Home Row Review & Speed Check
a s d f j k l ;
This is the path's first checkpoint — a short timed run using only the eight home-row keys you've built over the last three lessons. The number you get here matters less as an absolute score and more as the baseline every later checkpoint in this path will be measured against.
Treat this checkpoint the same way you'd treat a measurement, not a test you can fail — there's no passing threshold, and the entire point is to create an honest record of where you stand right now, on exactly these eight keys, before the path adds any further complexity on top of them — a full 1-Minute Typing Test using the whole keyboard is a different, later comparison, not this one.
If you're working through this path as part of a longer daily habit, this is also a reasonable point to note the date and your result somewhere you'll actually look back at later — a written record, even a simple one, tends to be far more motivating over the following weeks than relying on memory alone.
What This Lesson Trains
Because the key set is so limited, your WPM here will almost certainly look higher than your WPM once punctuation, capitals, and less-practiced rows enter the mix later in the path — that's expected and not something to chase or worry about. What actually matters at this checkpoint is accuracy: if you're making frequent errors on just eight keys after three lessons of dedicated practice, that's worth addressing now with extra reps before row after row of new keys gets added on top of a shaky foundation. Treat a genuinely clean, error-free run here as more valuable than a fast, sloppy one — the rest of the path assumes home row is close to automatic.
If you'd like a more reliable number than a single attempt, run this checkpoint two or three times with a short break between each and use your best clean (low-error) run as your recorded baseline, rather than your single fastest run regardless of accuracy — a fast run riddled with errors tells you less about your genuine foundation than a slightly slower, clean one does.
Practice Text
QWERTY layout assumed. Backspace corrects; uncorrected errors count against net WPM.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's a good WPM on the home-row-only checkpoint?
There's no single universal number since the passage uses only eight keys, but most learners see a notably higher WPM here than they will once the full keyboard enters the picture — the useful comparison is against your own future checkpoints, not against a general full-keyboard average.
Should I repeat this checkpoint before moving on?
If your error rate feels high to you, yes — a few more clean runs now costs far less time than carrying shaky home-row habits into every lesson that follows, since every later lesson assumes these eight keys are close to automatic.
Should I record my baseline from my fastest attempt or my cleanest attempt?
Your cleanest, lowest-error attempt is the more useful baseline to record, even if it isn't your single fastest run — a fast score achieved with frequent errors tells you less about your true home-row foundation than a slightly slower, accurate one.
What's the actual purpose of writing down or recording this checkpoint's result?
It gives you an honest, dated reference point to compare against later checkpoints, rather than relying on memory or a vague sense of "I think I've improved" — a recorded number is far more convincing evidence of progress than a general impression weeks later.
Next lesson: Top Row: Left Hand (Q W E R)