Typing being taught in primary schools

BUFFALO, N.Y., Feb. 5 (UPI) -- Many U.S. schools are teaching typing in second or third grade -- when children's hands can fit the keyboard -- but some teach it in kindergarten.

Thanks to many home computers, many kindergartners arrive at school with some computer experience. Five-year-old students at Orchard Park, a suburb of Buffalo, N.Y., start learning keyboard fundamentals in kindergarten, so they learn letters and typing at the same time.

Many 5- and 6-year-old children type using both hands and get so much practice that some high schools no longer offer typing classes, the Buffalo (N.Y.) News reported Sunday.

However, some educators say primary school children aren't physically ready to begin typing, and keyboarding lessons may come at the cost of good penmanship.

Whenever typing is taught, using a computer makes it easy to track progress of the student. All it takes is a click of the mouse to get an instant summary of a student's work, from the number of words per minute to the number of errors per finger.