Re: [kidsgames] Typing/Reading Tutors

[Brian Minton <minton@csc.smsu.edu>]

On Sat, 15 Jan 2000, Robert Black wrote:

> I hope I'm not putting the cart before the horse to suggest a couple of
> programs if someone was looking for an idea. I was looking for a single
> floppy program to run on a 486 when our windows machines were tied up for
> my stepdaughter (age 12) to play some new games and ran across a free one
> (no charge, not gnu type free) for windows put out by
> http://typingmaster.com/index.html. 
> 
> A short description of the program is a game where words float from the
> bottom of the screen in bubbles and you have to type them before they
> dissapear at the top. I was really amazed that she enjoyed playing the game
> as it grades your words per minute and accuracy and net words per minute.
> There are a couple of other games in there also. She now plays this
> everyday and tells me her score. 

check out the typespeed program, it does basically that.  it is distributed
under the GPL, and it is a linux program, although it may be easy to compile
for win/dos.  <URL: http://www.sicom.fi/~bestis/typespeed.html>.

the only thing is, it tends to cause insanity :-)  those darn words just keep
getting faster!  *Aaarrrrgggh*

> 
> As typing and reading instruction is a base skill I thought I might give
> someone some ideas. After we get moved in a month or two I will give her a
> Linux machine linked to our home net and put her in the beta tester pool
> for kids games. 
> 

yes, there definitely needs to be more typing (and computer skill in general)
teaching type games.  For instance, in Windows, there is Mavis Beacon... 

> Robert
> 
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