The Typing Coach Online Typing Course -- my REVIEW

Are you proficient at typing? I am so thankful that I took typing years ago...actually when I was in 9th grade (hundreds of years ago haha) I was signed up for a foreign language, but the teacher quit suddenly and they dumped us into typing class...so for a semester I took a typing class (on a manual typewriter and then on an electric typewriter woohoo) and learned to type very quickly and accurately. I know that my speed/accuracy have slipped a bit as the years have gone by, but I am still quite a good typer. My husband, on the other hand, is a two-finger typer. It drives me berserk! I have determined that I would like our children to learn to type accurately and quickly and to that end we have tried several different typing programs and my oldest child is quite fast and accurate, though the other two have quite a bit to go :)

When I was given the opportunity to review this product, The Typing Coach Online Typing Course, developed by The Typing Coach, I was happy to give it a try with my middle child, a 15-year old boy. He is a slow typer, and could stand to improve his speed and accuracy. If you asked him, however, he'd probably tell you he is already pretty good at typing (15-yr old boy bravado?).

The goals which the author states about this course is that you learn to type without looking at the monitor or the keyboard with a speed of 10 words per minute by the end of this course. Ten words per minute is pretty slow, right? Well, he addresses this and talks about increasing that, as stated on the website, "The current typical employable typing skill is 45 words per minute, with no more than one error per minute on a five-minute timed test. At the end of this course, you should be able to type at least 10 words per minute (wpm). With the good habits that you will acquire (getting rid of any bad "hunt and peck” habits), your next goal will be to hit 25 wpm, easily attainable within a short time thereafter; and then of course, with more practice, 45 words per minute will be hit by most within a few months--by those who are committed."

The parts of the course are worksheets and tests that the student prints out, audio instructions for typing learning/practice of different sections, and the occasional online video.  There are seven lessons in all, meant to be used until the student can perfectly type the tests accompanying each lesson.  The student begins with learning proper typing posture, moves on to the other chapters--
2-Home Row Keys
3-Top Row
4-Bottom Row
5-Shift Keys
6-Typing Practices
7-Number Row
(and then "serious practicing" after that!)

Each chapter has online tests that follow.  The student must pass those tests correctly, with no errors, and cannot re-take a test for two days following an error.

So...what did we think?  Not our favorite.  It does move pretty slowly, at least for one already accustomed to typing.  (There is actually a slower track for younger kids, which might be appreciated by some!) He prefers something more game-like.  I also found it difficult to navigate the site and understand what was needed when.  My son (okay, he's maybe not as particular when it comes to reading directions) was pretty lost and couldn't figure out when to do what, so I gave him a hand with that.  It was also a bit frustrating for him that errors (that he might call silly) cause the 2-day delay in testing (for instance, in the above picture he failed it because he typed two spaces instead of one); if you, for instance, seated your hands one key over, the test, of course, would be completely incorrect and you'd wait again to re-test. The audio gives you music by which to type (I like that!) but my son just thought the narration was geared toward younger kids.

One positive out of this is that my son's typing posture has definitely improved!  This is a great thing that hopefully will stay with him throughout his life!

The Typing Coach Online Typing Course is a self-paced course, so you can learn at the pace you wish.  It is also a very economical option, at just $17 per person for an annual subscription!

I'm sure you'd like to hear other folks' thoughts on this product--you can click on this link to hear more!