Review of The Typing Coach Online Typing Course by The Typing Coach
I was very excited to be given the opportunity to review The Typing Coach Online Typing Course, a curriculum from The Typing Coach, but I was not prepared for the tenacity and perseverance my son would develop while working through the course.
This course is designed by an old fashioned typing teacher in a way that allows you and your children to learn and perfect their typing skills at home and at your own pace.
How We Began Using The Materials
began by reading through the introductory information online and printing a packet of the Audio Course manual and Learning Checks and Progress Chart.
Then I handed the packets over to my son and walked him through a brief orientation of the Online Course.
Finally, I stepped back and let my teenage son explore the course, pace himself, and work his way through The Typing Coach online coursework. (I have to admit I was a little worried that he might not be able to pace himself or have the perseverance to repeat lessons on his own when he made a mistake on a test, but he took the reigns in both hands and I couldn’t be happier with the result)
What You Get With The Typing Coach Online Typing Course
- Online access to the courses with a one year subscription
- Managing multiple students is easy
- Printable manuals and typing tests in the Teacher Resource Center area of the course
- Access to the online assessment center
What You Need To Take The Course
- A computer with Internet connectivity
- Any word processing program (a wide range of free and paid for suggestions are included)
- A printer
The Typing Coach Online Typing Course Scope & Sequence
- General Introduction including:
- overview of the course with a visual tour (video)
- how to pace the lessons for younger children
- overview of the practice and testing center
- a pre-test to benchmark yourself against
- Posture lessons
- Learning the Home Row
- Learning the Top Row
- Learning the Bottom Row
- Proficiency with Shift Keys
- A lesson to evaluate the skills you have obtained so far
- Practice typing
- Learning the Number Row
- More practice to gear up for the final test
- Final Assessment
- A concluding lesson
Time Required to Teach Lessons
If your child is mature enough and able to manage his own learning, you will find that all you need is to get him started and then get out of his way. For me it did not matter how fast or how slowly my son progressed through the lessons, but that he learn each lesson thoroughly and that he take responsibility for learning on his own and independently. This was a perfect course for those objectives.
- Time Spent By Yourself Preparing: Minimal. I spent some time when we first received this course to look over the materials and print the course manual, learning checks, and progress chart.
- Lesson Audio: 15-20 minutes.
- Lesson Practice Time: 20-30 minutes
- End Of Section Tests: 20-30 minutes
- Time to Grade Lesson: With these lessons, you have only minimal involvement. The course enables your child to take responsibility and control over his progress. The first section of the course covers posture and for my son to progress through this stage, I needed to verify his posture. After the first section, you receive an email with results of your child’s tests and progress. This way your child can step up and take control and responsibility over his own learning.
Overall time your child can expect to spend daily: 25-35 min each day
How Many Days A Week Are Required?
Your child can work through the lessons as often as he (or you) like. My son felt challenged by The Typing Coach and followed his instructions to the letter. As a result, he wanted to work on the lessons daily.
Prerequisites For This Curriculum
Your child must be old enough to read and mature enough to be self-motivated and self-directed to use the lessons independently. You and your child must also be prepared for a bit of frustration as he goes through the master process, and a huge amount of self-confidence when he succeeds. Beyond those requirements, there really is nothing stopping any child from learning to type with The Typing Coach.
Teaching More Than One Child Is Easy
The great part about this curriculum is that when you purchase a yearly subscription, you can have all your children use the lessons.
The Typing Coach Suggested Pacing
The Typing Coach suggests pacing your child with one lesson each week. At this rate of progress, your child will likely complete the course in 10 weeks.
However, as the course depends on mastery in order to move forward through lessons, it may take more time than 10 weeks.
How We Ended Up Using The Lessons
My son really connected with The Typing Coach. He enjoyed listening to the lessons and fully applied himself to each new challenge.
So we adapted the pacing to match his interest. At first he progressed very quickly, but then slowed down when the lessons became challenging. When he reached a section that required more practice and review before moving ahead, it took a bit longer to get through the lesson. But since we are focused on mastery and not speed in our homeschool, the program works very well.
How We Liked It
My son really likes these typing lessons. He is currently a bit more than half-way through the program, but has paced himself to maximize his own learning and retention. While he gets frustrated when he makes an error or decides to redo a lesson, he thrives on the mastery approach which underlies The Typing Coach products.
A lot of the methodology used in this typing course and the requirement for mastery reminds me a whole lot of the typing class I took in middle school. It was in the days before computers and we learned on old typewriters. Just one mistake meant that you could not move forward with your lessons. It was hard. It was frustrating at times. But I really learned to touch type speedily and that is a skill which served me well throughout my life.
The tenacity I developed during those lessons gives me the drive to succeed when things are tough. And that tenacity is what I see my son developing throughout his Typing Coach lessons.
And for that I am completely grateful.
Great Option For Learning Typing That Emphasizes Mastery & Teaches Tenacity
My son feels so connected to The Typing Coach that he takes each lesson exactly as instructed. When he makes a mistake in a test and the Typing Coach material redirects him to repeat the lesson, he grimaces but then buckles down and does it.
There is a single trigger in every child’s life that instills the spirit of tenacity and perseverance. For my son, The Typing Coach is that trigger.
This program really has helped my son to develop and hone a spirit of tenacity when it comes to learning typing. And I can already see that tenacity and devotion to mastery spreading itself to his other subjects and also to his daily life.
