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I went to a public school in NY. We had a weekly touch typing class in 5th grade (during the mid nineties). It wasn't rigorous enough to make great typists out

by anoved 18y ago

I went to a public school in NY. We had a weekly touch typing class in 5th grade (during the mid nineties). It wasn't rigorous enough to make great typists out of us, but it provided a decent foundation for keyboarding electives in middle school and high school.

robg 18y ago
This is exacly my point. A 5th grade typing class that meets weekly and electives down the line? But daily handwriting classes in kindergarten and 1st grade and often probably later? That seems very backward to me.
- Zev 18y ago
  To counter with my own anecdote, I went to school in NY and had a required typing class in 7th grade. Then more electives if I wanted to take them in HS. We had writing in Kindergarden/1st/2nd grade. Which doubled as English lessons (expanding vocabulary, etc). And learning how to read as well. Maybe I was just lucky enough to have good teachers, but I assume that it was done intentionally. Never writing "cat" over and over until the "c" was perfect, but finding different words that have a "c" and writing those instead.
  - robg 18y ago
    Again, I see exactly zero harm but plenty of benefits by swapping that ordering of typing and handwriting - typing in kindergarten and 1st grade and handwriting in 7th grade. And that wouldn't change the reading or English lessons. Indeed, it would enrich them. (Think of typing 's' and hearing the sound it makes. Then 'sh'. Then 'shi'. etc.)
- whatusername 18y ago
  To counter your point - was talking with a Prep (ie - Grade 0) teacher last night.. She's doing MS Office classes with her Preps. Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Internet Explorer. (And this is a public school in a lower-middle class area - admittedly in Australia). I'm sure there's probably more handwriting classes - but it's slowly changing.. Question - Which Do you think would be better to learn the structure of letters from? Learning to type first, or learning to draw out the letters?
  - robg 18y ago
    There's a reason I loved Australia when I visited - progressives! Quite honestly, if you paired typing with auditory feedback for what letters sound like ('s' from 'c' from 'z' from 'sh' and 'sp'), you'd not only help the kids to learn the letters but also how to read. Handwriting doesn't offer that dual modality approach. Further you could pair typed words with the objects to which they refer (think animals), the sounds they make, and other facts about them. I'm actually shocked there aren't teaching programs like this. There must be that I'm not aware of.
- carolyn 18y ago
  my name is carolyn

by anoved 18y ago

robg 18y ago

This is exacly my point. A 5th grade typing class that meets weekly and electives down the line? But daily handwriting classes in kindergarten and 1st grade and often probably later? That seems very backward to me.

Zev 18y ago
To counter with my own anecdote, I went to school in NY and had a required typing class in 7th grade. Then more electives if I wanted to take them in HS. We had writing in Kindergarden/1st/2nd grade. Which doubled as English lessons (expanding vocabulary, etc). And learning how to read as well. Maybe I was just lucky enough to have good teachers, but I assume that it was done intentionally. Never writing "cat" over and over until the "c" was perfect, but finding different words that have a "c" and writing those instead.
- robg 18y ago
  Again, I see exactly zero harm but plenty of benefits by swapping that ordering of typing and handwriting - typing in kindergarten and 1st grade and handwriting in 7th grade. And that wouldn't change the reading or English lessons. Indeed, it would enrich them. (Think of typing 's' and hearing the sound it makes. Then 'sh'. Then 'shi'. etc.)
whatusername 18y ago
To counter your point - was talking with a Prep (ie - Grade 0) teacher last night.. She's doing MS Office classes with her Preps. Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Internet Explorer. (And this is a public school in a lower-middle class area - admittedly in Australia). I'm sure there's probably more handwriting classes - but it's slowly changing.. Question - Which Do you think would be better to learn the structure of letters from? Learning to type first, or learning to draw out the letters?
- robg 18y ago
  There's a reason I loved Australia when I visited - progressives! Quite honestly, if you paired typing with auditory feedback for what letters sound like ('s' from 'c' from 'z' from 'sh' and 'sp'), you'd not only help the kids to learn the letters but also how to read. Handwriting doesn't offer that dual modality approach. Further you could pair typed words with the objects to which they refer (think animals), the sounds they make, and other facts about them. I'm actually shocked there aren't teaching programs like this. There must be that I'm not aware of.
carolyn 18y ago
my name is carolyn