Notre Dame receives $3.7 million to expand ‘Talk With Your Baby’ program
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The University of Notre Dame has received a $3.7 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to support the Robinson Community Learning Center’s (RCLC) Talk With Your Baby program.
With the grant, the RCLC will expand the curriculum for parent education from one to four modules in English and Spanish, develop a curriculum for licensing early care providers, build an online component to complement in-person learning and make the courses available statewide, the university said.
“We know that investing in early childhood programs can have a profound impact on children’s future learning outcomes,” Notre Dame President Rev. Robert Dowd said in a press release. “We are delighted to collaborate with local partners to expand access to these critically important resources.”
Talk With Your Baby educates parents and caregivers on the importance of frequent interaction with children through talking, reading and singing from birth to age 3. These interactions have been shown to positively impact bonding, brain structure and function, language development, reading readiness, and social and emotional development, Notre Dame said.
The grant is the largest award in RCLC history and is designed to enable more parents and caregivers in the South Bend-Elkhart area and beyond to access the program, significantly enhancing Notre Dame’s capacity for community outreach.
“Thanks to Lilly Endowment’s ongoing support, the Talk With Your Baby program can expand its vitally important work of bolstering language development in young children,” RCLC Director Susan Devetski said. “This grant will allow us to give more parents and caregivers in the South Bend-Elkhart area and beyond a playbook that they can use with their children to develop their young brains.”
A 2023 grant of $500,000 from Early Learning Indiana enabled the program to grow its staff and expand its reach.
In partnership with local organizations, RCLC has delivered its Talk With Your Baby program to more than 3,000 parents, caregivers and facilitators since its inception. Originally conceived by the Memorial Health Foundation in 2009, RCLC took over the program in 2013.
The RCLC is an off-campus educational initiative of Notre Dame in partnership with Northeast Neighborhood residents, offering a variety of programs for children and adults as well as classes, clubs and lectures for seniors.