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Some children who have dyslexia and or dyspraxia can also have very poor handwriting. In fact, children and adults who don’t have dyslexia can have very poor handwriting! So learning to type can be a great help for all readers and writers alike. Ability Net (The Educational Advisory Charity) have identified keyboard skills as being especially important for those who have dyslexia or struggle with handwriting.
There are many software packages on the market that have been designed specifically for children and there are two that I have found to be particularly good.
First, learn to type with Nessy Fingers and second is learn to type with 2Type. Both packages are great and roughly around the same price. However for the dyslexic learner and children with other special educational needs, I would highly recommend Nessy Fingers. For all other children I would recommend 2 Type. Read on to find out why.
Designed by the Bristol Dyslexia Centre, this product has been specifically designed for those who struggle with reading and writing and those children who are reluctant to learn, needing lots of praise and encouragement at each stage f learning. This motivational approach includes trophies, medals and awards along with the friendly Nessy character to help out and make you laugh and other cartoon characters in the games, there’s enjoyable music too.
The program has 9 levels of difficulty and the keys are taught alphabetically which reinforces sequence and logical learning (very important for the dyslexic learner). The games are multi-sensory using text and audio instructions and a picture of the keyboard on screen. The fonts have been chosen to avoid issues of orientation and directional confusion and there are six colour schemes for words and backgrounds for those who find black on white (visual stress) hard to read.
Designed by 2Simple Ltd who produce fun educational software. I would like to recommend this product for children who do not have special educational needs. There are 7 games in total:
Game 1: Instruction Keys. (Learn the key positions)
Game 2: Falling Letters. (Type the falling letters)
Game 3: Teaching Keys. (Type in letter combinations)
Game 4: Falling Words. (Type the falling words)
Game 5: 2Pop. (Pop as many bubbles as you can)
Game 6: Typing Speed Practice.
Game 7: Dictation. (Listen and type the words.)
All the games have many options and you can add your own words and paragraphs of text, you can also print certificates displaying your words per minute and games scores.
To summarise, both games are excellent and will teach your children to learn to type. Nessy Fingers is perfect for dyslexic and reluctant learners because of the sequencing and structure of the games and the motivational rewards and 2Type is perfect for all other children because it is a fun suite of games that will be thoroughly enjoyed.
Find out more about learning to touch type with 2Type or touch typing with Nessy Fingers
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