This Giveaway is now closed! Thanks for stopping by! Guess what? I plan on doing another giveaway for this wonderful typing program in the summer right before back to school. Be sure you are following me to know about it. The winners are listed at the bottom of this post after I draw them.
Learning how to type was something I valued learning in high school. Dare I mention that the typewriter I learned to type on was even older than an IBM Selectric typewriter, which is dinosaur old by today’s fast changing standards. It had one of those moving carriages and weird me loved looking up at the end of a sentence as I pushed the carriage return back to the left.
Though moving carriages and the more advanced sphere like ball, which replaced moving carriages are both things of the past, the skill of touch typing is alive and thriving.
How Did You Learn To Type?
Because typing is a necessity in this fast changing world of technology and a life long skill that I know my kids will use, I have been searching for a typing program that fits my standard. It has not been easy. So I was thrilled to receive Ultimate Typing and to use it with both of my sons these past few months.
(I received Ultimate Typing free in exchange for my honest opinion. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my kids. And for sure I will tell you what is on my mind. Click here if you want a full disclosure.)
Oh sure there are some free programs and other typing programs I used when the kids were little that taught them some light typing. But now that they are older, I have been looking for a solid program that goes beyond just fun.
Look at my list of what I think a well-rounded learn how to type program should include:
- Tutorials should be state of the art. With the technology we have today, my interactive learners like video teaching and the videos should be high quality and engaging. Boring lessons on a blank page do not do it for us. I mean this is typing right? So I need it a bit more lively;
- My older kids should be able to do it independently;
- Don’t penalize me because I have a large family or want to use it with multiple children. Even if I had one child, I may want to use the program for myself or brush up on my skills without worrying that I am breaking copyright laws. Complicated pricing for multiple users is a big turnoff for me;
- It should have incremental teaching tips;
- It needs to educate my boys on ergonomics because when sitting for a long time, it is important to take care of their hands, wrists and back. I had a test in high school on the importance of posture and its affect on the body. Of course this was because I was a serious typist typing 130 words a minute in my prime, but its important that my boys know how to correct back or hand problems if they have them;
- Because my boys are not preschoolers or kindergarteners, I want a tracking system that I can use for each child to chart their progress, which is not babyish;
- I want it meaty enough so that I can count it as a high school credit elective for Mr. Awesome;
- I want it to have easy to read text with bright and clear pictures; and
- And for both age groups, I want lots of games and ways to make it fun.
I got all of this and so much more as we used Ultimate Typing over the past few months. At first I was hesitant about accepting the curriculum for review because of the lack of well, glamour, in previous programs I have used. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t just want something that is state of the art with high quality graphics that is pretty to look at, but it had to teach typing in a way that is not boring.
After I unwrapped Ultimate Typing, I instantly saw the superior quality. There is just no comparison to other programs I have used over the years and that includes comparing what you get for the price too.
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Ultimate Typing has a variety of games and exercises for every age learner, which is one fact that I really love. Also though, a high quality video precedes the lesson to explain what to do and what you will cover. Watch the high quality tutorial and begin your lesson. The boys don’t need me standing there.
The boys hunted and pecked with free programs when they were young, but wanting to seriously learn how to type so that it is a life-long skill requires a program where you actually learn how to type. I am glad we have used free things over the years as it strengthened their finger skills. But teaching my last two boys how to type shouldn’t take as long as it did with Mr. Senior 2013 because of not having an actual typing program instead of just playing games.
Bored and Board
There is no substitute for old fashion drill, repetition and practice when learning how to type. So I certainly don’t envy the company that can make tutoring that skill a lively one and Ultimate Typing has done just that.
| There is even practices for dictation and the first one was A Tale of Two Cities. |
Love the fact that even though my sons have not got there yet, the advanced lesson topics include vowels and diphthongs, common phrases and prefixes and suffixes to name a few. |
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Educators know that the value of typing is the ability to be able to articulate and convey ideas without being hampered by fine motor skills.
