Free Computer Course for Kids: 6 Basic Skills Every Child Should Learn

Before coding, children need to be comfortable with the computer itself. This free course covers six basic skills for ages 7 to 12, with a short practice task for each. Parents can sit alongside for the first few.

Lesson 1: Typing with all ten fingers

Fast, accurate typing makes everything else easier, especially coding.

• Rest your fingers on the home row: A S D F for the left hand and J K L ; for the right. Feel the small bumps on F and J.
• Look at the screen, not the keyboard.
• Practise 10 minutes a day with a free online typing tutor.

Practice task: type one paragraph from a storybook without looking at your hands. Time yourself each week.

Lesson 2: Files and folders

• A file is one piece of work: a document, a picture, a game.
• A folder holds files, like a drawer.

Practice task: make a folder called My School Work. Inside it, make folders for Maths, Science and Projects. Save a document into Projects, then rename it and move it to Science.

Useful shortcuts: Ctrl + C copy, Ctrl + V paste, Ctrl + Z undo, Ctrl + S save (use Cmd instead of Ctrl on a Mac).

Lesson 3: Searching the internet well

• Use a few keywords, not a whole sentence: tallest mountain India, not "what is the tallest mountain in India please".
• Check who wrote it: a museum, university or government site is usually more reliable than a random page.
• Check two sources for important facts.

Practice task: find three facts about your favourite animal from two different trustworthy websites.

Lesson 4: Writing a document

Use any free word processor (Google Docs, or the one that comes with your computer).

• Add a title and make it bold and bigger.
• Use headings and bullet points.
• Insert a picture and add a caption.

Practice task: write one page called "All About Me" with a title, two headings and a picture.

Lesson 5: Making slides

Presentations are a skill children use at school for years.

• One idea per slide, with a few words, not paragraphs.
• Big, readable text and one good picture.
• Five slides is plenty for a first presentation.

Practice task: make a 5-slide presentation about a place you'd love to visit, then present it to your family.

Lesson 6: Staying safe online

Talk these through together:

• Never share your full name, school, address, phone number or passwords online.
• Strong passwords are long. A short phrase works well. Don't reuse the same password everywhere.
• If anything online makes you feel uncomfortable, tell a trusted adult. You won't be in trouble.
• Not everyone online is who they say they are.

Practice task: with a parent, check the privacy settings on one app or game you use.

Next steps

Once these basics feel easy, your child is ready to start coding. Try our free Scratch course (ages 7–11) or free Python course (ages 10+).

CodingChamp's live Computer Fundamentals course covers these skills and more with a 1:1 trainer. Book a free trial class to try it.