Traditionally, children are taught to write in grade school and it is not until middle school or even high school that they take a serious typing class. I decided to teach my two-year-old typing and writing at the same time. Here are 3 reasons I think typing should be taught early, alongside any writing instruction.
1. Typing has replaced writing. I cannot remember the last time I wrote anything of importance with a pen and paper. Occasionally, I scribble down a phone number or something, but on the whole, I type ten times more. I can only imagine that this trend will continue to grow until writing is nearly driving to extinction. So, young children that become proficient typers early on will have a distinct advantage over their peers.
2. Typing is easier for young children to master. Children that are taught to type can begin written correspondence years ahead of their peers. Although, many toddlers lack the fine motor skills needed for good penmanship, I was amazed to find how quickly they picked up typing.
3. Typing makes learning to read and write easier. It automatically establishes left to right sequencing habits. Also, children who learn to type early become so familiar with the alphabet that they have little trouble recognizing and recreating their letters manually later on!
Begin early. 2-3-years-old is a great time to begin typing instruction and can be an indispensable tool for teaching the alphabet. Need more tips on teaching your toddler to type? Follow my journey as I venture to teach my little Emma to type. I’ll share activities, strategies, and my progress in the Teaching Toddlers to Type series. Stay tuned for more!
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Hi, coming over via the Monday Mingle bloghop! It is true that writing doesn’t seem to have much relevance nowadays!
interesting! my kids can text faster than I can think.
Funny how that works. My Audrey is better than me at some of my touch pad games.
Oooh, good article! I can’t wait to read all of your posts on this topic. I’m teaching my little guy to type, now, too. Typing is definitely easier than writing for many young children & more useful for many adults. I do love to write, though–with a pencil–but, typing is so much faster. There are so many computer games and programs that will help children/adults learn to type and have fun doing it. It’s great for learning -the alphabet and -how to format sentences/words. I love your site and I’m happily your newest follower 🙂
Daydreaming Realist
How old is your little guy? There are so many resources out there for typing. My daughter is 4 and she is doing well using some of the games. Emma is 2 so I have to start pretty basic, plus her hands are really small still so she will have to peck for a little while longer. It should be fun. Thanks for stopping by! I am following you back!
I love the different topics you post in regards to teaching children…I agree with so much of what you say. You’re an inspiration to me! 🙂 and I’ve nominated you a couple of blow awards! http://www.homesteadsimple.com/blog-awards/
Hi Erika! You are so sweet and thoughtful to nominate me. I really like your blog too. Thank you!
I can’t wait to see wait to see what you have, my son has Sensory issues and his writing is horrible. His school is looking at letting him have a computer in class next year so I really need to work with him on this
Thanks for stopping by. Next post coming next week! How old is your son? It is nice that his school is going to work with him.
You have some great points! I haven’t formally taught my 7-year-old to type, but because he’s watched me and his dad type, he often puts his fingers in the right places on the keyboard and works out how to move them from there.
Of course learning to use computers is a valuable skill in our society, but if you have the chance to get your kids an electric typewriter, I urge you to do it. A typewriter is very educational in different ways than a computer. Have you read How Children Learn by John Holt? He gives several excellent explanations of what children gain from interacting with machines and being able to see how they work. Computers are lacking much of that because most of how they work is electronic rather than mechanical.
I still do write by hand a lot and consider it a crucial skill. I don’t know about schools in your area, but here they write a lot and don’t type at all at least through 1st grade (the last one my son completed), so writing is important for school readiness even if you don’t expect kids to use it much in their daily life. My son does, though–almost every night at bedtime, he writes himself a note about something he wants to remember the next day.
I used to have a typewriter when I was younger. I loved it! Kids pick up things so quickly. I am teaching my 4-year-old to type and it is amazing how much they can learn from example. I agree that you do write a lot for school. I remember that too, but I also remember being a very slow typer when I got to high school. My friends who had practiced at home were much better and could get done with reports much faster. Thanks for your input and resource!
I’ve always loved this free online typing program http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/