Typing...

I learned my Jr year in HS. The program was tedious, typing the same things over and over and over, but here I am almost 20 years later and I can still type without looking at my hands at a decent speed. It is all about the fingers learning the position of each letter.

I think second grade is too young for proper typing because I don't think the kids hands are big enough or fingers long enough. I watch my granddaughter work on the computer and at first was trying to teach her proper typing and then realzed her hands just were big enough yet.

Kids just intuitively learn these days. I probably type 60-70 wpm, and my kids can all out-type me, and they didn't have lessons. The computer age has eliminated the need to take typing in school, because they use keyboards so frequently.

But I'm sure someone can suggest a good program for you.

My kids learned in 3rd to 5th grades, at their public school, in "computer" class.
But seriously, ALL kids are growing up typing nowadays, right?
My first typing class was in high school, when I was 17.
Am I aging myself? I'm only 43!
Handwriting is old school, if your kids have access to a computer they WILL learn how to type, pretty much from day one :)

Also a homeschooler...

I taught my son to type the way I was taught to type by my grandfather:

Split the keyboard in half. Left hand = Left side. Right hand = Right side. Use all your fingera. Now type.

I avg. 80-120 a minute.
My 9yo son averages 50-70

Do we look at the keyboard? Yep. Can I type without looking at the keyboard? It drops my speed down to about 50wpm, unless I'm typing English, in which case it drops my speed nothing at all (I just use my short term memory and read and type as I go). Not looking at the keyboard is for people who are reading something else and copying it. It's pretty valueless except for a certain narrow window of careers or for those with no short term memory to speak of. In which case, it's a skill that one can pick up pretty quickly. Even so; scanners and conversion software and digital files and voice recorders have rendered the skill into near obsoletion.

I taught myself from a "learn to type" book that was left out by an old typewriter at my Aunt's house when I was 13 and staying with them while my parents were on a vacation (yes, I was a nerd). Then I took a class in high-school. I agree that kids should be formally taught. My older kids "taught themselves" and they use more than two fingers but they can not type without looking at the keyboard, which slows them down tremendously. My daughter is in 4th grade and ready to learn, I just haven't fit it in with all her other homework...

My stepson is in the 4th grade and there hasn't been any mention of a typing class so far- but very little of his work has been done through typing (and he has been allowed to have help). I took a keyboarding class in 9th grade and may have learned some basics, but I didn't really become proficient in typing until I started regularly IMing in college...no one wants to wait ten minutes for a response while you peck away at the keyboard! I think practice, practice, practice is really the best way to learn. My husband pecks with two fingers and I googled typing programs for him and several basic practice lessons came up (they reminded me of the exercises we did in my keyboading class). I would start with something like that instead of investing in a pricey program.

I learned in the 4th grade at home. My mom first started by showing me where to place my fingers and then having me type the following sentence over and over: The quick brown fox has jumped over the lazy dog. It has all the letters of the alphabet. Then she got a typing practice book that I used. Basically, you just need to practice a lot so you memorize where the keys are without looking. We also eventually got a typing game on the computer (I have no idea what it was called, but I'm sure you can find something online). Kids have an amazing ability to learn, so I think he could definitely start working on it now. Good luck!

**I just remembered that my mom taped up a printed keyboard chart next to the monitor at my eye level so I could see where the letters were without looking down while I was still learning.

I started learning how to type correctly in the 3rd grade. My daughter is currently in second grade and while she has yet to learn how type properly I know it is coming soon enough due to a decent amount of her school work being completed on laptops. We do not have a typing program at home but she is exposed to watching us adults at home type correctly and never with one finger. I'd say until a teaching lesson is implemented just teach her yourself. Learning how to type is not difficult but having the dexterity to reach the keys is an acquired ability.

My son(3rd grade at a Catholic school) has a class called keyboarding skills. I'm sorry I don't know the cirriculum but will try and find out for you. It seems like they are learning the same way I did waaaaaaaaaaay back in high school starting letter by letter.

We got Mavis Beacon for the kids when they were in middle school. http://www.mavisbeacon.com/

I bought my kids 2 "games". One was one of the brand name things... jumpstart learn to type or something like that. The other, was SpongeBob Typing. My son thought it was great for about 3 minutes. My daughter (who was about 6 at the time?) thought it was fabulous! She would go play it and self-taught herself fairly well.
Son is now 13, and still hunt/pecks, but is fast enough. Daughter is 10, and she is pretty efficient--she actually uses mostly correct fingerings. I never forced either of them to spend time at it. She just did the games on Spongebob more. They did have a couple of computer classes when they were in private school (one day a week in the library), but I don't think they taught them keyboard fingering. Son had a "computer" class and a "technology" class in middle school, but only the computer class taught anything with the keyboard (besides shortcuts, lol). But it was easy enough for the kids to cheat the tests... they just had to get the letter/number right--- the teacher didn't walk around watching to see what finger they used.
BTW, my kids do K12 thru our public schools as a charter (or something like that). This is our first year. They still don't have THAT much typing to do. One is in 8th, the other in 5th, so you are still good for awhile on that score. :)

http://www.amazon.com/Nickelodeon-12440-SpongeBob-Squarep...
http://www.cfsale.com/spongebob-squarepants-typing-for-pc...

THey teach keyboarding in many middle schools. In the elementary schools they let them go at it any way they can. Some high school classes teach by placing a cover over the keyboard so the child cannot see their hands.

Look into getting some typing programs that teach finger placement. 2nd grade is a little young though. Their fingers can't reach all the keys and they still don't have the fine motor skills to be successful.

I think they teach our kids later in elementary school. In our day it was middle school. My husband and i both type very fast. I am not worried that they are not teaching my 2nd grader yet. She will get it. I would be worried if it was not a class by middle school.

The site Michelle is speaking of is http://www.tvokids.com/games/keyboardclimber

I use keyboard climber and also teach my daughter to type like I learned. I show her the notches on the F, H, & 5 and tell her to try to type that way.

this is a great question, I was actually wanting to find a way to teach my eight-year-old to type. I type over 90 wpm, but like you, my husband just pecks at the keyboard! I think its definitely a skill that everybody should master and I think every curriculum should have it... I learned at school in 9th grade. Not sure that kids have the attention & dedication to do it sooner than that. But... I'd love to hear people's suggestions about programs that work!!