*This post was written as a review for Typesy, a homeschool typing curriculum, in exchange for compensation. Everything you read in this article is based on my personal experience with using their online typing program and is 100% truthful. If you’d like to read my full disclosure, you can find it HERE.
The Importance of Typing Skills
Today’s youth are growing up in a world driven by technology.
Not only are they surrounded by the latest tech when it comes to entertainment, but devices are also some of the main learning tools used today in homeschooling and public schooling alike.
That said, not all children possess proper computer typing skills, as much of this learning is occurring on tablet-type devices rather than on computers.
Take my 12-year-old, for example – she can create an emoji-filled message to a friend on her iPad in no time, but typing up an essay on the computer is a much greater challenge.
Needless to say, typing skills are essential for youngsters both during their school years and beyond.
From being able to type up an essay promptly to formatting brief emails in the corporate world as young adults.
Typesy Homeschool Typing Curriculum
While there are multiple ways to teach typing in your homeschool, leaning on a digital platform like Typesy is a great option!
My daughter has been working on her typing skills off and on for the past few years, and a majority of that learning has happened through bookwork and simple typing exercises.
That said, her skills were still mediocre at best when we were introduced to Typesy this summer.
While the bookwork created a foundation for learning parts of the keyboard, her speed and skill were still lacking.
So, to say she needed this program is a bit of an understatement.
My daughter didn’t mind learning some of those early foundational skills via bookwork; however, she quickly found the electronic aspect of this homeschool typing curriculum much more engaging and inviting than her workbook.
That said, I am also an advocate for limiting screen time when possible, so creating a balance in our homeschool and teaching my daughter how to use technology productively is a huge deal.
Thankfully, Typesy has a great mixture of both fun and education.
Typing Curriculum Breakdown
Following the loss of my father in January, my daughter’s homeschool year has been a bit mundane and, in her words, “boring”.
I just haven’t had the energy or motivation to focus on extras, so getting the chance to introduce my daughter to this typing program was an exciting adventure.
Her best friend does all of her learning online, and she had been asking me for more computer learning opportunities for some time.
That said, Typesy was the perfect option, you guys!
Typesy Homeschool
While technically anyone can use this awesome typing curriculum, I am currently using the homeschool version with my 12-year-old.
There are 2 other program types, making this a great option for schools or individuals as well!
That said, I don’t know how all the versions differ from one another, and I will only be covering Typesy homeschool today.
Admin Dashboard
The admin dashboard is filled with tons of options for customizing your child’s experience with Typesy.
As a non-technology-savvy person, however, learning how to use the platform was a little daunting at first!
Whenever I start utilizing a new online platform, it takes me a bit to get the swing of things, so this isn’t a rarity for me.
That said, the admin interface guide does include simple step-by-step walkthroughs to help you get started and covers many FAQ topics, which were very beneficial for a non-tech-savvy person like me.
While I’m still learning all the ins and outs, I do appreciate the complexity at the same time, simply because the options helped me create a unique plan for my daughter.
For example, I was able to make my daughter’s profile completely private and toggle off the option for games when I wanted her to focus on lessons instead.
There are tons of other choices as well that parents can use to design a better learning environment for their learners.
The best part? Parents can customize each student’s account individually!
So, if you have one child who needs more accountability than others, you have those options, and they won’t affect your other student accounts!
From creating non-changeable passwords to limiting what each student can access.
The admin dashboard also includes reports that track everything from course progress to typing performance, as well as a fun addition, the Hall of Fame, which tracks points students have earned by completing lessons and tasks.
While the Hall of Fame part wasn’t overly exciting for my daughter since she’s a singular homeschooler, I could see this being super fun in competitive homes that have multiple students using the Typesy platform.
Typing Curriculum Assignments
While we were full-time RV living, most of our structured learning happened over the summer months.
However, I have recently switched to a less structured year-round homeschool routine instead, letting my daughter run with her education at her own pace, stepping in when needed.
I did the same thing with this typing curriculum.
That said, one of the first things I did was scroll through the course options to find her best fit.
I ended up choosing 2 programs for her to focus on for the remainder of the summer — an interactive keyboard course that focuses on learning all the parts of the keyboard and furthering her foundational skills, and a grade-appropriate cross-curricular course that covers multiple topics!
Then, my daughter took her onboarding quiz, which suggested she take the same interactive keyboard course I had already chosen — I guess I know what I’m doing some of the time, haha!
While I only chose 2 keyboard courses to start with, there are so many options on the Typesy platform to choose from, you guys!
I was thoroughly impressed (and almost overwhelmed) by the sheer number of options we had.
There are grade-level courses, multi-subject courses, and foundational courses for getting started.
Plus, you can create and assign spelling word lists for extra spelling and vocabulary practice.
Not going to lie, I absolutely loved this part!
My daughter struggles with spelling, and I truly believe the extra practice will do her a world of good!
The interactive keyboard course my daughter is working through has video instruction, audio instruction, and activity-based typing drills.
While she’s never been a huge fan of anything involving instruction, she absolutely loves the typing drills included in this course!
To help students track their progress, all lessons have a WPM (words per minute) timer, and a ding that sounds when they miss-type.
When creating word assignments for students, you choose a word list and an activity for them to work through.
While I’m more relaxed in our homeschool and decided to skip this part, there are advanced option settings that parents can use to make this part more structured — such as assigning due dates, forcing immediate completion, or setting time limits.
There are so many wonderful options for creating a course load and assignments in Typesy, making this a wonderful tool for parents who like to customize their child’s learning experience!
