Digital Citizenship

Digital Citizenship – The Importance Of Typing

When we think of essential life skills for our children, typing isn’t necessarily something that is at the front of our minds…but that really shouldn’t be the case, as learning to touch type is one of the most valuable skills that a child can learn. It not only helps them with their school work, which will become vital when moving up to Secondary school, but can also set them up with an advantage in later life when it comes to exploring job opportunities. Many jobs now require quick typing skills, but with advances in technology that’s set to become even more important. It is great for reluctant writers, and good for improving spelling and concentration There are also physical and health considerations, as learning to touch type correctly at a young age can help improve posture, reduce time spent at the keyboard, and reduce the risks of RSI.

On top of this, Primary age is actually the best time to learn basic typing skills, and can be made incredibly fun! There are a whole host of programs, schemes and packages out there to help children learn to type, both free and paid for, but at Crescent we use a fantastic website called www.typing.com that really does do it all! The brilliant thing about typing.com is that as well as a host of fun games to practice speed and accuracy, it also has a real focus on getting the basics right, such as finger position and posture, through really easy to follow videos.

All pupils already have their own log-ins that they can use, will be familiar with the site, and it can be accessed anywhere through a web browser, so using it to enhance those skills at home is very straightforward!

Just click on https://www.typing.com then click ‘student login’ in the top right corner.

Please do encourage your children to have a go at home! Like when learning most things, little and often is the best way to go, and you would amazed at just how quickly speed and accuracy with increase.

Parents feel free to have a go too as it’s free, you will just need to create your own account!

Happy typing!

Mr Adkins
Head of Digital Learning