I know what you mean Pam. Our students can point and click their way through the computer and crank out a perfect essay. But, hand them a pencil and paper and it's ?????????

I was beginning to get concerned until my son entered 6th grade. His language arts teacher is the best. She embraces technology but still requires a certain amount of hand written essays. He's getting the best of both.

It sounds like a parent/volunteer led initiative would be ideal for your school. At our school the cost is shared by the school board and the parents who pay a minimal participation fee. If your PTO is willing to share costs as well then I'd jump all over it!

I led the Community Service class. I donated my time and purchased all of the supplies myself. I was able to deduct the expenses on my taxes, taught community involvement practices to my students and we all had fun.

I'll bet you and many parents in your town would be just as willing to share their talents.

The kids I've been observing are third graders, and their typing skills are almost nil, yet they're required to type a lot, using Word. Their knowledge of Word is also a bit sketchy. They love to play with fonts and clip art, yet most of them depend completely on the spelling and grammar checker (which is a big mistake!)

Apparently our principal has been approached in the past, but has said that since you need a business degree in order to teach typing, the regular teachers can't do it, so it's up to the parents (who apparently don't need any degree at all to teach their kids! Typical!)

Your after school program sounds quite rich! Our school has a foreign language program, with about 4 languages taught, but that's about it.

Pam - what age are the students?

Our school does After School Adventures in the spring and fall. Each session is one hour long four days a week (m-th) for two weeks. The students can choose one program from a list of about 10 to 15. Cost depends on needed supplies and/or instructor fees. Parents provide transportation home after the class.

We've never offered keyboarding because our kids get that during computer time. Choices have been for art, spanish, science, chess, community service and so on. The kids love it and the participation rate is very high.

I broached the idea to our PTO of sponsoring an elementary school level typing class. There's interest. This would probably be something parents pay for, a before or after school class. Kids do have weekly computer classes, but keyboarding is not taught.

Does anyone do anything like this?