Number pad practice sheets you can print
These are the number pad drills we'd hand a kid on day one, laid out in the order the fingers learn them. Print the page (it's set up to print cleanly), tape it next to the keyboard, and do one section a day. There's no sign-up and nothing to download.
If your child hasn't learned the home position yet, start with the number pad finger placement chart. In short: index on 4, middle on 5 (the key with the bump), ring on 6.
How to use these sheets
- One section per session. Five to ten minutes is enough.
- Type each line, then press Enter. The number pad has its own Enter key at the bottom right.
- Move on when a section feels easy, meaning your child can type it without looking down and with very few mistakes.
- Num Lock on. If the keys move the cursor instead of typing numbers, press Num Lock once.
Sheet 1: Home keys
Fingers never leave 4 5 6.
5 5 5 4 4 4 6 6 6
456 654 456 654
44 55 66 456 654
465 546 645 564
Sheet 2: Reach up for 7 8 9
The out-and-back groups, like 474 and 585, start and end on a home key. The rest of this sheet is mixed practice, and the fingers still come back home after each reach.
474 585 696 474 585 696
47 58 69 74 85 96
789 987 789 987
4759 6857 4769
Sheet 3: Reach down for 1 2 3
414 525 636 414 525 636
41 52 63 14 25 36
123 321 123 321
147 258 369 147 258 369
Sheet 4: Zero and the decimal point
The thumb presses 0. The ring finger reaches down for the decimal point.
40 50 60 70 80 90
100 200 300 400 500
4.5 0.5 6.5 0.25
1.5 2.5 3.5 0.75
Sheet 5: Whole numbers
These are the whole numbers from Home Row Mojo's Drills Level 13.
45
456
789
123
1024
30
77
506
2048
91
360
18
Sheet 6: Decimals
Also from Drills Level 13.
4.5 6.7 8.9
98.6 3.14 0.5
19.99 4.25 7.5
0.25 0.75 1.5
12.5 30.75 2.05
Sheet 7: Mixed numbers
45 12.75 9 100.5 3
1024 2.5 48 0.75 360
7 8.25 96 0.5 14.2
Sheet 8: Real-life numbers
Make up your own from things around the house. A grocery receipt, a recipe, or a science log all work. A few to start:
19.99 4.25 100 37.5
3.49 2.99 12.00 0.89
68.5 70.25 71 69.75
Keep a simple log
If you keep a homeschool portfolio, a log like this is easy to file:
| Date | Sheet | Minutes | Looked down? (often / sometimes / rarely) |
|---|---|---|---|
When paper isn't enough
Paper sheets are great for reps, but they can't tell your child which key they missed. That's where a typing program helps. In Home Row Mojo, Drills Level 13: Number Pad has the same three modes as sheets 5 to 7 (Whole numbers, Decimals, and Mixed numbers), shows an on-screen keyboard with the number pad, and checks accuracy as your child types. A level counts as passed at 90% accuracy. After the number pad lessons and Drills Levels 13 and 14, the Mission Control game opens as a reward. One note: the number pad lessons only work on a keyboard that has a number pad. If your keyboard doesn't have one, an inexpensive plug-in USB number pad works. The paper sheets above work with any number pad, or none at all.
Try Home Row Mojo free as a guest. If it clicks, $29 once unlocks everything for the whole family.