Learning How to Write the Right Way: A Review of Rhythm & Writing with the Get Write Crew

There is much conflicting information regarding when and how to teach your child to write. Our five-year-old son was an early reader and thus began writing before we had any formal program in place for him. When the opportunity became available to review a program from Rhythm & Writing called Rhythm & Writing with the Get Write Crew, I was very happy to incorporate it into our homeschooling day with our son. Prior to receiving the workbook in our house, I requested the pre-assessment (which is also printed in the beginning of the workbook). We were also able to meet the Crew and watch three of the instructional videos to see and discover more about the program.

A spot on the front for your child to write his or her name.

What We Are Reviewing 

Rhythm & Writing with the Get Write Crew is a fun handwriting program presented with a musical group who teach kids to write letters the right way. Our five-year-old and I are reviewing the spiral-bound workbook and videos from Rhythm & Writing.

We received a copy of the Rhythm & Writing workbook, a dry erase overlay, and access to the instructional videos. We also received a welcome letter that briefly outlined the "Steps to Success" as found in the workbook.

The creator, Nikki Wilson, is a school-based occupational therapist who has seen "first-hand what happens when children don't learn to form their letters correctly: they write slower, their hands get tired faster, and they have a harder time transitioning to cursive." As a homeschooling parent, one of my concerns is helping our younger children learn how to write properly.

Rhythm & Writing uses catchy phrases – which both our son and daughter sing – to learn how to write the right way. Even if you don't watch the videos, the instructions that are part of the songs is printed on each page in the "Learn" section.

How Our Family Used Rhythm & Writing with the Get Write Crew 

When the workbook first arrived, we let our five-year-old son look through the book. He read some of the narrative pages as well as asked questions about the different vocabulary words and characters he discovered.

The Rhythm & Writing with the Get Write Crew is divided into sections based upon letters that are written similarly starting with the easiest to form and moving to more difficult letters like upper and lowercase J. 

On the first day we incorporated Rhythm & Writing into our homeschool day, we watched the video that accompanied the first three pages as well as the introduction to the Crew video. Our son then read the narrative page, practiced writing his letter L, and colored the pictures in the workbook. 

Each new day that we worked on Rhythm & Writing with the Get Write Crew, we watched the appropriate video that accompanied the letter we were working on as well as two additional videos. Our three-year-old daughter would choose one video and then our son would choose the next one. The welcome letter states that the kids would like the videos (and they sure do!).

All the videos are found in one password-protected place.

The videos have catchy lyrics that help your child remember how to properly write the letter. And they practice the letter multiple times during the video while singing the song. Our son was then able to take that information directly to the workbook to help him learn how to write the letters. 

Here you can clearly see the green, yellow, and red of the writing lines. Keep reading to see why I like them!

Our children taking turns picking which video they would like to watch.

What We Like 

There are many different aspects of the Rhythm & Writing with the Get Write Crew workbook to like. The fact that the workbook is spiral-bound is great because it can lie flat on the table. The color choice for the writing lines – green at top, yellow in the middle, and red on the bottom – provides a good visual clue for young writers. As the Steps to Success page states: "they resemble a stop-light and are used as visual clues to show them were to start, slow down, and stop each letter."

I also like the way that the learning and practicing is broken down on each page. From reviewing the letter and a word that start with the letter, to going over the rhyme, and practicing the different parts of the letter independently to putting it all together and finally writing the letter all on their own, the program is helpful.

Our son really enjoys coloring in all the pictures in the Rhythm & Writing with the Get Write Crew workbook. I love that he gets additional practice in properly holding a pencil or crayon through the coloring pages.

One of the many pages for your child to color.

Our son and daughter really like the Crew. Whenever our son is coloring in the pictures in the workbook, he talks about the different members of the Crew whether they are in the image or not. There are four members to the band (pictured below from the Rhythm & Writing website). The connection between the videos and coloring pages inclusion of the Crew is good. Our son enjoys learning more about the different characters as they interact in the book. 

"Big Country sounds like a farmer." –  five-year-old son

There was only one song that both our children did not like – lowercase g & q. It was mixed too loud for them and very fast. So far, they have enjoyed all of the other videos they have watched together. And our son sits and sings the songs as he works on the pages.

The only other problem we came across so far is that the way that the uppercase letter M is introduced in the video is different than how it is taught in the workbook.

Do you want to learn more about Rhythm & Writing? 

If you are looking for a program that will help your children learn to write or even help your children practice writing if they are struggling, Rhythm & Writing and Rhythm & Writing with the Get Write Crew might be the perfect fit for your homeschool. I know that we are really enjoying the program in our homeschool. This turned out to be one of those things that I didn't know we needed. It was a perfect fit for our son. It even inspired our daughter to try writing herself.

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If you want to see how other members of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Review Crew used Rhythm & Writing with the Get Write Crew, please visit the website.