Kids Learn to Type Before They Drive These Days??!

I remember learning to type. Because my daytime course schedule was packed, my parents drove me to a nearby high school to take evening classes. On an electric typewriter...

FFF (space) JJJ (space)

I learned to type about the same time I learned to drive. Driving and typing. Doorways to adulthood.

Not so today.

At least with typing.

I've been perusing the Common Core Standards for Writing and noticed something interesting:

Grade 3 (my bold)
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.6 With guidance and support from adults, use technology to produce and publish writing (using keyboarding skills) as well as to interact and collaborate with others.

Grade 4 (my bold)
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.6 With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of one page in a single sitting.

Grade 5 (my bold)
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.6 With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of two pages in a single sitting.

Grade 6 (my bold)
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of three pages in a single sitting.

When I read that 5th graders are supposed to type two pages in one sitting, I distinctly heard a character speaking from the movie, The Princess Bride. "INCONCEIVABLE!!!!!!"

Soooooo,..... methinks my 5th grader might do a bit more typing in the new year. We'll return to a favorite standby, Dance Mat Typing (free), from the BBC. Maybe we'll see you on the dance floor??

And not on the freeway! ;)