Customer Reviews

Typing Instructor for Kids [OLD VERSION]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I thought I had tried every kids' typing program and they were all as bad as each other. Mostly the same program with the same apples but different characters, and so difficult that I, a proficient typist for over 25 years, couldn't pass the tests.

Then I came across this in the Scholastic catalog. It is so important for kids to learn to type these days that I was prepared to throw away another twenty bucks. I have to say I'm blown away. This actually works. The lessons progress a few extra letters at a time. The top half of the screen is the letters they are to type and the bottom half is a keyboard with transparent hands showing which finger to use if they can't remember. In-between the lessons are games that reinforce what they have just learnt.

My seven year old has had limited exposure to the keyboard and has really got excited about working her way across the island. She is enjoying the games and hasn't yet figured out that they are just exercises with different characters and pretty pictures. In less than a week she has learned two thirds of the keyboard and can't wait to begin again the next day. Several shorter sessions a day are better than one long one because her fingers get tired and I worry about her eyesight concentrating so hard at the screen. As a side effect, it is also helping her reading.

My ten year old has been typing with two fingers for a few years now and is having a great deal of difficulty 'unlearning' what he has done in the past. The most useful thing about this program over all the others I tried is that the goal 'words per minute' can be changed to suit the child and their progress, at almost any time during their practice. Unfortunately, my son was smart enough to lower the 'wpm goal level' when I wasn't looking so he could get to the castle quickly by 'cheating' with his two finger method. Not taken in by 'the games' he has since required extra incentives (read candy treats) to repeat the lessons over and over and over and over again until he really did know without thinking which fingers to use.

Today I caught my ten year old giving my four year old a typing lesson, making sure he was following all the instructions for the correct posture and using the correct fingers. The little one has completed the first two lessons at 5 wpm and 100% accuracy. Not bad considering he had to learn the names of some of the letters at the same time.

I give this software 4 out of 5 because the lessons can get a bit boring given the number times they have to be repeated to improve both speed and accuracy. The program has 'crashed' a few times but I've not yet worked out if it is at any particular place. It starts up again fine and remembers exactly where the child was. It is quick and easy to switch between different users. The progress charts are very useful to see exactly where more practice is required (For instance I myself need practice on the bottom row of letters). I am proud to say I reached the castle with a speed of 78 wpm and 97% accuracy to become 'ruler of the kingdom'. My reward was to get to play 'Tomb Typer' in the dungeon of the castle which was really fun.

High Strokes for Typing Instructor for Kids by Individual Software

Target:
The student was a 6 ½ year old girl; smart kid at the top of her first grade class. She was self-motivated to master typing, yet viewed typing practice as work rather than play. An unexpected alternate target turned out to be the parent.

Expectations:
The student understood that mastering typing would take a long time, and that three 10-minute lessons per day is better than one 30-minute session. Although the program is fun, the expectation that the student view it as a pure game was unrealistic. Yet, for the parent, it was a pure game; silly but entertaining.

PC Platform; Hardware & Software:
Dell Dimension with 2.4 GHz Intel Celeron processor; Intel 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV integrated Graphics Controller with 1-23-05 6.14.10.4020 driver. XP home edition with all Microsoft security updates installed; DirectX Version 9.0c.

Fun Factor:
The student viewed Typing Instructor as fun educational software. She engaged in adventures on a treasure island, and competed in games by demonstrating typing proficiency. When the final stages of the game are reached, the castle offers a collection of books to type, as well as other games, e.g., a run away from the mummy type of game; both were enjoying. Narration was implemented with the aid of comical cartoon characters. This added to the enjoyment of the program, especially during the initial introduction before the student mastered any typing skills. The student was motivated to advance to higher levels in the game, and understood that it only occurred with advancement in typing skills.

Multi-Person:
The game supports multiple students. The parent started using the game out of curiosity, and became hooked. While the game challenges are geared for a child, the typing lessons are useful for adult too, and it helped to sharpen rusty parental skills. Also taught old timer a thing or two, e.g., the "F" and "J" keys have bumps to aid with home location.

Testing and Metrics:
A rich variety of metrics were tabulated to provide feedback to the student and parent. This was very useful to aid progress and tailor extra sessions.

Settings:
The settings were configurable to customize targets, e.g., speed..

