Classroom starter kit

Two weeks to home row: a ten-minute-a-day plan for K to 4 on classroom iPads. Free to start. No accounts, no student data collected, works offline.

Page 1 of 5 · Setup

Before Monday about 15 minutes

Install Bumpy Keys on the cart. It is a normal App Store app (search "Bumpy Keys"), so it goes out through Apple School Manager or your MDM like any other. It works offline.
Open it once on each iPad. Pick the age band on the welcome screen (4 to 5, 6 to 7 or 8 to 9; see right). Start the free learning path. All 100 lessons are included. The browser game includes Puppy Park and Dino Dash. Request a browser class code at bumpykeys.com/teachers for more. Share its class link: kids tap it and play. Or tap the gear, press and hold, Worlds, Teacher code. It cannot unlock the iPad or Mac apps.
Print pages 4 and 5 (the home row mat, one per iPad, and the first certificate). Pin the hand poster from bumpykeys.com/printables by the cart.
Keyboards are optional. With no keyboard the iPad shows big on-screen keys, and cartoon hands show which finger to use. That suits K to 1. With any keyboard case or Bluetooth keyboard the same lessons are typed on real keys, which suits grades 2 to 4.
Decide the ten minutes. A station in the rotation, the first ten minutes of computer time, or morning work. The app's 10-minute daily quest (the PLAY button) is the whole lesson: a warm-up on earlier keys, the next level, one extra lap.

Pick the band it changes what the child sees

KLittle Racers · 4 to 5

Little Racers mode: big keys, every letter spoken out loud, no speed goal. Letters only (no Shift or capitals). The cartoon hands stay on. Two-week goal: Levels 1 to 3, finding F and J without searching, using both hands. Staying on home row all year is fine.

1 and 2Road Racers · 6 to 7

The standard path. Short words from Level 4; the cartoon hands fade as accuracy holds. Stars reward accuracy, never speed: every finished lap earns a star, 60% (or at most two slips) earns two stars, every key right earns three. Two-week goal: Levels 1 to 10, then the I know home row! certificate on page 5.

3 and 4Speed Racers · 8 to 9

Speed Racers mode: the cartoon hands fade sooner, some rounds hide the keyboard guide, and the pace car is faster. On the first day the app offers one placement lap; a child who already types starts further along. Two-week goal: all 26 letters (Levels 1 to 20) and the Alphabet Champion certificate. Three weeks is normal.

Teacher page & browser class codeThe printables, the checklist for your tech office, and the class-code request form. Free for classrooms, always.
bumpykeys.com/teachers

QR code for the Bumpy Keys app on the App Store

App StoreFor the cart and for families. iPad and Mac. At home, Bumpy Keys is free to start; one $4.99 unlock opens every world on your family's device. No ads, no accounts.
Search "Bumpy Keys"

QR code for the Bumpy Keys public beta on TestFlight

Public beta (TestFlight)The same app as a free public beta. Use this link if the App Store listing is not live yet when you print this.
bumpykeys.com/get

The two-week plan

Ten minutes every school day. The level numbers are where the daily quest will usually be; a child who is ahead stays ahead, and a child who needs another day replays the level.

Page 2 of 5 · Plan

Every day: 1Tap PLAY (today's quest) 2Warm-up, yesterday's keys · 2 min 3The next level · 5 min 4One fun lap · 3 min The 100 levels are the same in every world.

Week 1	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
KLittle Racers	Hands lesson, then Level 1 F and J. Pointer fingers find the two bumps. Every key pressed moves the racer. Stop at five minutes.	Level 1 again, plus the space bar: thumbs only. Say each letter along with the app before the press.	Level 2 D and K: tall fingers. Home row mat (page 4) under the iPad for anyone who wobbles.	Replay Levels 1 and 2. Name the finger color out loud ("green pointer") instead of pointing at the key for them.	PLAY (today's quest). Check two things: finds F and J without searching? Uses both hands?
Grades 1 and 2Road Racers	Hands lesson, then Level 1 Pointer Pals (F J). Pin the hand poster by the cart.	Level 2 Middle Keys (D K). Two hands, thumbs resting on space.	Level 3 Ring Row (S L). Mat under the iPad for the wobbly ones.	Level 4 Pinky on A. Try one lap without looking down at the keys.	Level 5 Center Stretch (G H). Pointers stretch in and come back.
Grades 3 and 4Speed Racers	Hands lesson. Take the placement lap if the app offers it, then Levels 1 and 2.	Levels 3 and 4 S L, then A. All eight fingers home.	Levels 5 and 6 G H, then E I. Replay once without looking down.	Levels 7 and 8 left-hand words, right-hand words.	Levels 9 and 10 R U, then the Harbor Cup. "I know home row!" certificate (page 5).

