Talking Fingers - A Schoolhouse Review Crew Review

 

I have mentioned before that one of the subjects from high school that has been the most helpful in my adult life, indeed perhaps THE most helpful was typing class. It was a simple one semester class, but taught me a skill that I use almost every day. In this day and age of computers and the internet, it is a skill that is very valuable and one that I want my kids to learn. John Allen has taken a couple of keyboarding classes in his lifetime as has Joshua, so I had been thinking about one for Jacob as well. Well, wouldn't you know it that God dropped one right in our lap through the Schoolhouse Review Crew. In fact, Read, Write & Type from Talking Fingers Inc. not only teaches good typing skills but also teaches reading and writing skills as well. God really knew what Jacob needed! And, it's very entertaining!

           

There are several things that I appreciate about this program.

I love that Read, Write & Type is very entertaining with an interesting story line that keeps Jacob's attention. I'm sure you have noticed that super heroes are all the rage these days. Story lines with villains and heroes are what kids really like. Well, Read, Write and Type has capitalized on that and has a marvelous story line where Vexor, the villain, is trying to steal all of the letters to keep them from telling their stories. Someone needs to be the hero and foil Vexor evil plot! Who is that hero? Your child! Or, in our case it was Jacob. With the help of the two hands (pictured above), Lefty and Rightway, your child defeats Vexor all while learning phonics, reading, writing, typing and more! Jacob loves the story line. 

         

I love that Jacob is learning how to type correctly. I have seen people that don't know how to type properly and have to hunt and peck to use a keyboard. That takes forever, and, as I mentioned before, computer and keyboarding skills are a very important part of life these days.  Lefty and Rightway teach the kids how to position their fingers on the keyboard and how what fingers to use to reach what letters. And they do it all while teaching the kids how to read, which I'm going to get to next. I love the way that they integrate everything! 

       

I love that Jacob is getting practice in reading with a correct phonics based program. Most people don't know that I was an educational therapist for eleven years at a private school in Florida where I worked with learning disabled students. One of the things that we used was an excellent phonics program. The method that Read, Write & Type uses reminds me a lot of that phonics program. It teaches the correct way to make sounds and blend letter sounds together. I appreciate that. I also really appreciate the way that this program builds on what has been already learned and all of the reinforcements that this program has. This is really a well researched and well developed program.

         

Finally, I love that Jacob is getting rewarded for what he is accomplishing. As well as the "kudos" and "well dones" while actually using Read, Write & Type, Jacob earns certificates when he completes different levels. There are 40 different levels in this and I like that he gets constant encouragement.

 

As you can probably tell, our family really loves Read, Write & Type from Talking Fingers Inc. Yes, I said "our family". You see, Joshua used this program as well when he was younger and he loved it too! It has been a real blessing to us. To find out more about this great program just click on any of the highlighted links above. To find out what some of the other members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew thought of Read, Write & Type click on the banner below. Happy Homeschooling!