Problems:
Sadly, there were a few problems, but this was in the minority: The Diamond Glider game stalled consistently with "-10," and would not terminate except with "exit." Game results couldn't be tabulated. This appears to be a software bug, and no updates were found on the Individual Software website as of 4/2005. Might want to read the FAQ at http://support.individualsoftware.com/faq2/ (Then navigate to the desired program, i.e., Typing Instructor for Kids). The help button in the Diamond Glider game provides troubleshooting information; mostly related to DirectX and video driver incompatibilities. Dxdiag showed no faults, and the troubleshooter wasn't helpful. This may be a bug that has nothing to due with DirectX. McAfee was also shutdown, but didn't cure it. Individual Software technical support was contacted via the web, but no response was ever received. Individual Software gets low marks for customer response. If someone finds an answer, please post.
The Sea Creatures game was functional, but was very sluggish; excessive pause after typing error. This was cured by temporarily disabling McAfee Virus Scan (by right clicking on the McAfee icon in the Taskbar Notification Area and selecting disable). After this problem was discovered, McAfee was disabled whenever Typing Instructor was to be run. Thus, it is unknown if McAfee impacts any other games. Suggest McAfee be disabled prior to use.

Parental Satisfaction:
Given the amount of time she will likely spend on a keyboard, the $20 investment was (to me) money well spent. The parent has been using the game, and it has improved his keyboarding skills; valued well beyond $20. This program is rated fully satisfactory, despite some small deviations from perfection.

Reviewer:
The reviewer is a middle-aged electrical engineer.

I bought the typing instructor for kids software for my 8 year old grandson and he is really enjoying it. My 11 year old granddaughter is also getting in on the fun. They are both learning how to type and it is very simple to use. Typing is a very much needed necessity for any one who uses a computer and since computers are used today in most schools children need to learn the proper way to type. This product helps kids learn while having fun at the same time. Thank you for making such a product available and I look forward to purchasing more instructional software for kids in the future.

I intalled three times before it got installed in my computer. It also took too long to install (about an hour). My kids just started to use it and they like it.

Got this software for about half year. Was very frustrate at first. It's hard to navigate. My 8 years old and 5 years old both like typing at first. But if they accidentally hit the go button while they are still learning the home row key, they are forced to learn more keys. They can't come back to the home row key any more. Soon they are at the point that they can't handle so many keys and loose the interest. But recently I found a sneaky way to fix this. Under C:\Program Files\Typing Instructor for Kids, there are lots of sub directories contain all executables. I create lots of shot cut for all those executables and put them under one folder. Now my kids can play the games they like. They finally start to learn typing. I like those games which have choice to select only the keys you learnt, or only home row key. So that they can play while learning.

I bought this for my oldest daughter. She had no prior experience with computer games, etc. She tried it first soon after turning 7 and enjoyed it, but when it got to teaching the shift key found it too frustrating. So, we put it away for a few months. About 6 months later, she tried it again, and just took off. She is now 9 and types fast and accurately. She loves the games, but she will also sometimes go through the whole program again and capture the castle and go through the tombs. She has been able to use this program almost entirely on her own, not requiring much help from me. My second daughter (6yo) is now clamoring to start it, and I've told her as soon as she's reading well she can begin. I highly recommend this program for those kids that are reading and able to follow instructions well.

I bought this old version of the Typing Instructor for Kids for a 9-year old.
I ordered 2 other items from 2 different suppliers at the same time, and the Typing Instructor was the first one to arrive.
So, I am pleased with the delivery time. One thing: the disk in a paper sleeve arrived in a bubble envelope, and , while opening it, I kept my fingers crossed that it had not been cracked in transit. I thought, if the bubble envelope had to be used, it would have been safer to put the disk into a hard disc case.
The program itself works perfectly, with no glitches ( unlike Mia's Language Adventure: The Kidnap Caper, which I ordered through Smart Kids Software ). The child has been using the program for about a month and is currently typing with a speed of 8 wpm and 100% accuracy.
It should be remembered though, that learning to type is work, and sometimes can be frustrating, games nothwithstanding. I have not had a problem having a child type for 30 recommended minutes at a time, though.
I paid $7.77,shipping included, which, I think, was a fair price for such faultlessly operating product. The cheapest one I saw at a Target store was Typing Instructor Platinum Edition ( not specifically for kids ), which was offered at $9.99 (on sale ) + Tax.