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Texas ISD School Guide
Texas ISD School Guide







Articles for Teachers

Learn to Type with Typing Games
By:June Shu

For children, the ability of using the computer is becoming fundamental in nowadays, so learning to type is must for them. But most children get bored with any repetitious task and give up or whine and even want to stop, parents or teachers always feel nothing else bother them more than when children face the keyboard and have absolutely no idea where the keys are or how they go about typing. They just "play" with the keyboard. This is a waste of time for them and, worse, children get into the bad habit of typing with two fingers. So parents or teachers have to face how to solve this problem.

As parents and teachers know, whether children want to learn a thing or not largely depends on whether they are attracted by it. Based on this, the typing tutor must be easy-to-use, fun colorful and appealing to children. Once children love and develop interest in it, they will learn to type on their own initiative. Generally, children naturally like to play games, because when playing games, they are always attracted by the colorful interface and pretty music in the games, and above all, they're able to learn something quickly under no pressure. Apparently, the problem for children having no interest in learning to type is solved, they can learn to type when playing games.

There are many advantages of using typing games for typing: First, Games are a welcome break from the usual routine of the typing practice, thus help children learn typing more easily. Second, Typing requires a great deal of effort. Games help children to make and sustain the effort of learning. Third, Games are highly motivating since they are amusing and at the same time challenging.

There are lots of interesting typing games which also help to make typing fun. GS Typing Tutor is just one. The aim of this program is to make typing fun whilst increasing accuracy and speed. The feature-rich typing software supports 5 typing games: Rats in the garden, attacks of the alien, help, balloon, and card. The typing games each include 23 basic typing lessons. Taking the basic lessons, children can learn to type from the home row keys to other basic keys. The basic exercises also help them to be familiar with the keyboard layout step-by-step.

Each game is easy-to-use, fun colorful and appealing to children:

1: Rats in the garden Children mission is to eliminate the rats in the garden. Then they should type the letter before the rats escape. If children type the wrong letter or type slowly, the rats will escape under their nose. So they have to type correctly and fast in case the rats escape. The game is fun!

2: Attacks of the alien Children mission is to stop the alien fleets to attack the earth. So they must type letters before the alien fleets through the galaxy into the earth. By playing the game, children type the letters, and can be familiar with the keys. With children accelerating the typing speed, the alien fleets fly rapidly, so they have to type quickly in case the earth is attacked by the alien fleets.

3: Help! A bad man has held a boy under duress. So children must help the soldier to rescue the boy by typing the letter. If their typing speed is slow, the boy's life is under danger. Once children succeed to rescue the boy, the boy will laugh loudly for thanking.

4: Balloon Falling Letters are ruining the balloons. Save the balloons by typing the letters before the balloons land on the ground. Lots of fun! The more children type the more score they get.

5: Card The letters are arranged random based on the keys children choose. Type the letters on the card. This will help them to know well the basic keys.

With playing typing games, the typing program helps children easy master a skill needed in today's computer oriented world. Download it at http://www.typingstar.com/


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