Essential Guide to Teaching Keyboarding

Book excerpt: A keyboard curriculum for K-8 that can be taught in 45 minutes a week–15 minutes in class and 30 minutes at home. Drill, games, quizzes–kids love it .. You may think it impossible to find an effective keyboard curriculum for the skimpy forty-five minutes a week you can devote to keyboarding. You teach what you can, but it always seems to be the same lessons—hands on home row, good posture, eyes on copy. You wonder if it’s making a difference, or if it matters. .. Yes, it does and there is a way. It requires a plan, faithfully executed, with your eye relentlessly on the goal, but if you commit, it works. .. In this book, The Essential Guide to Teaching Keyboarding in 45 Minutes a Week: a K-8 Curriculum, I’ll share a unique keyboarding curriculum for K-8 that I’ve seen work on thousands of students. .. The book includes: A summary of the literatureAnswers to questions like ‘Can youngers learn to keyboard—and should they?’Importance of the teacher The K-8 curriculum includes a lot more variety than keyboard exercises on installed software. Here’s a rundown of pieces used: Keyboarding software (yes, you do need repetition)Online keyboarding websitesAge-appropriate use of hand coversQuarterly speed/accuracy quizzesQuarterly blank keyboarding quizzesMonthly homeworkWall charts to support learning and display evidence of successGrading based on student improvement, not conformity to class norms You’ll learn practical strategies on how to blend these pieces, each added at the right time, to teach the keyboarding skills required for today’s classroom. Each lesson includes: OverviewObjectives and stepsBest PracticesExtensionsTrouble-shootingWhere to get help Note to readers: Color shown in the sample image gallery are included in PDF version only. If you’re looking for the K-8 keyboard curriculum with student workbooks, click here.