Typing Instructor for Kids Version 3 [OLD VERSION]
by Individual Software
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Software Reviews of Typing Instructor for Kids Version 3 [OLD VERSION]
Customer Review: Typing Instructor for Kids
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great product for teaching your children how to type. Keeps them entertained. Just make sure you get the version that works for Vista. This version does not.Customer Review: Typing Instructor 3 has several islands of fun
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought Typing Instructor for Kids 3 for my 4 year old son. The product is recommended for children age 7 and up. As a result, I let him know it was available, but I really didn't expect him to touch it for a few years. I do NOT recommend children so young using any typing software, as their hands are not big enough for the keys. With that said, here is what happened... My son got sick for several days and I was running out of quiet things for him to do, so I allowed him more time on the computer. He eventually came across the Typing Instructor for Kids 3 disk and has been glued to it ever since.
The program does need to be run from an administrator account when using Windows XP. Since my son knows the rules of the computer AND follows them, this wasn't a problem for me, but it might be a problem for other families.
I noticed in some reviews that there were complaints about not enough rewards/games. This is due to user error, not the product. There are actually 3 islands: Explorer Island, Typer Island and Story Lagoon.
Typer Island has all of the lessons and introduces the games and treasures. When you pass a lesson, you get a treasure and/or game to play. You get to set what it takes to pass a lesson - anywhere from 5 words per minute to 30 words per minute - the default is 5 WPM. This can be changed in the Settings area. You can also set the level between "Easy" or "Not That Easy" on the log-in page and Settings area. Non-beginners will want to set the difficulty level before beginning. This island is the big island in the center of the page.
Explorer Island has nearly all of the games and rewards - I have found only one game that is in the castle and not on Explorer Island. Kids can repeat the games or treasures, as often as they like, using just the keys they have learned in the lessons on Typer Island or a specific lesson. This island is in the left-hand upper corner of the screen. This is the island that many other reviewers may not have been aware of - it is kind of small on the screen. There are also instructions on the Ship, that are easy to skip over, that go into all of the features of the product.
Story Lagoon has books for you to type. This island is good for kids who have achieved touch-typist status. It is in the right-hand side of the screen.
There is also a Results area that breaks down your accomplishments by speed, accuracy, fingers, letters, etc. It's pretty insightful.
I would also recommend this product to adults who have a typing test that they need to pass. Go into the Settings area and set the passing level to 5WPM more than you need for the test and go for it. After about two days, you will find out exactly where you need to practice.
When my son first started, he typed a pretty solid 3WPM. Since 5WPM is the lowest passing level this did create some frustration. The biggest hurdle to get over the frustration problem is to pass the first lesson of letters d, f, j and k. Once this lesson has been passed, one can go to Explorer Island and play all of the games. You maybe able to go to Explorer Island before passing a lesson, but we didn't notice it until after he had passed a lesson. He eventually got up to 8WPM on the games and got the courage up to try another lesson. He now has passed the entire home row and is so proud that he can type real words. All this in being home sick for 3 days from Preschool.
Customer Review: Pretty neat
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a pretty neat program, even for adults. We used it to introduce our nephew to touch typing and he made a lot of progress in two weeks, after he got past the not so intuitive opening bits. [Best to just jump past them.] Then I tried it to touch up my own typing skills -- worked well. The "kids stuff" is sort of fun once you get to a certain age, and the key thing is the keyboard exercise. Customer Review: Great Product For Kids
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this product for my son to help him with his typing. He absolutely loves it! He really likes the games and is getting better and better with his typing. I definitely recommend this product!Customer Review: Typer Island is a bore
Summary: 1 Stars
My eight-year old son wouldn't go near this after trying it for one afternoon. The typing lessons are fine, they cover all the basics, but unless your child is super focused and diligent there are simply too many demands before you get to a reward (game). Although designed for kids, it is really not super kid-friendly. The rewards are too far apart, and frankly, not worth the effort. The voices used in this program are annoying, and Typer Island is dull dull dull. It really would have been easy to make this an interesting program...if only someone had thought it through. The creators should look to such educational games as Chess with Fritz and Chesster and some of the Reader Rabbit programs to understand incentives for kids.