Homeschool typing: a free typing curriculum by age, with a 12-week plan

Homeschool typing works best as ten to fifteen minutes, three to five days a week, starting when a child can read simple words and their hands rest comfortably on the home row, which for many children is around 7 or 8. A free tutor can carry the lessons: Peabody's typing tutor, TypingClub, Typing.com and BBC Bitesize's Dance Mat Typing all teach the home row first and add keys a few at a time. Peabody (peabody.kids) wrote this guide, and it is free through the end of 2026. The other tutors aren't ours, and nobody paid to be listed.

Every fact about another tutor below was read from its own page on 18 October 2026. Where a page didn't say something, we leave it out or say "not stated".

A homeschool typing plan by age

These ages are a starting point, not a rule. A child with small hands or who is still sounding out every word will find typing frustrating, and that's a fine reason to wait a few months. If your child already types with two fingers, it's worth starting touch typing soon, before the habit sets.

When should homeschoolers start typing?

There's no single right age. What matters more than age is three things:

1. Reading. A child who can read short words can type them. Before that, typing is copying shapes.
2. Hand size. Fingers should rest on A S D F and J K L ; without stretching.
3. Patience for slow. Touch typing is slower than hunting for keys at first. A child has to accept being slow for a few weeks.

Many families find all three line up around 7 or 8, often 2nd or 3rd grade. Some start earlier with a gentle tutor; some start at 10 and move quickly.

Posture and the home row

BBC Bitesize's Dance Mat Typing page gives sensible basics in a few lines: sit comfortably with your back straight and feet on the ground, find a position with support for the wrist and forearm, use the correct fingers, don't rush, and rest and shake your hands if they get tired. It also suggests not looking at your hands, even covering them with a simple cardboard box.

A few more things that help children:

• Feet flat. If their feet don't reach the floor, put a box or a stack of books under them.
• Elbows at the side, bent about square. A chair that's too low puts wrists up at the keys.
• The bumps on F and J. Every keyboard has a small ridge on these two keys. Fingers find home by touch, then return to it after every reach.
• A real keyboard. Touch typing on a tablet's glass screen is hard. A cheap external keyboard makes a big difference.
• Accuracy first. Speed follows accuracy. Most tutors, including Peabody's, ask for around 90% accuracy before moving on.

How Peabody's typing tutor works

Peabody has a typing tutor, reached from the front page. Here is exactly what it does, as built in October 2026.

The ladder. Eighteen lessons, two keys at a time: f and j, d and k, s and l, a and ;, g and h (the whole home row by lesson 5), then e and i, r and u, t and y, w and o, q and p (the top row), then v and m, c and n, b and comma, x and full stop, z and slash (the bottom row), then Big letters with Shift, Numbers, and Sentences. Each lesson has a words-a-minute target that climbs from 5 at the start to 14 at the end. A lesson is passed at its target with 90% accuracy, and passing opens the next one.

The hands. A keyboard diagram lights up the next key, and a see-through, dashed outline of two hands rests on the home row. The finger for the next key fills in and lifts toward it. The keys a child has learned so far are coloured by finger; the rest are grey. Peabody names the new keys when a lesson begins ("Find the bumps on F and J. Those are home!").

Mistakes. A wrong key shakes and waits. The cursor never moves on a miss, so there is nothing to delete; the child just presses the right key.

The drills. Each drill is short (24 to 72 characters). While there are only a few keys, drills are key groups; as soon as the keys can spell real words, the drills use real words, with the new keys in most of it. There is also a words practice that types only real words spelled with the keys learned so far, as long as the child's grade reads.

Stars. One star for finishing a lesson, two for passing, three for passing at one and a half times the target with 97% accuracy.

One lesson, one game. Every finished lesson, passed or not, earns one play of a typing game (up to nine saved). There are four, and every one uses only the letters the child has learned:

• Letter Rain: letters drift down on parachutes, and pressing a key zaps the lowest one.
• Star Blaster: a fleet of saucers with letter tags; type a ship's letters to shoot it.
• Rock Smash: a ship in the middle turns and fires at the rock whose letter you type.
• Key Race: type words for speed on a road, three laps against two rival cars.

These typing games live inside the tutor, not in the Arcade.

