Typing Resources--FREE!!!

My good OT buddy, Lauren Swedenborg, compiled this list of resources for keyboarding. Please send me any additional resources you use, or your comments on the ones listed here.

KEYBOARDING PROGRAMS
For Learning Touch Typing


Free On-Line Programs

Dance Mat Typingwww.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/flash/stage1.shtml

Touch Typingwww.sense-lang.org/typing

Nimble Fingerswww.nimblefingers.com

Typing Lessons with Peterhttp://www.typing-lessons.org/preliminaries_1.html

Free Typing Tutorial
http://www.alfatyping.com/

Free TypingGame.net
http://www.freetypinggame.net/
This site also has a number of different typing games to help practice letters learned



Commercially Available

For a comprehensive review of each of these programs, as well as information on additional programs, please go to http://typing-for-kids-software-review.toptenreviews.com/ .

Type to Learn
There are many versions of this program. The most current version is Type To Learn 4, which retails for $79.95, but you can download a 30 day free trial.
Purchasing/Free Download Source: http://store.sunburst.com/Home.aspx

Type to Learn 3 is more cost friendly, retailing for around $29.99 ($32.99 for Vista compatability).
Purchasing Source: http://www.smartkidssoftware.com/ndsun3.htm

Typing Instructor for Kids 5.0
Purchasing Source: http://www.hermanstreet.com/store/smarthtml/typing-instructor-for-kids-5.html

Typing Quick & Easy
Purchasing Source: http://www.hermanstreet.com/store/software-typng-quick-and-easy-17-149763.html

Ainsworth Keyboard Trainer
Purchasing Source: http://www.qwerty.com/Prices%20and%20Ordering.htm
Free trial download available

UltraKey
Purchasing Source: http://ultrakey.com/
Free trial download available

Typing Pal Junior
Purchasing Source: http://www.typingpal.com/typingpal/tpjr.asp
Free demo trial available

SpongeBob SquarePants Typing
Purchasing Source: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NKPF7U?ie=UTF8&tag=ttr%5Ftyping-for-kids-software-20

He's Got MY Word!

Oh, those word sorts! That's the new way to practice spelling in the county schools I serve. Once the students cut those tiny little rectangles apart they then have to arrange them in word "families" and use them all week long for different activities.

As the week progresses there are lots of little rectangles all over the classroom, tucked into desks, loose in bookbags, strewn on the floor. "He's got my word!" "No, it's my word." How to solve this social dilemma?

Have the students quickly draw straight lines on the back of their paper before they cut apart their words; that's the answer of many of the smart kindergarten teachers I now work with in various schools. Most students have the amazing ability to recall the exact crayon shade they used for coloring their papers. One teacher even thought of using the mini sentence holders (see blue plastic contraption in photo) she bought at "Targhet" to hold those slippery word sorts. Works great for a little sweetie who has difficulty using one hand to stabilize small objects.

Handwriting to Make You Cry

For a good reason! This is gorgeous handwriting, done by a 2nd grader whose mom is a teacher for students with learning disabilities and who LOVES the Handwriting Without Tears program. Be ready to be amazed.

Use Music to Increase Alertness

Last Friday I spent a time working with a student in a classroom that is new to me this year. While we worked together I got to hear the kindergarten teacher and several students sing the alphabet song to a modern tune, "Who Let the Dogs Out?" As the teacher pointed to individual letters on a large alphabet poster, she and the students sang about the object in each alphabet square: "Apple makes the A sound, a, a, a, a...Ball makes the B sound, bah, bah, bah, bah..." All weekend I've been playing back that song in my head and loving it.

Did you know that Raffi has a youTube video about brushing your teeth? He's performing live and surprises the children by putting on a pair of dark shades and attempting to perform his classic "Brush Your Teeth" song like a rapper. The high schoolers I work with in a class for students with severe disabilities loved the song and we used it to increase their engagement in a integrated therapy activity on dental hygiene last month.


Try looking up modern music for the activities you're working on with students this month--it sure makes the seasonal activities more fun and can increase alertness by the students to the task at hand.

