Little Swallows
Swallow Hill Music’s signature community outreach program that introduces preschool-aged children to the world of music making.
What is Little Swallows?
Our Little Swallows early childhood education program uses songs, creative movement, rhymes, percussion instruments, and other fun musical activities to deepen preschoolers’ educational development during their most formative years. Classes are led by our instructors, experienced musicians who capture the attention and imagination of students.
The program addresses the four Colorado Academic Standards for preschool music: Expression, Creation, Theory, and Aesthetic Valuation.
Research Supports Music and Early Childhood Education!
Engaging children in music education before age six helps the child speak more clearly, develop a larger vocabulary and strengthen his or her social and emotional skills.
Exposure to music in early childhood promotes literacy, gross and fine motor skills and prepares students for success in kindergarten by introducing them to basic classroom skills.
Early development is critical to future success; early childhood programs can generate government savings that more than repay their costs and produce returns to society that outpace most public and private investments.
Source: The Economics of Early Childhood Policy: What the Dismal Science Has to Say About Investing in Children by M. Rebecca Kilburn and Lynn A. Karoly, OP-227-CFP
Bring Little Swallows to Your School or Organization
Program Information
- Runs weekly for 32 or 48 weeks
- Bi-weekly, monthly, as well as shorter length program options are also available
- Includes accessible, age-appropriate musical instruments
- Toddler-age classes also available
Cost
- $50 per 30-minute class
- 1 hour minimum
- Ask if your school qualifies for grant-funded classes
Ready to get started?
Email our Senior Manager of Little Swallows, Joshua Abeyta, at abeyta@swallowhillmusic.org
Success Stories
“I am pleased that Swallow Hill is bringing this program to students in our community who might not otherwise have the opportunity to participate in high-quality music programming that helps ensure future school success.”
—Priscilla Hopkins, Instructional Superintendent – Early Childhood Education, Denver Public Schools
“The children have been so attentive to every lesson, I have never seen them so invested! They love seeing our music teacher come in every Friday with a big smile.”
— Family Star NE
“The Little Swallows program has had a huge impact on us by giving us access to quality music education and quality instruction. Our kids have experienced significant trauma and this is an additional way that we can help kids raise the trajectory of where they can go.”
—Ethan Hemming, CEO, Warren Village
“Part of our vision of turnaround was grounded in the idea that the arts could be a huge factor in increasing student joy in the classroom, which would in turn change academic outcomes. Since turnaround, we have proven that this is possible – McGlone has catapulted from one of the lowest-performing schools to a top growth school for the past five years, and last year, expanded to become an ECE-8 Academy. I firmly believe that not only is this general music program a wonderful way to introduce children ages 3 and 4 to the world of music making, but it has changed the academic trajectory of our students.”
—Sarah Gips Goodall, Principal, McGlone Academy
Curious about Little Swallows classes for your own child?
We also offer Little Swallows classes are for ages 1-4 as a separate, in-house program several times a week at our building on Broadway and Yale.