Talk With Your Baby

You are your child’s first and most important teacher!

Talk With Your Baby (TWYB) is a multi-organizational initiative that began in 2009, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, as an initiative of the Memorial Health Foundation Committee. It quickly took on a life of its own as people and organizations with expertise in early childhood collaborated to choose a curriculum, develop a grass-roots delivery model, train educators, and test out pilot programs in various settings. 

TWYB’s mission is to educate parents and other caregivers about how important it is to talk often with babies and young children from birth to age 3.

Talking is vital for building the baby’s brain. Research has shown that frequent verbal interaction with children in the first 3 years of life builds the brain architecture that will support reading and other cognitive skills as they develop. In fact, the amount that parents and other caregivers talk with babies correlates strikingly with later measures of cognitive development and reading readiness. No less importantly, lots of talk from loving adults also builds healthy relationships and social skills.

TWYB welcomes participation of all kinds. TWYB offers classes that are open to parents and caregivers throughout the community, and also trains facilitators to provide TWYB classes at partner agencies. 

For more information, please contact TWYB Director Valerie Kozera at (574) 631-6916 or vkozera@nd.edu.