Lullaby – just the sound of the word can soothe the soul. As soft as a baby’s breath, the gentle lilt of a lullaby is known to calm and comfort an infant to sleep, but they can also be powerful tools for parents and caregivers to enhance childhood literacy, promote language development, and strengthen familial bonds. Those benefits reflect the essence of the Lullaby Project, an initiative of Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute, with which the Learning Alliance has partnered since 2023. There are some 50 partners worldwide, including about 35 in the United States. TLA is the only one in Florida. The program is overseen at TLA by Shanti Sanchez, Lullaby Project manager, and Bridget Lyons, arts/literacy educator, who were delighted when the TLA partnership proposal they submitted to Carnegie Hall was accepted. As lifelong educators in early childhood, primary grades and arts integration, the two women recognized that the project aligned with the mission and vision of the Learning Alliance, the organization behind the Moonshot Goal of having 90 percent of students reading at grade level by the end of third grade. Its programs include family partnership, in-school coaching and training, afterschool and summer tutoring, and community engagement. Prior to submitting a proposal to Carnegie Hall, Sanchez and Lyons traveled to New York City to attend a Lullaby Project convening at the Weill Music Institute, which Sanchez said was an exciting opportunity. Sanchez, who holds a master’s in education, has taught numerous music and arts programs, and previously worked in the education department of the Vero Beach Museum of Art. Lyons has over 30 years of education experience in this country and internationally, and also serves as the manager of the Moonshot Reading Rocket at TLA. Additionally, both women completed a summer intensive at the University of Florida’s Center for Arts and Medicine. Sanchez explains that Carnegie first started the project in a neonatal ICU to help parents express their wishes, hopes and dreams for their babies by creating lullabies. In essence, the origin of the Lullaby Project can be traced back to ancient times; presented as an oral history by telling stories and sharing values through vocalizations from one generation to the next. One can imagine an ancestral community where a baby’s earliest learning experience was through chanting and song, lulled to sleep in a mother’s arms, listening to a repetitive, soothing refrain. TLA launched the Lullaby Project in Vero Beach in 2023 with an eventual outreach to all of Indian River County. Sanchez and her team get referrals, including from community organizations, and then meet with new and expectant parents to encourage them to impart the benefits of creating lullabies and singing to their children. “There is a lot of research which supports how to empower the parent as a child’s first teacher, regardless of their own background,” Sanchez emphasizes. “We meet with the parents, ask them to journal, share about their child; what their hopes and dreams are for this child. This develops a personal word bank.” Lyrics and music are created by the TLA team based on the information given to them, creating unique lullabies for each family. She explains that a child’s language nutrition actually begins before birth, when babies begin to hear familiar voices while in the womb. A baby’s vocabulary growth is lifelong, an early diet of chatting, singsongs, eye-contact, touch and lullabies fosters a baby’s attention span and listening skills. These interactions advance cognitive abilities during a baby’s first three years, a time of rapid development. TLA’s Lullaby Project team facilitates the creation of original lullabies for families with children up to age 5, engaging parents and other family members through music and movement. “Getting the parents involved is essential to kindergarten readiness. A child needs to have certain skills and vocabulary to know how to follow basic instructions. Neither parents nor schools can do it alone,” says Sanchez. “The Lullaby Project recognizes the importance of community engagement, parent and school partnerships, and how music is an international language transcending across all cultures. It is truly transformational.” Lullabies can be an opportunity for a fun gathering where older siblings sing to the baby, reinforcing it as a special family song. It can also help relieve the stress of the parents by exposing everyone to the same rhythms and rhyming. Sanchez explains that the vision of the Learning Alliance is for Indian River County children to become literate, compassionate, creative citizens who will improve our world. TLA recently held several well-attended Lullaby concerts, the most recent at the First Presbyterian Church of Vero Beach. These celebratory concerts featured local musicians, educators and other community members accompanying parents and children as they shared their personal lullabies. Also at that concert, TLA unveiled a new Indian River Lullaby, specially written in honor of every child born in the county and sung by the TLA team. For more information, visit TheLearningAlliance.org. [gallery ids="218010,218011,218012,218013,218014,218015,218016,218017,218018,218019,218020,218021,218022,218023"]