Need help with Typing? Then you might want to give The Typing Coach a try.
The goal of The Typing Coach is to help you become “independent” instead of relying on “watching” the keys (and constantly correcting mistakes) while you learn to type 10 to 45 words per minute with no typing errors. This course uses a combination of written, audio, and videos lessons, and timed typing tests to help you reach this goal. With continued practice using The Typing Coach methods, you learn how to train your brain and fingers to master typing challenges and attain even more words per minute.
The Typing Coach Online Typing Course offers a touch typing program with two levels to meet your needs.
Regular Course (for students 12 to Adult)
Slower Course (for students 8 – 11)
Benefits of Using The Typing Coach:
Easy to use.
24/7 Online Access.
Self Paced (go at a pace that works for you).
Created by an Experienced Typing Teacher.
Successes are Progressive and Systematic.
Develop Good Typing Habits.
Become independent from observing keyboard or monitor.
Improve Speed With Fewer Errors.
Online Testing Center.
Teacher Resource Center with printables, videos, and support.
Yearly Subscription
Check out this short video about The Typing Coach:
Lessons
Lessons in this course are offered at two levels. The regular lessons move at a faster reading and typing pace for students 12 and older. This course is difficult to do for those under 12 years old and will require more teacher time, more practice time so a less rigorous schedule is offered for those under the age of 12. You can decide if you want your student to take the regular lessons or the slower paced lessons.
Lessons Include:
Having Good Posture
Home Row
Top Row
Bottom Row
Shift Keys
Evaluating Your Skills
Typing Practices
Number Row
Serious Practicing
Final Assessment
Conclusion
Each lesson varies from a few days to 1 week to master the skills. It is recommended to do a lesson a week and spend time practicing your skills you have learned. At a pace of 1 lesson per week, you can accomplish this course in a span of 10 weeks.
Each lesson has a written and an audio component and lots of practice. Each lesson builds upon the skills of the previous one. You can choose to either have the program keep track of your quiz / test scores and email them to you or you can keep track of them yourself.
The course is set up for you to practice the skills learned in the lessons for approximately 20 minutes a day/week and master the larger goal in small segments. The first goal is 10 words without mistakes, then 25 words, then with more practice 45 words per minute without mistakes can be attained. The eventual goal is to type 45 words per minute with 1 or 0 mistakes.
How we used this course:
The course is online and it requires a computer with a keyboard, internet, and audio video capabilities and a printer for the PDF files. My oldest son and I both used this course. After reading through all of the materials, I didn’t think I had the time in my schedule to help the younger children right now as they go at a slower pace. But I hope the younger kids can take this course again in the future.
I wanted to take this class myself to test and improve my typing skills too. I took a typing course in highschool (ages ago) and learned to type about 30 words per minute with one mistake. When I was younger, I worked for a short time as a secretary through a temporary staffing agency and they were looking for people with 60 words per minute experience for the better paid positions, but required a minimum of 30 words a minute to be hired for some of the positions. The Typing Coach says that most office positions require a minimum of 45 words per minute. I am not looking for typing job, but I enjoy writing stories. I would like for my family and myself to improve our typing skills.
We had a bit of a setback during this review due to a computer hard drive failure not long after we got started with the lessons. When it failed it also took out our operating system and files. It took some time to purchase a new hard drive and install it, then search a store for a new operating system to purchase and install, install a new word processing program, and reinstall all our classes one at a time, etc. My son lost most of his coursework he had saved to his computer and this event was somewhat discouraging to say the least. But we are getting back on track and he is looking forward to working more on this course and improving his speed and accuracy as he learns how to type correctly from The Typing Coach.
After setting up the subscription, you can use the program 24/7 as it best fits your schedule. When you log in and it brings you to your dashboard with an overview page of instructions and links to the lessons, videos, and tests. Here is a picture of my dashboard with the general course overview. This page is the page you come to each time you log in.
The items on the list open up when you click on them. In each item there are many more things linked such as videos, PDF’s, audio’s, and instructions. The first item on the list is the Course Introduction and the next item is the optional Slower Paced Lessons. The next section is called The Practice and Testing Center (practice and test skills learned) this section is used almost daily. The next section is the Before & After Snapshot (Pretest and Post test) section we used at the beginning and will use again at the end of the course. Then the next items listed are the actual lessons and they are numbered. The next item is help with practicing. Finally there is a final test, conclusion and course evaluation.
The first thing we did to get started was read the Course Introduction and watched an introductory video (takes about 4 minutes). Next, I printed out the PDF version of the course which takes about 24 sheets of paper altogether (Lessons 16 sheets of paper, Learning Checks 7 sheets of paper, and the Progress Chart is 1 sheet of paper) and I put these printouts in a binder to keep them organized.
There are several audios and videos, but the two most important to mention here when getting started are the “How to Use the Practice and Testing Center” (takes about 3 minutes); and “The Typing Coach Method Explained” (takes about 30 minutes) and these videos demonstrate how to use the course. In The Typing Coach Method Explained video the creator of the program models for the parent / teacher the course being taught to students in a class setting.
Next I viewed the Teacher Resource Center. This section has a “Guidance for Teachers” instruction sheet, a list of all the printable PDF’s and all of the links to videos for the course. It also has a section of resources for working with slower or younger students (8-11 year olds) that require more intervention and time from the parent/teacher.
The next step is the the “Before Snapshot” which is a pretest of your typing skills before you get started with the actual lessons. It takes about 3 minutes to take the test. You are to type the Gettysburg Address from the provided printout onto a word processing program on your computer without looking at the keys or your monitor while listening to the provided music. When the music stops, the test time is finished. This snapshot helps you see where you are at currently in your typing skills and where you need improvement. When the course is completed, you take an “After Snapshot” and can compare how far you have grown in your typing skills.
After you have completed your snapshot quiz and found out your current number of errors in a 3 minute span of time, then it is time to begin the lessons. The lessons teach the proper skills and typing techniques. After listening to the new lesson, you go to the Practice and Testing section and complete the assignment.
Another section of the program is called the Learning Checks. In this section you take speed typing tests from the printable packet without looking at your fingers. When you have completed the challenges you (or your parent/teacher) fill out a learning check on your printed copy of the progress chart.
Each lesson has instruction, practice, and quizzes and a few of the lessons have the Learning Checks quizzes too. The Typing Coach method helps you reach your goals of typing correctly without looking and without errors at a rapid pace.
When figuring out how much time you need to pace yourself for lessons, plan to spend at least 20-30 minutes or so per audio lesson plus practice time. Also you are only aloud to take one quiz per two day time span. A beginning student should work on this course at a pace of 1 lesson per week and add in daily practice time before taking their Practice Quiz and Learning Checks. However if you desire to go faster, remember you are still limited to completing a lesson no faster than every two days because of the restriction on the frequency of the quizzes. Be sure to leave yourself plenty of practice time and go at a pace that feels good for you.
We would recommend this course to other homeschool families who desire to learn to speed type without looking and without errors. If repetition, and being 99%+ accurate, or working under pressure for speed stresses you out, then this might not be the best fit for you. I would recommend planning to go a little slower than you might expect, because the program won’t let you progress to the next level if you have errors. So it is better to master your errors first and then master your speed. The goal is to be error free, which isn’t a common requirement in home education where the goals are usually not set at that strict of a standard and for that fact, this attribute of the program make take some getting used to. The program is affordable and I would encourage folks to give The Typing Coach a try.
Social Media
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/thetypingcoach
Homeschool Review Crew
Be sure to check out what others on the Homeschool Review Crew had to say about using The Typing Coach with their families.