Rubber Ducky

Nestled up in a corner of the building where I work, I share a windowless office with a wild PT and an inventive teacher for kids in early childhood special education. The ECSE teacher works with students in their homes and in settings described as "natural environments." In her case, the NE settings are a kiddie gym and a daycare center connected to a hospital.

A week ago Friday she was trying hard not to giggle as she worked at her desk, but she finally let it all out and told me her secret. She had stopped by one of the local 99 cent stores and bought their whole stock of duck bills, or duck noses, which made loud duck calls when blown into. With glee she told me how her parents were going to hate her next week when she passed out the duck bills and showed the kids in the NE playgroup how to use them. Every time we ran into one another this week we exchanged a "Friday's coming" look and I teased her about how her time on earth was running out.

Well, today was the appointed day and I asked her late in the afternoon how it went. She described how she showed the students how to blow into the duck bills and how some had been successful after a few tries, and how some had a little practicing to do, when they got home!

Then she shared a remark from one of her parents and almost got tears in her eyes when she relayed a comment that made her week, maybe even her semester. One mom had collected up her child and gathered up all her bags to pack in the car and go home, but then paused and said, "I think we'll go by the lake and feed the ducks."

My teacher friend said, "This mom really got it."

We're all hoping that our work is occasionally appreciated by others and that we have made a positive impact on a child's life. Sometimes we're surprised by the joy of having someone else recognize our efforts. I'm glad my teacher friend felt that today.

I'll leave you with a blast from my college days, when my best friend, Cathy, and I used to sing this happy song on the way to/from our summer job. You can sing along, too, and here's a hint for the musically inclined--a plastic straw in a fast food soft drink cup works just great:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8IfCSnYPYo

Everything is Gorgeous in Richmond

Hope everyone enjoyed their Easter vacation, or plan to enjoy the next week off from school. This is the first time I remember having a week free before Easter and it was very weird--don't I get next week off, too???

To burn off some calories after our big meal today our family enjoyed a walk through a beautiful Richmond neighborhood--Westover Hills. Hope these photos reveal even a little bit of how gorgeous the azaleas and dogwood trees are in the spring. I included a photo of a new bridge tunnel we discovered--even though I've been living here over 30 years! Who knows what new things all of us will discover as this school year draws to a close?

And the grapes? Well, if your students need practice drawing small circles or other shapes, grab a box of scented crayons and have them draw the fruit their noses detect. They can "cheat" and read the name of the fruit scent on the wrapper of the crayon. If your students aren't comfortable writing the letters on their own, they can dictate the letters to you and make sure you form the correctly. Have you tried writing with your non-dominant hand as you work with students? This evens the playing field and makes your letters look less "perfect," which is less intimidating to young writers.

For this photo, I drew the curvy line for the stem of the grapes and we took turns drawing the circles. Since both of us are right-handed we made sure to draw the circles counter-clockwise. Lefties get to draw them clockwise.

Happy Lips

Yes, it really did snow a lot in central Virginia last week. We were out of school for 3 1/2 days--YEAH!!! Thought you'd enjoy seeing the snow and my personal "snowman" who kept us warm by faithfully stoking the woodstove several times a day.

Here are some photos of a fun activity we did recently with a group of 3-5 year olds in a class for preschool kids with varying abilities. The adults pre-cut happy lips and provided 2" x 8" strips of sturdy white paper with each student's name written in all caps, each letter separated by vertical lines. The students snipped apart the letters of their names, along with some extra snips for teeth. We provided extra strips of paper for making lottsa teeth.

Once the snipping was done the students glued the paper teeth to the back of the happy lips, turned over the lips and glued them to a black background paper. After this they arranged the letters to spell their names and glued the letters to the same background paper.

This activity was part of community helpers week and the session included reading a book about sleeping fireman, policeman, postman... and then having the students take turns sitting in a "dentist's" chair for an exam. Some of them were a little freaked out at the idea of laying back in the chair and having their friendly OT lady turn into a scary, white-coated medical professional. However, they all ended up asking for a turn when they saw that their braver classmates made it through the ordeal without suffering.