Review: Christian Keyboarding

Computers have become a way of life for most people these days. In fact, my children will never remember not having at least one computer in the house. Wow - now I feel really old. However, I digress. Since computers are now part of daily living, another skill that really needs to be learned is how to touch type.

I remember well my typing class in high school. And yes, I even took my typing class on a computer. Granted it was a very old version of a computer and required boot disks and we had to be careful not to leave the screen on or the images would be burned in to them forever - but it was a computer! I remember my teacher standing at the front of the room singsonging "a - a - a - space - a - a - a - space." I also remember loving it.

The skills I learned then were extremely helpful. I even went on to work as a medical transcriptionist for eight years. Being able to type fast but more importantly, accurately, was a great skill I learned beginning in high school.

However, now younger and younger children need those skills. Enter in the typing eBooks by Christian Keyboarding. Members of the TOS Homeschool Crew were given copies of Keyboarding for the Christian School: Elementary Version ($12.95 for grades K-5) as well as Keyboarding for the Christian School ($15.95 for grades 6 and up).

The same basic skills are taught in both versions. The elementary version has some fun colorful graphics added to each lesson plus a copy of the keyboarding row that is being worked on for each lesson. It covers all the letters, special symbols, and numbers over the course of 29 lessons. It continues with some formatting lessons (how to center text, make lists, etc.). There is also a section at the end to give timed tests to your child to see how well they are doing.

The version for grades six and up includes a few things that are helpful to older children:

• MLA Reports
• APA Reports
• Cover Page
• Works Cited
• Bibliography
• Personal Business Letters
• Business Letters
• Envelopes
• Proofreader’s Marks

Samples of the books may be viewed by clicking here.

Overall I thought both programs were put together well and priced at a reasonable level. I only used the elementary version with my two older boys (ages 8 & 13). While they didn't find them all that fun, there are certain skills that just have to be learned, no matter how "fun." This is something we've been working on a lot this year. I did like how the level for grades six and up contained all the additional formatting lessons. This is something we'll be coming back to. I know the skills learned now will last them for a lifetime.

Be sure to head over to the TOS Homeschool Crew blog to read more reviews.



*Disclaimer: I was not paid for this review. All opinions shared are my own. TOS Crew Members are given the product free of charge in exchange for our unbiased opinion of the product.