Week 1: Home row for code: letters and keywords

Writing code needs a different rhythm from writing plain text. Besides letters, you need to type short keywords that appear again and again in every program, quickly and correctly. In this first week you settle your fingers on the home row and warm up with the words you will meet most often in JavaScript. Speed is secondary for now. The real goal is to hit every letter correctly and keep your hands steady over the keyboard.

What you will learn

This week has no new symbols. The focus is on letters and common keywords:

• let and const: store a value under a name
• if and for: start a condition or a repeating block
• function and return: name a piece of work and send back its result

All of these are lowercase, so you never need Shift. This lesson uses the US English QWERTY layout, and the keyboard demo shows where each key sits. Type each keyword as one smooth motion rather than letter by letter.

Technique tips

• Rest your fingers on the home row and return to it after every letter. Drifting away and coming back is the biggest cause of slow typing.
• Keep your wrists floating above the desk instead of resting them on the edge.
• Type keywords as whole words. Try writing const as one smooth movement, not three separate parts.
• Look at the screen, not the keyboard. Feeling where the keys are is a skill that grows with practice.
• If you hit a wrong key, keep going to finish the word, then fix it. Keeping the flow matters more right now.

Lessons

1. Learn (10–15 minutes): Watch the keyboard demo for the home row and the six keywords, then complete the short drills.
2. Practice (10–15 minutes): Type the same keywords again and again. Read each one aloud once before typing it.
3. Review (10–15 minutes): Take the two-minute test and note the words you mistyped.

This week’s goal

Your targets this week are 12 WPM and 90% accuracy. Finishing the week earns one star. Reaching 90% accuracy earns two stars, and reaching the speed target as well earns three. Aim for accuracy first, because speed follows once your hands know the keys. Fixing a wrong word takes more time than typing it slowly and correctly the first time.