JuniorKindergarten to Year 2
My red hat
I have a red hat. I wear it in the sun.
Typing for children, K to Year 12
Learn to touch type,one lit key at a time.
Most schoolwork is now typed, and many children still hunt and peck with two fingers. XType teaches touch typing: each finger has its own keys, starting on the home row, across 125 short lessons in 14 stages, with hands on screen that light up the right finger for every key. There is a gentle junior track for Kindergarten to Year 2.
7-day free trial, then A$9.99 a month per family. Prices include GST. Renews monthly until you cancel. Cancel online any time.
Typing practice works best with a keyboard: use a computer, or a tablet with a keyboard. A phone is fine for looking around and for practising words.
The next key is lit, and so is the finger
Passage: Platypus facts
31 wpm98%
The platypus is one of the strangest animals in the world. It has a bill like a duck, a tail like a beaver and it lays eggs. Did you know ...
23 of 125 lessons passed
Next: V N C M drill
- Home row11/11
- Top row10/10
- Bottom row2/11
- Rolls & common pairs0/9
125
lessons in 14 stages, starting on the home row
17
junior lessons, Kindergarten to Year 2
210
original passages in three bands
2,300+
real words in the graded word bank
3
arcade games that find the slow keys
7
speed certificates, 10 to 70 words a minute
Earned, never bought
Practice earns trophies, and trophies unlock keycaps.
Six trophies for what a child actually does, and six keycap skins to collect with them. They sit on the child's own shelf, with the next one always in sight.
First lesson
Pass a typing lesson. The trophy is yours to keep.
Earned by practising
Trophies come from the lessons passed, the timed tests, the accuracy and the days practised that XType already records. No extra work to unlock them.
Six keycap skins to collect
Each trophy unlocks a keycap skin, shown on the child's awards shelf: mint, sky, amber, rose, violet and gold.
Nothing is taken back
No points to lose, no leaderboard and nothing to buy. A child sees what they have earned and how to earn the next piece.
How it works
From sign-up to the first lesson in a minute.
Step 1
Sign up
A parent makes the account and adds the children.
Step 2
7-day free trial
A card is needed to start. Nothing is charged for 7 days, and we email you before the trial ends.
Step 3
Practise a little each day
Short lessons, one clear next step, and the right finger lit for every key.
Step 4
Cancel online any time
From your account page, in as few steps as it took to join.
Try it now
Try a 60-second typing test.
Type a short passage from the course and see your speed and accuracy. No sign-up, and nothing you type is saved or sent.
On a phone without a keyboard this works best on a computer or a tablet with a keyboard.
The right finger
Hands on screen show which finger presses the next key.
Two hands sit under the words with the finger for the next key lit, and the same is said in words underneath. For a capital, the little finger on the other hand lights up for Shift.
- A speed that settles first. The words-a-minute figure stays hidden for the first 3 seconds and 5 correct letters, so your child is never shown a wild number from their first two keys.
- Words that stay whole. Lines break between words, never in the middle of one, and the text is large enough to read from a comfortable distance.
The course
A path of stages, with the next lesson always one tap away.
Stage 1 · 11 lessons
Home row
F and J - the anchors, D and K, F J D K together
Stage 2 · 10 lessons
Top row
E and I, R and U, E I R U drill
Stage 3 · 11 lessons
Bottom row
V and N, C and M, V N C M drill
Stage 4 · 9 lessons
Rolls & common pairs
th, he and the, in, er, an, re, on, at, en, nd
Stage 5 · 10 lessons
Capitals & punctuation
Capital letters, Sentence case, Names and places
Stage 6 · 9 lessons
Fluency
Common words, Common words, faster, Everyday sentences
Stage 7 · 8 lessons
Word power
Word ladder: warm up, Word ladder: build, Word ladder: push
Stage 8 · 10 lessons
Real-world writing
Greetings and sign-offs, A quick email, A formal email
Stage 9 · 9 lessons
Numbers
4 5 6 7, Inner numbers drill, 1 2 3 8 9 0
Stage 10 · 8 lessons
Symbols
Quotes and colons, Brackets and slashes, Maths symbols
Stage 11 · 8 lessons
Code
Variables, Functions, Brackets and braces
Stage 12 · 6 lessons
Australian English
our and re spellings, ise and double-l spellings, Australian places
Stage 13 · 9 lessons
Speed & accuracy
Word bursts, Faster bursts, Accuracy drill
Stage 14 · 7 lessons
Speed ladder
Rung 1: 30 wpm, Rung 2: 40 wpm, Rung 3: 50 wpm
One clear next lesson
The course is a path of stages with the next lesson always one tap away. The stage your child is on is open and the rest are folded until they get there.
Careful before quick
Every lesson has an accuracy floor to pass and a speed target for three stars, so speed never comes before getting the keys right.
More than the alphabet
Numbers, symbols, capitals and punctuation, real writing such as emails, short lines of HTML, CSS and Python for older children, and Australian spellings and places.
Kindergarten to Year 2
A gentle junior track, with large letters and accuracy first.
Young children start on the junior track: large text, one key at a time, and a tip on every lesson. The main course waits until they are ready for it.
🐣 Junior keysLine 2 of 3
F and J, the bumpy keys
ff jj ff jj
Feel the little bumps on F and J. Your pointer fingers live there.
