Keyboarding is Essential

I'm trying to convince my son that keyboarding is a skill that he's going to need for the rest of his life. He's only eight, and, as such, has a rather impatient view of the world. Using his fingers in such a way isn't new to him; he's been learning piano for the past two years. He's pretty good. Of course, when he sits down to the piano, he knows has has to play the piano. When he sits down at the computer, the expectation is that he can launch immediately into Lego Indiana Jones. The new rule here is that in order to play on the computer, he has to use his typing tutor (featuring Sponge Bob Square Pants, so it's not like he's staring Mavis Beacon in the face) for ten minutes before he plays. This always brings on a lot of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.

I remember in junior high being a fairly fast two-fingered typist, and I thought that would be enough. Then I got to take a typing class -- yes, it was typing back then, on electronic typewriters, but typewriters nonetheless -- and figured out that learning how to type with all ten fingers would make the whole thing go a lot faster. With practice, I've increased my typing speed to 79 words per minute, no errors. Even in the past ten years, the speed has gone up ten words per minute. I'm known as one of the fastest typists at work. Typing fast can get you in trouble, though. More on that later.