Though I feel that cursive handwriting will always be the hallmark of a well-educated child, learning how to type is essential today. Communicating ideas through typing allows any level of writer to focus on his overflowing ideas instead of formation of letters.
Whatever the complexities about keyboards too, most young children start learning quickly on them and their passion to express their ideas needs to be nurtured.
Ultimate Typing touts several honors and recognition and rightly so. I too am proud to partner with Ultimate Typing because I want to use a first-rate typing software in my homeschool.
There is so much more to Ultimate Typing that you will want to visit Ultimate Typing’s site to take it all in.
One more unique feature though I have to tell you about and that is after completing this program a certificate is issued to you stating that you have successfully completed this comprehensive course. Knowing that Mr. Awesome will have this skill to add to his high school diploma just makes his future opportunities for employment a bit more aggressive.
Who knows maybe the Mr. who refuses to give up his hunt and peck style will give Ultimate Typing a try also.
If I had to change one thing about it, I would change the name of a few of the games. Some of the games like beat the monster says to type in the magic spells and another one is titled ghosts. Again, a program of this caliber and high quality doesn’t need to use those title names. Titles like solve using your detective skills or mystery type games would be just as appealing to learners. Though there are plenty of other games to choose from, I did want you to know that.
Overall, I am delighted to partner with Ultimate Typing and to tell you about them because they have been committed to not only make learning to type educational, but to make it entertaining.
Ultimate Typing is a program that your family grows into and never outgrows.
Guess what? The folks at Ultimate Typing love giveaways and love educators too. So I will be giving away 2 programs.
Product Name: Ultimate Typing
Prices: Windows version: $29.95
Mac: $29.95
License: Unlimited User Accounts. {I love this because we can ALL use it.}
Type of Product: Instant download.
Customer Service: I received my download on time and it installed safely and quickly. Also, when I had questions, I received timely answers.
Ages: 7 to Adult. Love this fact that you never outgrow this program either!
Social Media Links:
Twitter @ultimatetyping
All prices are good at the time of this blog post.
A Giveaway! Yipppeeeeeee
>>>>>>> RULES. Let’s keep it easy. <<<<<<<
- The Giveaway for 2 Ultimate Typing programs starts today and ends Saturday April 5, 2014 @ 2:00 p.m. CST. Winners will be chosen by Random dot org and I will notify the winners by email and post here on the blog.
- Let me give you every chance to win and allow up to 2 entries on this baby. Comment here on this blog post for all entries. So one entry per comment here on the blog.
The first comment is your choice.
The second comment should be posted on one of the social sharing sites for Ultimate Typing (and then post the link here on my blog as your second comment). Here are the social sharing sites again for Ultimate Typing.
Twitter @ultimatetyping
Your comments/entries should look something like this.
1st comment. “I can’t live or school without this or I hope you are having a great day or I don’t like my kids.” (okay okay). Your choice!
2nd comment. “I commented or shared on (insert Google, Facebook or Twitter) and here is the link : (insert link)”
- Lastly, because I can’t have once in a lifetime email readers, the winner has 24 hours to claim his/her prize or I will pick another winner.
Hope You Win & Let’s Get this Party Started!! Come here to this blog post: The Value of Learning How to Type in Education & Psssst! A Little Something For You Too – A Giveaway, and I have even linked it for you.
Hugs and love ya,
Congratulations to the 2 Winners! Comment Numbers 23 & 5
Danielle & Tanecia
Danielle Hull
Mar 31, 2014 @ 13:37:54
Thanks so much for the thorough review! We have been using a free program, but my oldest has completed it and is ready for something more!
Tanecia
Mar 31, 2014 @ 11:53:04
This looks like a fun program!
[…] blogger and successful homeschooling mother Tina, from Tina’s Dynamic School Plus, offers a must-read, in-depth review of Ultimate Typing™ from a perspective that’s unique;: […]