter you call out by feel. Open eyes and check. It's a small game that builds the most important habit in touch typing.