Keyboard Town PALS is a typing program for children ages. Different from traditional typing programs, which focus on speed + accuracy, Keyboard Town PALS approaches typing instruction in a unique and innovative way.
Keyboard Town PALS focuses on a gentle learning approach, not focusing on mistakes and no time pressures. (Click here for a more in-depth look at their method and reasonings.) The lessons consist of 8 videos, each about 6-7 minutes long, so the entire course is about an hour. (The website promotes: "help kids learn to type in an hour!") In the videos, the letter keys are introduced as characters that live on Main Street, Uptown, or Downtown, based on each letter's location on the keyboard. All of the letters' characters' stories intertwine, creating a town of friends on the keyboard, hence the name "Keyboard Town PALS"! As the video progresses, the student is encouraged to type the letters in a text box below the video. Within a very short time, the student is typing entire words, as well as spacing and punctuation. You can see a sample lesson here.
Keyboard Town PALS is available both online and as a CD-ROM, for the price of $39.95, and is available in English, French, and Spanish.
Unfortunately, for us, this program wasn't one that we enjoyed. Before I explain why, I want to remind my readers that just because something hasn't fit our family does not mean it would not fit yours! Each family is different and has different needs and methods that work best for it - that's the beauty of homeschooling, being able to meet those needs individually. So, please read over my comments keeping that in mind.
I, personally, don't agree with the overall philosophy that Keyboard Town PALS endorses. I believe that "Mistakes are opportunities to learn" and should not be overlooked, but gently corrected, so that (especially in learning a skill such as typing) the new skill is learned the correct way. Since there was no correction offered in Keyboard Town PALS, a student could easily be typing incorrectly and it would not matter. It would seem to me that would only cause a development of incorrectly learned habits that would have to be "unlearned" later down the road.
Also, part of the reason no correction is offered is because the instructional portions are just videos. This means that the typing that the student does is not interactive in any way with the instruction, so a student could potentially sit there and waste all their time doing nothing at all or fooling around, unless a physical instructor (teacher or parent) was standing over their shoulder making sure they stayed on task. Even with a diligent child, management would still be needed as there is no way to monitor the student's progress.
My reviewer for Keyboard Town PALS was Joel (6.5 years old), and he did not enjoy the program, either. He thought the main narrator, "Sunny", was (in his words) "freaky", he was frustrated by the fact that he could not use the backspace to fix a mistake when he made one, and that the program would not wait for him unless he paused it, which caused his fingers to lose their spots on the keyboard.
Overall, Keyboard Town PALS was just not a good fit for our family. I have heard from other reviewers that it is a great program for special needs children, and perhaps younger children that just need a basic, gentle introduction to the keyboard. To read for yourself what other reviewers thought, please check out the TOS Homeschool Crew Blog. I highly encourage you to do so, and not just take our negative experience as the only perspective!
Disclaimer: I was given this product specifically for the purpose of reviewing here on my blog as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew. I received no other compensation in regards to this review.
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