Week 2	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
KLittle Racers	Level 3 S and L if F, J, D, K are solid; otherwise replay. There is no speed goal at this age.	PLAY (today's quest). Color a star on the progress road (bumpykeys.com/printables).	Race a friend! (home screen): two players take turns on one iPad, using the keys they know.	PLAY (today's quest). Watch which finger. Say "tall finger" when it is wrong; do not move the hand for them.	Show a grown-up: rest both hands on home row and find the bumps with eyes closed. Color a star on the road.
Grades 1 and 2Road Racers	Level 6 Reach Up (E I). Reach up, then bring the finger back to its home key.	Level 7 Left Dock: words for the left hand.	Level 8 Right Dock: words for the right hand.	Level 9 Pointer Reach (R U). The cartoon hands fade as accuracy holds.	Level 10 Harbor Cup. "I know home row!" certificate goes home with the family letter.
Grades 3 and 4Speed Racers	Levels 11 and 12 T Y, W O.	Levels 13 and 14 Q P, then C M.	Levels 15 and 16 V N, then real words with both hands.	Levels 17 and 18 B X, then Z. All 26 letters.	Levels 19 and 20 Alphabet Run, then the Peaks Cup: Alphabet Champion certificate.

Weekends are rest days (the app's day streak allows one). Two levels a day is a stretch for some eight-year-olds: let the daily quest set the pace and use this page to see where the class is heading. In the first two weeks the goal is accuracy and the right finger, not speed.

Posture and coaching

How to sit, five short phrases that match what the app says, and what to do when it goes wrong.

Page 3 of 5 · Coaching

Posture thirty seconds at the start

Feet flat. On the floor, or on a box or a book. Children with dangling feet wriggle and drift to one finger.

iPad flat for on-screen keys, propped up for a keyboard. With a keyboard, the screen stands at arm's length so the child can watch the racer instead of the keys.

Wrists float. Not resting on the desk edge, not bent up. Elbows about level with the keys. A folded towel under the forearms helps small kids.

Eyes on the racer, not the keys. Looking down is the hardest habit to undo later. The app has rounds that hide the keyboard guide; on a real keyboard a tea towel over the hands does the same job.

Shake out at the end of every lap. Hands off, wiggle fingers, back to the bumps. Sessions are ten minutes on purpose.

What to say as the app says them

"Find the bumps."Pointer fingers on F and J at the start of every lap. The bumps are how hands find home row without looking.
"Come home."After every reach, the finger goes back to its home key.
"Which finger?"Say the color or the name (pinky, ring, tall, pointer, thumb) and let the child find it. The cartoon hands on screen show the same finger.
"Eyes up."Look at the racer, not the keys. The app says it too.
"Accuracy first."Every finished lap earns a star; 60% earns two stars; every key right earns three. Speed is never a star. Do not ask a beginner to go faster.

When it goes wrong

Hunting and pecking. Go back one level, put the mat under the iPad, and keep the cartoon hands on (Grown-ups › Learning › Show hands).
One hand does everything. Sit beside the child for a lap and rest your own pointer finger on the unused side's bumpy key; the child copies.
Looking down. Fine in K. From grade 2, cover the keyboard with a tea towel for the fun lap only.
Tears or rushing. Stop at five minutes. Check the age band: a six-year-old in the 8 to 9 band is chased by a faster pace car. Change it under Grown-ups › Racer › Age.
"I finished!" in a day. Let them. The daily quest keeps bringing earlier keys back for review, and the third star on every level takes much longer.
No voice. The app speaks every key: check Grown-ups › Sound › Bumper's voice and the iPad's volume. The music button on the home screen only mutes music.

How you know it is working

Same finger, same key, every time.
Both hands stay on the bumps between reaches.
The child finds F and J with eyes closed.
Fewer wrong keys; levels go from one star to two.

Home row mat

Lay it above the keyboard. Line up F with F. Page 4 of 5.

F and J have bumps. Feel for them.

A

S

D

F

G

H

J

K

L

;

space

pinky

ring

tall

pointer

thumb

Bumpy Keys · Certificate of Achievement

I know home row!

This certifies that racer

found the two bumpy keys, F and J, and can rest all eight fingers on home row, without looking. Careful first, then quick!

Date

Bumper (and a grown-up)

Bumpy KeysKids learn to type by racing · iPad · ages 4 to 9

Keep racing at home. Scan for the free iPad app