Ten tips for parents and caregivers

Be warm, loving, and responsive.
Respond to the child's cues and clues.
Talk, sing, and read to children.
Establish rituals and routines.
Encourage safe exploration and play.
Make television watching selective.
Use discipline as an opportunity to teach.
Recognize that each child is unique.
Chose quality child care and stay involved.
Caregivers need to take care of themselves.

Math and Young Children

Food for Thought

Parents, our staff shares their devotional message from our March focus on Faithfulness: "What’s for dinner?" The question was as predictable as the setting sun in the late afternoon. It sometimes came from the back of a kids-filled minivan. Or in a phone call from one of our teenagers checking in from a friend’s house after school. It was often shouted from another room as I stood in the kitchen staring at a huge hunk of frozen hamburger and wondering the same thing.

Early on, I recognized that making dinner was one of those duties I either had to do or delegate every day, because dinner matters in the life of a family. We tried all the tricks to keep the routine interesting: crock pot experiments, pizza night, letting the children take charge of the menu once a week.

But dinner is about more than food. It’s a daily marker, the comma between afternoon and evening, when a group of people pause and become one. We gather around a table to pass the salt, tell and hear the story of the disaster on the school bus, share feelings and failures and victories.

And even if all the family members can’t make it every single night, dinner still happens. Because dinner nourishes our need for one another. Lord, You tell us of many celebrations that focus on eating and praying together before meals. May we honor Your guidance by eating together as a family regularly.
(By Carol Kuykendall, Daily Guideposts 2004)

It is a Happy Day! Come eat lunch with our teachers once a month!