3 reasons why Heidi Songs are a wonderful addition to our day!

Spelling….that word to my oldest is like fingernails on a chalkboard. She can read spectacularly and her reading comprehension is amazing, but to spell the words? It just doesn’t come as easily for her.

In my previous review of Heidi Songs, I mentioned that my 7 year old has difficulty with spelling her sight words. For months, despite my best efforts, spelling was one of the most difficult subjects I had to teach, and it was beyond frustrating for the both of us. This school year has been anything but easy for us. I have been pulled in numerous directions on finding a way or how I can support my daughter with her spelling. I thought I left every stone unturned, but when I heard about Heidi Songs and how it uses an excellent way to spell using eyes, hands, and ears (sight, touch, and sound), I just had to try it out.

Heidi Songs uses a multi-sensory approach to learning for reading and math, and since we have been watching her videos on a daily basis, I decided to kick it up a notch and listen to the CD’s during our daily commute to and from school and after school activities.

After a few weeks of choosing 2-3 sight words to focus on for the week, and listening to the CD’s sporadically throughout the day, my daughter has memorized the spelling of all her high-frequency words in Heidi Songs Volume 1-6! I found that the CD’s were a necessity to add to the DVD series, it helped to aid in our repetition and frequency of spelling with sight words.

My 4 year old even joins in on the fun and can spell all of his colors! He loves the catchy songs and he often sings these songs when he is playing independently. The hand motions and movements help with memorization; Heidi Songs is pure genius!

1)    The highly-structured multisensory approach. Seeing the words and visuals, moving with the hand motions, singing the songs, aids an increases the retention and memorization! This approach offers multiple pathways to the brain, making spelling easy to learn (and fun).

2)    The lyrics are easy to remember and makes learning fun. Preschool children, early elementary age and special needs children can easily learn to identify numbers, shapes, and spell sight words by listening to music and moving with the motions! The materials can be used in a variety of ways. Each DVD has a correlating CD, so it is a great way to begin our recitation practice during car trips, appointments and helps us make every opportunity a learning opportunity! There is no formal “sit down & learn” homework, no tears – just a fun learning experience all the time. There are evenings where we find ourselves having a family dance party in the kitchen listening to Heidi Songs. My kids are learning and having fun ALL at the same time!

3)    Children love movement and music. Young kids retain more when music and movement is involved, just ask any preschool and kindergarten teacher. If a child is sitting inactive, it won’t take long before they stop listening and start playing. My daughter has remembered a majority of the songs by heart, and whenever she gets stuck on the spelling of a sight word, I remind her of the song and the hand movement, and she is able to make the connection and remember the spelling of the word.