We reviewed Keyboarding for the Christian School, Elementary Version a few years ago. The lessons are on touch typing and some basic formatting for paragraphs, lists, etc. My girls and I really appreciate the no-nonsense approach. This is not disguised as a game; there are minimal graphics. This is a straightforward keyboarding curriculum. Simple. And we think that is awesome!!
Starting with the letters on the “home row” and adding more in two’s, your child can progress through as many lessons as they are ready for. If your learner needs more practice, spend more time at that lesson before moving ahead. It is very easy to set your own pace. As the needed letters are learned, the practice moves to words and then bits of Scripture. The final lessons deal with formatting, typing longer selections (whole Psalms, etc.), and timed writings. The timed writings are to be used throughout (each one says when it is to be used) but they are all together as the final lesson (Lesson 32).
The book comes as a pdf file so you have a few options with how you can use it. You can print out the lessons (90 pages total), you can view the file on a different screen (laptop, iPad or other e-reader) or have the lesson file open in one window while having your word processing program open in a second window. This is the method we used most often. The copy we were typing from was open across the top of the screen with our word processing program open across the bottom.
This newest version for elementary comes as large-print. I still have the original file from a few years ago on my computer, so I thought I’d share a picture showing the difference. If you are not printing, it may not matter as much because you can adjust the window so the font is comfortable to read. When it comes to printing out the e-book however, the larger font makes a “big” difference. Especially as you are working with younger learners, this larger type will help them to be more successful with less effort (no straining to see what the copy is).
The elementary version Keyboarding for the Christian School is available for $12.95 (either regular or large font). The version for middle to high school students includes instructions for letters, envelopes, and both APA and MLA report formats for $15.95. There are other products and packages available on the website. Through August 29th 2012, you can save 20% with this code: SUMMER2012
Other Crew members reviewed this or the version for older children. To read their thoughts, check out the Crew blog.