Student Interface
The student interface is completely customizable for students, which my daughter absolutely loved!
One of the first things she did was choose her own background screen and start creating an avatar.
The profile portion is fun and inviting! It also tracks her typing speed, accuracy, and all the points she has acquired, all in one easy-to-view place.
Much like the admin interface, this has a Typesy Hall-of-Fame which shows where other students place in their point ranking each week.
This is a super fun addition for competitive kiddos and a welcome extra since my daughter is currently in a 1-homeschool-kid household!
All word assignments I create for my daughter appear in her tasks tab, and the curriculum courses I’ve chosen are in her courses tab, making this a super-easy platform for kids to navigate.
Since parents have the option to assign tasks and set due dates or time limits, this typing program is a great option for more structured learners!
However, non-structured learners and relaxed homeschoolers (like us) can truly thrive using this typing curriculum as well.
Take my daughter, for example, I simply assign word lists and courses and let her complete them at her own pace.
Once she completes her word lessons, she can then create personal word lists from previous or current lists I’ve assigned to her.
From there, she can create flashcards and review words as often as she’d like.
Sometimes she creates tons of words to work on and does 3 typing lessons in a single day! Then there are the times she takes 3 days off from all formal learning and focuses on her hobbies, it’s simply how she learns best.
This is the same kid who taught herself how to ride a bike in a matter of hours after her dad tried to teach her for weeks.
So, needless to say, with the customizable options this homeschool typing curriculum has to offer, it can work for many different types of learners and households!
Why We Love This Homeschool Typing Curriculum
Man, oh man, there are so many reasons I already love the homeschool Typesy program, and I have a feeling that list will continue to grow over time!
Personally, I love the wide variety of fun, education, visual aids, and different teaching styles because it helps to engage all types of learners.
My pre-teen daughter, however, loved the electronic aspect most!
She thoroughly enjoyed all the things she could earn (avatar features, pets, and points), and the fact that she could work at her own pace to create a personalized learning experience.
While we have only had our hands on this homeschool typing curriculum for a few weeks now, I already know it’s a great fit, and I look forward to watching my daughter improve both her typing skills and her vocabulary/spelling skills!
It’s Fun
Not going to lie, my daughter’s absolute favorite part of this typing curriculum is the games.
And you know what? I’m totally ok with that!
Every time she is playing a game on this platform, she’s both learning and improving her typing skills, which is a huge win for this homeschool mom.
There is fun tucked into every lesson and game.
While my daughter loves all the fun she can have on Typesy, I love the parental controls and the fact that she has to earn some of that fun stuff.
For example, she has to complete lessons to earn pets and to unlock the customizations (such as eye color and hairstyle) to build her avatar.
Instant gratification is far too prevalent in this world, so I absolutely love the fact that she has to work towards these things as a part of her learning experience!
The same goes for games. She can’t just pick and choose which game she wants to play from the start; she has to complete certain games to earn access to other games.
It’s just so good, you guys!
It’s Educational
Naturally, a homeschool typing program is going to be educational in the fact that kids are going to learn how to type.
However, Typesy takes it up a notch with all of its incredible extras!
For example, one of the courses I chose for my daughter to work through was a cross-curricular program.
This program encourages students to type up informational text in a variety of subjects.
Not only does my daughter work on improving her typing skills by typing up scientific or historical texts, but she also has the option to expand on what she is learning during each lesson!
She can simply click any word in the text to gather more information on that particular word — from the pronunciation and definition to seeing images and examples of that word being used in a sentence.
Plus, they touch on comprehension, which is huge in my book!
All lessons in this course have multiple questions at the end to ensure children are both advancing in their typing skills and retaining information!
These mini language arts lessons are a bonus that I didn’t expect when we started using Typesy, and I absolutely love them!
All that said, my daughter still has some work to do in her interactive keyboard course for foundational learning before we dive any further into the cross-curricular, so it is being shelved until fall, but I can hardly wait for her to get back to this one because it’s pretty incredible!
As I’ve mentioned twice already, my daughter struggles with spelling, so naturally, I just had to mention how much I love the spelling portion of this homeschool typing curriculum one more time!
The word lists are easy for parents to create, and it took my daughter about 5 minutes to run through the first lesson.
It was in game format (which she loved), but at a skill level that she found to be more challenging and enjoyable than the beginner level games themselves!
The best part about all the educational material Typesy has to offer? It has one of the widest age ranges I’ve ever seen!
From K-12 courses to SAT prep and adult learning!
While my daughter is learning a plethora of things using this homeschool typing curriculum, her typing skills are the main focus.
I quickly saw her WPM jump from 12 to 25 after only a few days of learning, and I’m super excited to see all of her typing skills improve even more over the next school year!
It’s Adjustable
As a relaxed homeschooler, I love anything that can easily be squeezed into our homeschool routine.
This one checks all the boxes, you guys!
Parents can use Typesy and all of its advanced options as a part of their homeschool core curriculum to create a more structured learning environment for their students, or they can use it as a fun extra!
We chose the latter.
I absolutely love how I was able to customize my daughter’s learning experience, set the parental controls that were important to me, and pick and choose what courses she will be working through this summer and beyond.
She can take things at her own pace and fit typing in whenever she feels like it.
The options and the flexible nature of this homeschool typing program are endless, making it a great option for most homeschool families!
Get Your Hands on This Typing Program
Ready to get your hands on this homeschool typing program (pun intended)?
If teaching typing to your homeschoolers is on your radar for next year and you want a program that will cover everything and more, this is the one, you guys!
Give your children that combination of fun and learning they crave by signing up for Typesy homeschool today!