- 1
F and J, the bumpy keys
ff jj ff jj
- 2
Reach up to E
see fee
- 3
T and O
hot dog
- 4
Words you know
dogs like to dig
- 5
My first story
I have a red hat. I wear it in the sun.
Practice
Passages, words and games for every age.
PrimaryYears 3 to 6
Platypus facts
The platypus is one of the strangest animals in the world. It has a bill like a duck, a tail like a beaver and it lays eggs. Did you know it closes its eyes when it swims underwater?
SecondaryYear 7 up
The Great Barrier Reef
Stretching more than 2,300 kilometres along the Queensland coast, the Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system on Earth. It is made up of almost 3,000 individual reefs and hundreds of islands. Corals are tiny animals called polyps; they build hard structures of calcium carbonate over many generations. Warmer ocean temperatures can cause "bleaching", which scientists monitor closely.
Passages for every age
210 original passages in three bands. Each child gets the band for their school year, and a child with no year set gets the primary band.
A graded word bank
More than 2,300 real words in three tiers feed the drills, the timed tests and the games, in Australian spelling.
Games that train the weak keys
3 arcade games: Falling words, Word waves and Key defender. Words holding your child's slowest keys come up three times as often.
Every text checked
Each word list, passage and lesson line is checked for suitability and Australian spelling before a child types it.
🌧️ Falling words · 1,240
betweenvalleycanyonharbourrainbow
Your trickiest keys: BYwal|
For parents
See whether practice is working, without asking.
A chart of your child's best speed on each day they practised, with the same figures in a table beside it, and a one-line summary of the week.
- Who has practised this week. See at a glance who in the family has not practised this week, and sort by speed, accuracy or lessons passed.
- Certificates worth printing. A certificate for every stage finished, and 7 speed certificates earned on a timed test at 95% accuracy or better.
Typing: my students
Not practised this week (1)StudentBestAcc.Week
Mia TranYear 534 wpm97%4
Leo WalshYear 422 wpm95%3
Ava KhanYear 641 wpm98%0
Noah RuizYear 29 wpm93%2
Mia: speed over time
Up 20 wpm since 14 Jul
This week: 4 runs, best 34 wpm at 97% accuracy.
Certificate
30 words a minute
on a timed test at 96% accuracy
Mia Tran
Weak keys
The keys that slow your child down come back more often.
The arcade games pick words that hold your child's slowest keys three times as often, so the practice goes where it is needed.
Slowest keys, from a made-up child. Green keys are comfortable.
Calm and private
What we do with a child's typing.
- The tip after a run is built from that run's numbers only. Nothing your child types is sent to anyone, and no AI is used.
- Nothing is sold on a child's screen: no upgrade prompts, no advertising.
- Works on a computer or a tablet with a keyboard. On a phone, the words take the screen.
Questions
What parents ask.
What age is it for?
From Kindergarten. Children in Kindergarten to Year 2 start on the junior track, with large text and accuracy first. Older children start the main course.
Does my child need a keyboard?
To learn touch typing, yes: a computer, or a tablet with a keyboard. A phone works for practising words but is not the way to learn finger placement.
How long is each lesson?
Each lesson is a short set of drills on a few new keys, so a little practice most days works best.
Is there a free way to try it?
Yes. The home page has a 60-second typing test with no sign-up. Nothing you type is saved or sent. The paid plan also starts with a 7-day free trial.
A little every day, and the fingers find their way.
Start with the home row today.
XType in short
XType is an online typing course for children from Kindergarten to Year 12. It teaches touch typing from the home row through every letter, capitals, numbers and symbols, with the right finger lit for every key, and children earn trophies and keycap skins as they practise. There is a free 60-second typing test with no sign-up. One subscription covers the whole family: A$9.99 a month per family (or A$99.90 a year), after a 7-day free trial (a card is needed to start).
Questions parents ask
- How fast should a Year 4 child type?
- There is no single right speed. At this age accuracy comes first and speed follows with practice. XType shows each child's own speed and accuracy, and its speed certificates start at 10 words a minute.
- What age can a child start touch typing?
- XType has a gentle junior track for Kindergarten to Year 2 and a full course for older children, so a child can start when they can find the letters on a keyboard.
- How does XType teach typing?
- It is a path of short lessons that starts on the home row and works through every letter, capitals, punctuation, numbers and symbols. Two hands on screen light up the right finger for the next key, and the arcade games find each child's slow keys.
- How much does XType cost?
- A$9.99 a month per family (or A$99.90 a year), for every child in the family, after a 7-day free trial (a card is needed to start). It renews monthly until you cancel, and you can cancel online. There is also a free 60-second typing test on the home page with no sign-up.
- Is XType safe for children?
- XType has no chat and nothing for sale on a child's screen. Parents can see their child's progress.
- What do children earn in XType?
- Trophies for a first lesson passed, 20 and 40 words a minute at 95% accuracy or better, 95% accuracy, five days of practice in a week and a finished course. Each trophy unlocks a keycap skin on the child's awards shelf. They cannot be bought.
More about XType: Pricing, FAQ.
XType is made by XTutio, an Australian software company that builds software for tutoring centres and families. Learn more at xtutio.com. More from XTutio.