SpongeBob SquarePants Typing Reviewer's Comments
We feel that SpongeBob SquarePants Typing offers the perfect learning atmosphere for young, beginning typists. Teenagers and advanced typists will probably find the program limiting, however. The program goal for advanced typists is 15 WPM.
SpongeBob SquarePants Typing is simple enough for young children to set up and use without any help. Kids will take to this program intuitively, and you'll have a hard time getting them to stop typing once they start.
This typing software literally holds a child's hand, guides them through a series of beginner typing lessons then rewards them with occasional typing games. The entertaining games motivate kids not to quit during repetitive typing skill practice.
We were pleased that this typing software motivates kids to use the correct finger positions—a challenge for some other programs. There are hand guides in this typing software as in other products, but maybe children are more conscious of typing correctly because SpongeBob is there, cheering them on.
Feature Set:
There are three main areas in SpongeBob SquarePants Typing: the lesson/challenge area, the game area and a practice area where kids can type paragraph text on a variety of interesting topics—Mermaids and Pirates, for example. The SpongeBob SquarePants Typing program automatically jumps between the games section and the lessons section to keep children excited to continue.
SpongeBob SquarePants Typing contains 17 lessons to teach individual key and finger skills. At the end of each lesson, a typing test that determines your child's typing speed, accuracy and adjusted typing speed. Then your child is rewarded with a colorful certificate stating typing level, WPM and accuracy.
Ease of Installation:
SpongeBob SquarePants was simple to install—even children can install and start using this typing software without assistance.
Help/Support:
SpongeBob SquarePants Typing offers a tutorial that outlines the typing program structure and options, lists technical information and troubleshooting tips, but this help file is a long document with no interactive search tool. Help isn't accessible from inside the lesson area, and technical support is limited to an online FAQ page. But this typing software is a breeze to use without accessing any help files.
Summary:
SpongeBob SquarePants Typing is a good fit for elementary school children. Young kids will enjoy the animated characters and games, and this typing software caters to the short attention span that most children have. The fun, bouncy atmosphere of SpongeBob SquarePants Typing is just what the doctor ordered to keep children interested while learning basic typing skills.
