HeidiSongs is now streaming online! (YES! You read that right!) You can get HeidiSongs videos ON DEMAND any time! We’ve partnered with Vimeo to offer you streaming, on-demand, online playlists of our DVDs!
We are SO excited about this because many of you, especially those of you without DVD players in your classrooms, have been asking for SOMETHING like this.
So, how does it work?: After you sign up and create an account with Vimeo, you pick which of our titles you’d like to rent. You get a 12 month rental with reliable service on most internet browsers and many other platforms like iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, Samsung TV and Chromecast. Each offers you unlimited viewing, anytime you have a connection!
What you’ll need: A fast internet connection, an up-to-date browser on your computer, or a playback app for your individual device.
Apps can be found here: Vimeo Device Apps
On Our Website: Since the streaming is only available THROUGH VIMEO (not through our website) we’ve made some updates to our website so it’s super easy to find which of our titles are available with an On-Demand Video option and to get you to Vimeo! There’s a menu tab that says “Online Video”.
Once you click that, it shows every DVD that has a streaming option available on Vimeo.
Click the one you want and it takes you right to the Video On-Demand tab on the product page.
Click the orange button that says “Buy Now”
….and it takes you DIRECTLY to that title’s page on HeidiSongs’ Vimeo channel!
Complete your transaction through Vimeo and voilà! You can start streaming! Easy peasy, right? 
Want to know more? Check out the support website here: Vimeo Support Page
***Please note: It’s always important to test your device before you make your rental purchase through Vimeo, as we don’t have the ability to refund purchases if your device is unsupported or if you have a poor or inconsistent internet connection. I discovered this a few years back when I tried to use Vimeo on my school computer, only to realize the browser was outdated, and I had to call the district for an update. An easy test is to verify that the movie “trailer” plays well on your device or computer, and if it does, you should not have a problem with purchasing a movie.
One issue with Vimeo is it only plays the whole movie, start to finish, so finding individual songs can sometimes be a challenge. You can fast forward, rewind, or drag the scroll bar and then just watch for the title of the song you want, and that is fairly simple. To make it even easier, we’ve also added some simple timecode tags, to help get to each song, and that helps tremendously… but we will continue to look for ways to make this interface easier to use. The Vimeo player works like all other media players, which allows you to scroll along the timeline to find the song you want or you can choose from the song listing. We’ve had wonderful feedback from our Vimeo customers, and it’s available worldwide so a whole new audience has been able to use HeidiSongs!
I posted a question on Facebook last night so I could share some feedback from those already using our On-Demand videos!
Here are some of their answers!
Kathleen said “Thank you for your amazing products! I currently have the alphabet & sight words 1 on Vimeo. The pros: So much easier than dvds & can be played anywhere. Being able to download them to view offline is also great. Cons: I can’t come up with any. :D”
Lori said “I just signed up last month and love your videos on Vimeo! We no longer have a DVD drive in our desktop and putting individual DVD’s in and out of a separate player is time consuming . Vimeo allows me quick access and streaming of your videos! It is quick and easy to find a specific song and access several different videos in quick succession.”
Heather said “I am in LOVE with this option! I want to be able to switch from your math videos during math time to letters and sight words during our literacy block. I used to have to switch out DVDs and that takes time (and kinders never like to wait for technology!) I keep them all cued up in my browser and click when I’m ready, no waiting!! Another plus….our school went to computers without drives this year and their isn’t the option for playing DVDs. :)”
Patti said “I use the videos on VIMEO every single day. In the morning we don’t really have time for morning tubs or morning work. So instead as the children arrive they SING AND SPELL. (The “have” song — I hear it being sung all day long. ) The alpha chant, the color songs……… thank you for this. I love it all. As for the cons – I can’t think of any.”
Meagan said “I use the alphabet video with my preschool class. I wish you could choose what letter you wanted to watch rather than having to scroll through the video and find it. Love the on demand though!”
Elizabeth said “I love the convenience, especially that the New MAC pros don’t have DVD players attached. I hate having to pay separately each year to renew.”
Samantha said “I use it and like that it’s “on demand” and you can pull it up at any time. The only con I have is you have to manually find certain “tracks” or songs that you want instead of just going to that number track..”
And as for me, (Heidi!), I started using the new Benchmark TK Sight Word List on Vimeo this week, and I was just THRILLED at how wonderful it was to never have to change the DVDs! We got through a whole lot more songs than we normally would have due to the ease of use. My computer did freeze up at one point, and I think that perhaps I lost the internet connection in my classroom. I refreshed the page, and it came back- but restarted the movie at the beginning. So I dragged the scroll bar back to where it was before by watching the movie titles
Curious?? Want to TRY IT out for yourself before you pay for a year rental?? FOR TWO WEEKS, today through Sept 30th, 2017, if you use the free trial code DOLCH you can try our Dolch Pre-Primer Animated DVD On-Demand through Vimeo for FREE. Code works on the ANIMATED Pre-Primer title ONLY. I’ll walk you through the steps.
After you’ve created your account with Vimeo, go to HeidiSongs’ channel, and find the animated Dolch Pre-Primer DVD.
Once you’re on the DVDs page, click the blue “Rent” button.
When the payment info window pops up, just click where it says “Apply Promo Code” and enter DOLCH (not case sensitive). You don’t need to enter any payment info at this time.
Once you’ve entered in DOLCH it should show you the price and the discount! Press the blue “Continue” button. *Please note, on the side of the box it says you are getting 1-year streaming. In this case, with the free trial code, it will ONLY be streaming until the 9/30/17. After that, you’ll need to purchase the rental.
You now have access to this title until the 30th of September, 2017!! 
Remember, this free trial code will only work for the Animated Dolch Pre-Primer title, (not the classic version) and it will only be free until the 30th. Even if you activate the free trial on the 30th, you will only get to use it for the rest of that day. So try it out before then, spread the word, see if you like it! Then you can go forward and rent whichever titles you want!
I’m really hoping this option is helpful for those of you without disc drives or DVD players, or those of you tired of switching out DVDs to get to the words you want. We would LOVE your feedback as you navigate through this online streaming option! If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below, email our office staff at info@heidisongs.com, call our office at (909) 331-2090, or contact Vimeo directly if it’s something on their end.
Happy teaching!
– Heidi
----------------------------------
Follow me! Did you enjoy this post? Do me a favor and share it with your friends! And follow this blog by signing up for my email updates, or follow on Bloglovin', or follow me on TPT! I'm also on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ and YouTube, too! Don't forget to sign up for our email newsletter (at the bottom of this page) for special deals and promo codes that you won't find out about anywhere else.
