What to do with this activity?
Keyboard skills are very important these days - computers and devices are part of everyday life. Working on a computer might also encourage a child who is reluctant to hand write.
It's great to learn to type on the keyboard with all your fingers. With those skills you can write faster as time goes on. Have a look at "Dance Mat Typing" on the BBC Bitesize website. It's a fun and effective way of learning. There are four levels of difficulty to choose from, and it's good to do the exercises over and over again. That way your fingers will find the right letters quickly.
Once they have learned to use the mouse and keyboard your child is better able to express and record what they want in writing. Your child will benefit from:
- being able to put their thoughts down,
- changing what they have written easily,
- using the spell checker, and
- being able to quickly show their writing in an organised way.
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Why am I doing this?
Writing is like a muscle – the more your child practices it the stronger their writing ability will become. You child is also more likely to write about things they like or are interested in – writing is a way to express yourself and using writing in this way can be more meaningful to a child.
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How can I do more?
Decide on a writing project you could work on either together or with you standing by to help. This could be writing or sending an email to a family member or friend living away or your child writing about one of their interests. List key messages you want to write about, who else might read it and then begin work on the piece. Have a dictionary at the ready and use the spell checker if working on a computer.
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