Learning To Write with Rhythm & Writing {A Curriculum Review}

As much as my youngest enjoys being the baby of the family, she also has a desire to keep up with her older siblings. And as an official pre-k student, this year she’s ready to start writing – in her own mind at least. This drive of hers though is a good thing, and one I want to encourage. A natural curiosity for learning is always a great starting point for any lesson or new skill. Combining her eagerness with a review of Rhythm & Writing with the Get Write Crew from Rhythm & Writing has proved that while she still loves being the baby, she is also ready to start directing her own learning path.

The Case for a Proper Writing Foundation

After watching my now third grader struggle with writing for a couple of years and doing some independent research, I have learned that good writing actually begins with a strong foundation of proper letter writing. Rhythm & Writing not only understands this, but they emphasize it. Created by Nickki Wilson, an Occupational Therapist, Rhythm & Writing strives to teach children how to write their letters properly each and every time. By combining music, easy instructions for each letter, and even using multi-colored lines, this program works to give your children the skills they need to ensure future writing success.

This starts by doing a pre-assessment, which honestly, I only had my daughter do for the sake of this review. As a homeschool parent, I was already aware that my five-year-old has minimal writing skills and no prior training. The writing she has learned so far has been out of a desire to write specific letters or words. Her letter formations are simply her attempt to copy what she sees elsewhere. They are choppy, never on the line, and often times, mirror images of what letters should be.

For a family who is looking for gaps, or wanting to be able to show improvement, the pre-assessment is a wonderful tool though. Covering both upper and lower-case letters, you can see just where your student is starting out. It gives you a baseline to look for what your child already does well, where your child could use some improvement, and a way to assess how the program is working.

For our family, we saw what we already knew – she didn’t even write on the bottom line. My daughter got five letters into the lower case sentence and asked to be done. I agreed. At this age, I’m a firm believer in taking my cues from my children. I wanted to end the pre-assessment on a good note, and technically only had her work on it for the purpose of this review. She was excited about starting the lessons and I wanted her to stay that way. Requiring her to finish this page would have simply diminished her desire to work on this program.

Time To Meet The Crew

As the name suggests, Rhythm & Writing with the Get Write Crew has a crew of companions for your child to learn proper writing skills with. The “Get Write Crew” features Big Country, Hip Hop, Mo Rock, and Jazzy Faith, four characters created to inspire your children. Throughout the workbook, you and your child get to know these characters by reading the story pages in the workbook. These stories keep your child engaged in writing, help to teach them about the letters they will be learning, and introduce the rhythm component of the program.

Rhythm In Writing?

Yes, you read that correctly – there is a rhythm component to the Rhythm & Writing program because as we already know, kids learn better when we can add songs to their lessons. By teaching your child the proper letter formation with both rhymes and song your child can remember the steps better. Starting with L (long line down and across) and going all the way to J (long line down with a hook and across the top). These simple phrases are taught with each and every letter. Your job is to teach them to the child as they work each step of forming the letter and then encourage them to say the phrase every time they practice writing. This repetition helps them build memory and confidence.

Need more help? You will find lyric videos right on the Rhythm & Writing website. Now if your child loves video (and what kid doesn’t?) these will be a great addition for either encouraging your child or reinforcing the learning. They are also great motivators. My daughter loved the videos. Personally, I didn’t like them. There is nothing wrong with them per se, they are just not my style. However, with or without the videos you can still take advantage of the entire Rhythm & Writing program. In fact, the video component is a supplement created to enhance the program. Everything your child needs to complete Rythm & Writing is in the workbook.

Time To Get Writing

From the time the Rhythm & Writing workbook arrived my daughter was eager and ready to get started. With all new curriculum, I need a moment or two to get familiar with the program and learn how to use it. This one, really one required a moment or two because the instructions are brief. Not because they are lacking though. Simply put, it’s a simple program to use.

First, you start with the pre-assessment then you jump right in. If you only need to work on a few letters you can skip to those. If you want to start at the beginning, you can. We opted to start at the beginning with the letter L.

One of my favorite features of the Rhythm & Writing program is the multi-colored lines. The top line is green, for start. The middle line is dashed and yellow, letting kids know to slow down. And the bottom line is red, for stop. These quick and easy visual cues help kids to know consistently where to start, where to stop, and when to slow down as they are writing.

Another amazing feature is the transparency sheet. This plastic sheet allows you to overlay the pages and practice writing with dry erase markers – meaning each page can be used multiple times. Unfortunately, I forgot to get dry erase markers right away so my daughter had to wait. And wait. And wait. But once I got the markers she was thrilled. I opted for wide markers, better for little hands, and colored ones at that.

In addition, you could always combine the letter rhymes with clay, dough, salt trays, pipe cleaners, and other materials to help little learners master the techniques needed to form their letters.

Another great feature of the program is the order in which the letters are introduced. Starting with L and easier letters. Working their way through both lower case and capital letter with similar formation and rhymes. And ending the program with the more challenging letters that require great hand control.

Get Writing Today

I’ve used other writing programs in the past with my older kids. Programs that promised to teach handwriting quickly and easily… but they didn’t. Rhythm & Writing with the Get Write Crew from Rhythm & Writing however made the process of teaching proper letter formations quick and easy. And while some of the ease could be attributed to an eager student, homeschool experience, or even luck, I know that having the right materials also lends to the ease and positive experience we had with this program.

We started with L and quickly found ourselves turning the pages to practice lowercase t and i. From there we read about the Veterans’ Memorial along with learning both capital and lowercase V and W. The next section was titled Techy to the Rescue and taught capital T and I. The final section we worked on introduced both capital F and E. Being a younger learner we spent more than one day on each letter and focused more on proper letter formation instead of pushing through to complete a set number of pages.

Yet each day my daughter was excited. Excited to write, to say the rhymes, to work on her letters. She eagerly sat at her desk and dutifully tried to get each letter right. And when errors happened, we quickly wiped them away and tried again motivated by fun, a desire to learn, and program that encourages children to try.

Read all of the Homeschool Review Crew reviews here!