Hi, we have found 'Nessy Fingers' to be a good, child-friendly programme and it gives rewards etc when speed increases. BBC Dance Mats is free and some of our schools use it for the whole class.

Angela

I find English Type to be a good program and alongside teaching touch typing and keyboarding skills there are fun elements too.  It has been designed by an EP for use in UK schools and supports literacy as well as developing touch typing.

Yes agree with Angela’s recommendations.  Kaz is growing in popularity as a more heavy duty , serious typing tutor. However a lot of children cannot stay the course and as the  exercises begin to get harder (and lose their appeal) often they lose heart.  (when it gets to using their little finger it  is also a challenge!)

I am a great  advocate for keyboard familiarity -   fit it into fine motor practice and just give them a very short daily 3 or 4 minutes of finding combinations to match phonics and spelling on the keyboard and repeat them- adding new line and  thumbs to the space bar , just keeping going  - ask if home can help too . Liken it to a PE warm up . Little and often will build dexterity and at least a nodding acquaintance with the qwerty keyboard.

In a large secondary school we find one of the best is Typing.com This program allows you to do the teaching sessions, games and also  some timed test the can be used as evidence of performance for interventions.