Summer KEYBOARDING for Students Entering Grades 3-7
Typing skills are essential in today's technology dependent learning environment. Typing is practiced and promoted in grades K-6 at St. Louise Parish School in weekly technology classes. Students learn to type using the QWERTY keyboard and proper keyboard finger placement is emphasized. The level of speed and accuracy expected by our computer teachers increases as the children develop in age and finger dexterity.
Practicing proper keyboarding fingering over the summer will help your child continue to develop fundamental typing skills as well as preventing him or her from reverting to poor fingering habits.
Just as learning to play a sport or an instrument with correct form is vital, it’s also essential that students use the correct finger positions on the keyboard to build accurate muscle memory. While students are practicing, parents are encouraged to observe and guide their children to use the fingering shown in the diagram since “practice makes permanent".
We are requiring that every St. Louise student entering grades 3-7 put in a minimum number of minutes of keyboarding practice at least 4 days a week, using the online keyboarding programs listed below.
| Entering Grade in September 2023 | Website | Minimum # of Minutes* |
| 3 - 5 | https://stlouiseschool.typetastic.com/login | 300 |
| 6 - 7 | https://stlouise.typingclub.com/?next=/portal/ | 300 |
*Use typing game board attached to track minutes
Note: beginning next year, 2023-2024, students will be receiving a grade for typing on their report card.
Goals for words per minute (WPM) are:
- By the end of 3rd grade, 15 WPM
- By the end of 4th grade, 20 WPM
- By the end of 5th grade, 25 WPM
- By the end of 6th grade, 30 WPM
- By the end of 7th grade, 35 WPM
Students have log-in credentials on the keyboarding programs:
- Student's user-name format: The user-name consists of the first 4 letters of the students's last + the first 2 letters of the student's first name.
- For example, if a student's name is Joseph Carpenter, the user-name would be carpjo (this is not case sensitive).
- Current 6th grades use full last name in the user name, example carpenterjo.
- Student's password: The password for all students is password1 (this is case sensitive).
Each student’s progress will be tracked by their computer teacher during the summer.
- The successful completion of this summer keyboarding assignment will be incorporated in each 3rd - 6th grader’s 1st trimester grade for computer
class.
To help the student achieve the typing goal of 300 minutes for the summer, you can use this typing map.
