Tricks of the Trade suggests old-fashioned interactive fiction games [1]:

you know, the old-school kind where you enter in commands like

> get lantern
You now have the brass lantern.

> turn on lantern
The brass lantern is now lit.

They are considerably more enjoyable than traditional "typing tutorial" software or copying lines from a book. Best of all, most of the modern games are completely free, and many are so absorbing that you'll find yourself compulsively "practicing" you typing skills for hours.

I can speak to the truth of this, through a slightly different method. A young relative of ours came to live with us for a little bit before we had kids. The schools hadn't done her much good; she couldn't type, she couldn't spell, and she was 15.

We sat her down in front of a computer and said, here, this is Internet Relay Chat--IRC. These are people all over the world talking in real time through the computer. She became so engrossed that she taught herself to type, and studied spelling because she got teased in-channel for it.

Non-tutorial methods are quite often extremely effective, depending on the person; it's how I taught myself programming. I tried to do the tutorials, but I didn't give a rat's hinder about a catalog for my CD "library." (Is that a guy thing? Because it's been the #1 tutorial whenever I've tried to learn a language.) Every time I've learned a new programming language it's because I've really wanted to do a particular task. Just keep that in mind if you're working with a recalcitrant kid. Whatever it is you're studying, try finding a real-world application--even if the world is virtual.

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