I was busy prepping some school things as it became time to work with my 7 year old son on his phonics.  I told him I would be just a few minutes.  He asked if he could go ahead and work on Typing Instructor on the computer.  I said, 'Sure.'   As I finished, I came up to him and watched him take a typing test made up of random words.  He was typing 13 wpm on his home row keys with 97% accuracy.

Then it hit me.

My son can't read. 

 We are still working on letter sounds and some short vowel words.  'A fat cat sat on a mat.'   So, he is typing away on a test and has no idea what he is typing.  lol!  Somehow, there is something fundamentally wrong with this.

I'm sure the school systems would never teach typing BEFORE a child is reading fairly well.  Yet, he's doing it, and enjoying it!

He does very well at piano, memorizing Sonatinas and playing them blindfolded.  I'm sure he's just applying those piano skills to the keyboard.  He memorizes the finger that matches the letter and hits the key when he sees each letter.  He's going letter by letter, rather than seeing the words that he cannot read.

Sometimes, I am amazed at how the mind can work differently for different people.  Maybe he will learn to read from doing his typing. ???

Very strange.

Posted by mamabear3

That's a neat story. Thanks for sharing. What a great opportunity for your son to learn in his own way and on his own schedule, rather than following the order of things done in public school. Don't you just love homeschooling?