Music is like magic. It enhances, teaches and breaks through barriers in ways most other things can't when it's done right. Today we are reviewing a fun product from Rhythm & Writing called Rhythm & Writing with the Get Write Crew that teaches handwriting. This program is similar to a lot of handwriting programs in that it involves writing practice. What makes Rhythm & Writing different is a collection of catchy music videos and characters that teach or remind the listener how to correctly construct the letters. Even though we have used and reviewed several handwriting programs before, none of them included a musical element.
What We Received:
We received a spiral-bound, landscape oriented workbook, a transparency page, and access to a series of videos online which requires the use of a computer/Ipad and access to the internet.
How It Works:
The workbook begins with an Introduction and Steps to Success that explain the reasoning behind the creation of the program and how to get the most out of it. There is a Pre-Assessment and a Post-Assessment with stories about The Get Write Crew, coloring pages and letter writing practice pages sandwiched in the middle. The practice pages use the colors red, yellow and green to resemble a traffic light to help students visually remember where to start, slow down or stop their letters. The transparency page is intended to be paper-clipped to the practice pages for the student to practice with dry-erase markers until they build up their skills and are ready to write in the book. Each video features a different letter or a group of letters formed similarly and it's own unique song that tells how to form that letter. The character singing/rapping changes from time to time, but the videos are almost exclusively text and letter creation. This can be watched as many times as you need and is especially helpful to play in the background as the student is practicing.
How We Used It:
My 5 year old daughter used this program primarily and was the one filling out the book. She already knows how to write her letters, but she often uses only capitals and is quite messy about it. So, she wasn't learning letters for the first time, but reminding/reteaching the correct way to write them. My older son is always interested in new videos so he would watch those with her sometimes and even practiced his handwriting a couple of times. Typically, miss Z would start the school day with a video, but it would often turn into 2 or 3 that covered 4-6 pages of handwriting practice because she enjoyed it.
What We Thought:
The kids thought the videos were super fun and were happy to listen to any of them on repeat. My son, who has used several other programs, said that because the videos are writing the letters with you, he felt this one was better. He really enjoys doing work along side other people. I feel like this method is a little more thorough than some simply because there is an audio reinforcement of how letters are supposed to be created. In the copy-only method, it is easy for a student to continue to write a letter how they want unless constantly corrected, which is hard to follow through on when teaching multiple kids. My daughter, the primary user, said she likes to write and watch videos so it was perfect!
Since my children already knew how to create letters, I can't speak to using this program from the start, but I expect it would be really fun and effective for beginners.
Social Media Links:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/learntowritewithmusic/
www.facebook.com/rhythmandwriting/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dreammakersyf
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNzZpKs0dOJDLXpYHRIGnsA
Looking for other perspectives on this program? Check out what other families had to say about Rhythm & Writing with the Get Write Crew through the link below.
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| Front Cover |
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| Back Cover |
What We Received:
We received a spiral-bound, landscape oriented workbook, a transparency page, and access to a series of videos online which requires the use of a computer/Ipad and access to the internet.
How It Works:
The workbook begins with an Introduction and Steps to Success that explain the reasoning behind the creation of the program and how to get the most out of it. There is a Pre-Assessment and a Post-Assessment with stories about The Get Write Crew, coloring pages and letter writing practice pages sandwiched in the middle. The practice pages use the colors red, yellow and green to resemble a traffic light to help students visually remember where to start, slow down or stop their letters. The transparency page is intended to be paper-clipped to the practice pages for the student to practice with dry-erase markers until they build up their skills and are ready to write in the book. Each video features a different letter or a group of letters formed similarly and it's own unique song that tells how to form that letter. The character singing/rapping changes from time to time, but the videos are almost exclusively text and letter creation. This can be watched as many times as you need and is especially helpful to play in the background as the student is practicing.
How We Used It:
My 5 year old daughter used this program primarily and was the one filling out the book. She already knows how to write her letters, but she often uses only capitals and is quite messy about it. So, she wasn't learning letters for the first time, but reminding/reteaching the correct way to write them. My older son is always interested in new videos so he would watch those with her sometimes and even practiced his handwriting a couple of times. Typically, miss Z would start the school day with a video, but it would often turn into 2 or 3 that covered 4-6 pages of handwriting practice because she enjoyed it.
What We Thought:
The kids thought the videos were super fun and were happy to listen to any of them on repeat. My son, who has used several other programs, said that because the videos are writing the letters with you, he felt this one was better. He really enjoys doing work along side other people. I feel like this method is a little more thorough than some simply because there is an audio reinforcement of how letters are supposed to be created. In the copy-only method, it is easy for a student to continue to write a letter how they want unless constantly corrected, which is hard to follow through on when teaching multiple kids. My daughter, the primary user, said she likes to write and watch videos so it was perfect!
Since my children already knew how to create letters, I can't speak to using this program from the start, but I expect it would be really fun and effective for beginners.
Social Media Links:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/learntowritewithmusic/
www.facebook.com/rhythmandwriting/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dreammakersyf
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNzZpKs0dOJDLXpYHRIGnsA
Looking for other perspectives on this program? Check out what other families had to say about Rhythm & Writing with the Get Write Crew through the link below.
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