Keyboarding

Keyboarding skills, once known as typewriting, have become an essential part of life, both in academic and professional settings. The ability to type quickly and accurately contribute to a person’s social life as well, as well as aid in the ease day to day tasks involving computers. Keyboarding skills allow children to create, explore, and learn to solve problems. Later in life, computer literacy skills allow adults to lead productive lives and attain higher paying jobs.

Typing skills can be difficult for children at first, especially those with fine motor and visual perception difficulties. Keyboarding lessons typically begin in schools at an early age, but learning can begin at home. Keyboarding games contain activities that train a child to recognize and find specific keys. These skills are typically taught to children aged 8 or 9, but some children may show interest in learning at an earlier age.

Speed and accuracy are the two goals when developing keyboarding skills. Speed involves the quickness with which a specific key is associated with a specific finger by the brain and involves development of many areas of perception, motor and sensory learning. Accuracy involves recognizing and correcting any errors made when typing. This skill is expected to develop with practice.

Children who have difficulties with keyboarding skills may display signs of frustration and become discouraged when attempting homework. Occupational therapists and other professionals can refer to the Developmental Milestones Guide to determine whether or not there is need for concern and possible additional instruction for a child if their keyboarding skills are not developing in league with their peers.

For occupational therapists and pediatric specialists, the Developmental Milestones Guide can be an essential piece of your everyday interactions and goal writing sessions with parents and children. Instead of spending valuable time and effort researching and looking up individual milestones, the Developmental Milestones Guide offers everything you need in one handy place. Download a digital copy of the guide, or order your printed copy today.

In our guide, you’ll find tables listing specific developmental milestones for each category, including fine and gross motor skills, self-care, cognitive abilities, and language development, as well as others that contribute to the development of keyboarding skills. We strive to increase the understanding that these milestones are only a guide, and that because each child is unique the age at which they reach these milestones may vary. Each page of the guide includes a section listing the age, including years and months, at which children typically develop the particular milestone.

ORDER NOW