How to teach your kid to type and search the web well

Kids today tap and swipe before they can tie their shoes. But tapping isn't typing, and searching isn't the same as finding a good answer. Ages 8 to 10 are the right time to build both skills properly, before hunt-and-peck habits and "first result wins" thinking set in.

What schools expect

In schools using the Common Core standards, fourth graders are expected to show enough keyboarding skill to type a minimum of one page in a single sitting, with support from adults. They're also expected to gather information from print and digital sources, take notes, and provide a list of sources.

The U.S. Institute of Education Sciences' writing guide recommends helping children become fluent with handwriting, spelling, sentence construction, typing and word processing, rated as moderate evidence. When typing is automatic, kids can focus on what they're saying.

Skill 1: Practice typing for 10 minutes

1. Rest your fingers on the home row.
2. Try not to look at the keys.
3. Practice for ten minutes.
4. Write down your speed or score.

The home row: left fingers rest on A, S, D, F; right fingers on J, K, L and the semicolon. Most keyboards have little bumps on F and J so you can find them without looking.

Accuracy before speed. Going slowly and correctly builds the right habits. Speed comes later on its own.

A typing game your grown-up picks makes practice fun. Many free ones exist. Choose one without ads or chat.

Track progress. Writing down the score each time shows improvement, even when it feels slow.

Skill 2: Search for an answer and check it on a second site

1. Type your question into a search.
2. Open a site your grown-up trusts.
3. Check the answer on a second site.
4. Say if the two sites agree.

Search tips for kids:

• Use key words, not a whole sentence. "Tallest mountain in Africa" works better than "What is the tallest mountain in the whole continent of Africa?"
• Look before you click. Which results look like real information? Which are ads? (Many search results marked "sponsored" are ads.)
• Trusted sites to start with: library sites, museums, government science sites, and encyclopedias written for kids.

Why check a second site? In a Stanford study, professional fact checkers judged websites better than historians and Stanford students did. One habit set them apart: instead of staying on one page, they opened other sites in separate tabs to compare and get context. Checking a second site is the kid-sized version.

A grown-up stays nearby for searches at this age. Even safe searches can turn up surprising results.

The challenge: research a question and cite two sources

The mastery goal is to research a question online and cite two sources.

1. Write down your question.
2. Find two trusted sites with answers.
3. Write the answer in your own words.
4. List both sites: their names and page titles.

"In your own words" matters. Copying and pasting isn't research. Read, close the tab, then write what you learned. If you can't explain it without looking, read it again.

Citing is simple at this age: "National Geographic Kids, 'Mount Kilimanjaro'" is plenty. It matches the fourth-grade standard of providing a list of sources, and it's the habit that becomes proper citations in middle school.

What if the sources disagree? That's a great discovery. Look for a third source, check the dates, and talk about why they might differ. (More on judging sources in spotting ads and checking sources.)

Make it a quest

In Family Quests, this is the Typist and Searcher skill. Practice quests are practice typing for 10 minutes and search for an answer and check it on a second site, and the mastery quest is research a question online and cite two sources, with a grown-up nearby. Start free.

Next: teach your kid to code, or read about reading nonfiction.