Scores at home. A Typing stars board shows each child in the household with their best speed, accuracy and lesson (first names, never anyone outside the household). A child can share a score line through the device's share button, and every finished lesson appears in the activity log grown-ups see.

What Peabody's tutor doesn't do

• It has not been tested with a real kindergartner's pace; its builders checked it in a browser, not with a class of children.
• It is made for a real keyboard. It accepts a phone's on-screen keyboard, but touch typing needs physical keys.
• It has no written certificate or typing test for records. You can note the lesson, speed and accuracy from the stars board yourself.
• Its free period is promised only through 31 December 2026.

A free 12-week homeschool typing curriculum

Ten to fifteen minutes a day, four days a week, with the fifth day off or used for a game. This outline follows the order every tutor above uses, so it works with Peabody's lessons, TypingClub, Typing.com or Dance Mat Typing. Don't move on until the child is around 90% accurate; repeating a week is normal.

After week 12, the best practice is real typing: a weekly journal entry, a book report, a letter to a grandparent, or the child's own story. Five minutes of tutor practice a few times a week keeps speed growing.

Free typing tutors, checked October 2026

TypingClub (typingclub.com) says it "is (and will always be) free for both individuals and schools". A child can start without an account; an optional profile saves progress. Its home page links to paid school and individual premium editions but didn't show prices or say whether the free edition has ads.

Typing.com (homeschool page) offers a K–12 keyboarding curriculum for homeschools that a parent can customise, with progress tracking and timed tests. A parent makes an instructor account and adds students, who "never need an email". Its PLUS comparison shows the free edition has ads and PLUS is ad-free; the PLUS price wasn't listed.

Dance Mat Typing (BBC Bitesize) is a BBC game for primary school children (KS2 in England, ages 7 to 11), still on Bitesize in October 2026. It has four levels of three stages each, from the home row to Shift, with a speed test and a reward at the end of each level. You'll want sound on for its songs. It is a short course, so it pairs well with a longer tutor afterwards.

Peabody is free through the end of 2026, with no account to start, from the front page.

Using Peabody's tutor in your homeschool

1. Pick a time. Many families put typing right after a reading or math session, as a change of pace.
2. Day 1: set up together. Sit with your child, check feet, elbows and the F and J bumps, and do lesson 1 together.
3. Monday to Thursday: one lesson. About ten minutes. The game play it earns can be the end of the session.
4. Friday: the stars board. Look at speed and accuracy together, and write them in your records.
5. When a lesson isn't passed, do it again the next day. It's normal to repeat one two or three times.

Between lessons, read a story together in the free library; typing a favourite sentence from a book is good extra practice. The homeschool hub has the rest of the week, and our list of free homeschool apps covers other subjects.

Learn more elsewhere

• Dance Mat Typing, BBC Bitesize: the four levels, plus short notes on posture and why touch typing helps.
• Typing.com for homeschoolers: its homeschool setup and grade-based curriculum.
• TypingClub: free lessons, with an optional profile to save progress.

Questions parents ask

What age should homeschoolers start typing?

Many children are ready around 7 or 8, often 2nd or 3rd grade, when they can read short words and their fingers rest on the home row without stretching. Younger children can explore a keyboard for fun. Older beginners usually move faster, so starting at 10 or 11 is fine too.

How long should a typing lesson be for kids?

Ten to fifteen minutes is plenty for most children, three to five days a week. Short, regular practice works better than a long session once a week, and it keeps typing from turning into a fight.

What is a good typing speed for a child?

Accuracy matters more than speed while a child is learning. Peabody's tutor asks for 5 words a minute at the start and 14 by its last lesson, each at 90% accuracy. Speed keeps growing with real typing after the course ends.

Is there a free typing curriculum for homeschool?

Yes. As of October 2026, TypingClub says it is free for individuals, Typing.com has a free edition with ads and a homeschool setup, BBC Bitesize's Dance Mat Typing is a free four-level course, and Peabody's typing tutor is free through the end of 2026 with no account to start.

Should kids learn typing on a tablet?

A real keyboard is much better. Touch typing depends on feeling the keys, especially the bumps on F and J. An inexpensive external keyboard for a tablet works well.

Does Peabody's typing tutor work on a phone?

It accepts a phone's on-screen keyboard, but it is made for a real keyboard, and touch typing can't really be learned on glass. A laptop, a desktop or a tablet with a keyboard is the way to use it.