Music for Early Childhood

Building Roots & Wings

 

Our preschool-aged Roots & Wings program addresses gaps in the local music education network. Music education in early childhood is crucial for a child’s academic, linguistic, and social development. And, music is fun, engaging, and kids LOVE to do it! However, early-childhood music classes are often prohibitively expensive, and many local childcare centers struggle to offer music as part of their curriculum.

To address this gap, The Front Porch sends professional music teachers to well-established early childhood centers that serve historically-marginalized families. Currently, Roots & Wings teaching artists bring music to 700+ preschoolers weekly in 46 classrooms at Barrett Early Learning Center, the YMCA Early Learning Centers, through the Albemarle County Preschool Program, and the Charlottesville City School Early Learning Center.  And, for the large majority of preschoolers, Roots & Wings is the only music education they receive.

Erynn W/ Kids
Our Partners:

Albemarle County Preschool Program at Agnor, Baker Butler, Crozet, Greer, Mountain View, Red Hill, Stone Robinson, and Woodbrook Elementary Schools

Albemarle County Early Childhood Special Education 

Barrett Early Learning Center

Charlottesville Early Learning Center

Foundations Child Development Center

VIA Center for Neurodiversity Pediatric Clinic

YMCA Early Learning Centers–Jefferson School and Sentara

 

Erynn W/ Kids

The three-to five-year-olds in our preschool program explore rhythm, melody, sound, and expression while developing deep relationships with their music teachers. They learn about instruments, sing songs, write rhymes with their teachers, work with rhythm and movement, and share their emotions through music.

Roots & Wings’ preschool curriculum synthesizes the latest research in music education and uses Virginia Early Learning Development Standards (VA ELDS) as benchmarks for student progress. This helps young minds build academic skills and learn language – and in several classrooms, English Language Learners make up 87% of our student body!

The budding music makers in our Roots & Wings program get to experience a full range of musical opportunities! For example, last year the students at Barrett Early Learning Center visited the recording studio to record their version of the “Hello Song,” which was written by a Front Porch teacher and opens every Roots & Wings pre-k class. Check out a video of the experience below.

Testimonials:

For the past two years, our preschool classrooms have had the fortunate benefit of receiving a 30-minute weekly Front Porch music class. While to most who observe the classroom during these thirty minutes it may look like joyful four-year-olds singing, dancing, chanting poems or playing musical instruments; to anyone who knows anything about preschool education and child development it is so very much more, and it can be one of the things that helps close the achievement gap in our preschool classroom.

– Lisa Molinaro, Albemarle Co. Bright Stars Preschool Coordinator

We started every class doing affirmations, stuff like “I am strong”, “I am capable”, “I can do hard things!” And by the end of the year they would get so stoked from doing the affirmations that the little kids were screaming “I AM STRONG” with such enthusiasm that it made me laugh every single class. Growth moments like that were some of my favorite parts. 

-Erynn McLeod, R&W Teacher

I see my students engaged during music time and the rest of the week they ask for their music teachers to come. I love seeing them enjoying music and singing the songs throughout the day.

– Bright Stars Pre-K Classroom Teacher

I hear our children singing Front Porch songs and tunes throughout the day and their self-control has grown through learning how to use musical instruments and playing in rhythm. Our English Language Learners learn vocabulary better when it comes with a tune. Ms. Addison’s songs fit right into our curriculum, and the students sang the “Parts of a Tree” song for our parent showcase at the end of the Trees Study! We love incorporating the arts into our learning!

– Bright Stars Pre-K Classroom Teacher

Click Here to Support Early Childhood Music Programming