Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing for Kids

Mavis Beacon has been a popular typing teacher for many years. There is also a version of this program for younger kids ages 4-7 which will introduce your child to the letters of the alphabet and the keys on the keyboard. There are few options for younger kids and this is one which may fit the bill for your family. I do have a few reservations regarding this program which I should make you aware of.

Mavis is a small girl in this program rather than an intimidating adult "teacher." Mavis has invited your child to visit her house where she visits with her grandparents and her dog. Four rooms in the house offer a variety of skill building opportunities. Two outdoor play areas are available as well. Each exercise is basically the same, with only the background changing. Your child must find the letters flashed at the bottom of the screen and type them in order to activate animations on the main screen. Mavis seems to have a 'thing' about typing the alphabet in abc order. Although this is familiar to kids, it really has little to do with learning the keyboard. Learning to type by learning the letters in abc order is really rather ineffective. The objective here however, is to let your child become accustomed to the keyboard. There are now lessons about the home row or typing posture. Most 4-7 year olds are probably too small to benefit from these lessons anyhow.

As the letters are flashed across the bottom of the screen, animations dealing with beginning sounds are activated. Although this is a good idea, they can not keep up with any degree of speed. Even a slow typist will get beyond the animations and be hearing sounds that do not correlate to the keys being pushed. The problem becomes even more pronounced as your child types letters in strings. Once your child has progressed to typing words, the letters are still difficult to follow at the bottom of the screen. The idea is good, I just don't feel it comes together the way that it should. There are very few typing programs available for children in this age bracket. If your child has not warmed up to Read, Write and Type, this program would be your next best buy.

Grading:

Educational value- ** 1/2
Entertainment value- ***
Use of medium ** 1/2
Age- 4-7

Sorry, this program is no longer available. Watch for it at Ebay.com