Review: Rhythm & Writing

The Rhythm & Writing Program:
Handwriting For Kids

Have a young child that is just learning to write? Want to find a fun and different way to teach them their letters without boring them? Or maybe you have a special needs child that has always struggled remembering what went where. Well, that where Rhythm & Writing comes into play. Introducing the Rhythm & Writing with the Get Write Crew. 

Step 1: Book comes in the mail

First up, the workbook comes in the mail. It's super simple. Just one book, an introduction letter, and a transparency sheet that you can use a dry-erase marker on to practice letters at any time. Here's a picture of the front and back cover of the book:

Step 2: Pre-assessment

So let's discuss how this program works by doing a close-up, step-by-step usage by my five-year-old daughter, Hannah. Hannah has a September birthday so she just misses the cut-off to be in kindergarten. She is actually in pre-kindergarten. She is just starting to write and just starting to read. The pre-assessment let's you see if there are any letters of difficulty for your child. Here is Hannah's pre-assessment:

When I looked at Hannah's assessment, I didn't exactly notice any major letters that were causing her difficulty. But what I saw was that she could use some general practice on all the letters. If your child had certain letters that were giving them problems, you could skip directly to those letters in the book. However, if not, you could do like me and simply choose to work through the book starting on the very first lesson. 

Step 3: Start a section in the book

So it was time to tackle the first three letters in the book. In this case, these are the letters L, t, and i. (You could obviously not to do the book in order and decide to start on letters that were very easy or very hard for the child if you desired.) The idea behind this program is that through repetition, your child will remember the phrases and learn to form letters correctly.

First up, we are told a story for the letters L, t, and i. Here is the story for those letters:

Step 4: Watch the video

So now it is time for the band to perform for little Hannah. (I thought it was a very nice touch to try and present a bit of diversity on the crew. The bear wants to be in the military. And the monkey is on the paralympic wheelchair basketball team.) I want to encourage you to to check out three sample videos on their website. Don't miss that! Here are the band members:

Big Country on guitar

Hip-Hop on vocals

Jazzy Faith on keyboards and vocals

Mo' Rock on drums

Step 5: Complete the worksheet that corresponds with that letter.

Here is Hannah working on the small letter i page in her book:

And here is her letter i page completely finished:

So after watching a video, she does a letter. Or, if she wanted, she could even do them in the other order. It would be whatever I wanted to do as her teacher. (There is also a transparency sheet that you can use a dry-erase marker to use. You could practice letters on that before or after as well. Just another option.) And as you can see above, there are fun things to color on every page. (There is even a full-page coloring sheet that separates each section that your kiddo can color.)

Step 6: Repeat steps 3-5 to your heart's content!

Once you finish a letter, move onto the next one and repeat. Watch a video and master writing the letter that accompanies it.

Step 7: Complete the post-assessment

At the conclusion of the book, your student can then do a post-assessment. We did not do that yet as Hannah is about mid-way through the book at the time of this review. 

Step 8: Celebrate being done teaching your child how to write.

Once you have completed the book, get yourself some ice cream (chocolate is my personal suggestion) and have an ice cream party with your child, their grandparents, and anyone else who is supporting you on this homeschool journey.

Our product review

So I think this is a very nice program. Hannah also enjoyed it. She though the videos were a bit "silly." When I asked her to expand on that she said, "I like listening to them. They kind of make me laugh. They help me remember my writing. Then I do the writing. It was fun." I asked my niece and nephew (5 and 6) to watch the videos too. They actually completely echoed Hannah's feelings about the program. The videos are a "tad bit" corny, however, corny is often what sticks for kids and I think this is the case for this program.

This would be a great program to purchase for your just-beginning-to-write pre-kindergarten or kindergartener. You can purchase access to all the videos for right at $49.99. This gives you unlimited access to watch them as often as you want. (And again, check out the three sample videos before committing.) You can also buy a digital download of the book for $12.99 or an actual copy for $19.99. (I think the slight price difference between the two is worth getting a printed copy if you only have one child. If you have multiple children, I would advise the digital copy.)

I encourage you to click here to get buying information yourself.

Want to learn more?

I encourage you to learn more for yourself. Visit the Rhythm & Writing yourself and specifically check out: Rhythm & Writing with the Get Write Crew. You can also visit them on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube. 

And I also encourage you to read reviews from my fellow crew members by clicking on this fancy picture below: