My son called home from the university, saying, “Mom, Dad, I am coming home to spend the night.” He’d had a pretty rough week so home seemed to be a welcome refuge for our grown son and his mom welcomed the thought of having her only child come home just for  one night.

Home has so many meanings to so many people. For some right now, “home” may bring on happy thoughts and for some, it may bring on sad thoughts.  World travelers have witnessed many kinds of homes from living in tents, mud huts, open aired homes, homes up on stilts, chalets or even living on an open savanna in Africa under the stars. 

Even around our surrounding area of Baldwin County we see mobile homes, boat homes, apartments, condos, brick homes, wood homes, log cabins., etc. We live in the country, city or suburban areas. Even animals are provided homes like nests for birds, dens for bears, forests for all kinds of animals, lakes, bays, oceans for our water animals. Beds of soil for ants, holes for moles, a web reflecting the morning dew for spiders. Sometimes we land in temporary homes like shelters when there are natural disasters or hard times like fires or hurricanes misplace us for a while. Hospitals become our homes when we become sick.

Normally our homes provide a place of refuge, security, peace and where we can let down and sense we are loved and accepted for who we are. You’ve heard the expression, “home if where the heart is.” This expression means so much to a young child’s growth, development and life. Home is a place where a child can learn, grow and experience many different lessons to prepare them to live in a bigger home, our world.

How can a home prepare a young child emotionally, learn new skills appropriate for their young age, learn rules of discipline that lead to a well adjusted life and respect for others, and for young children to use and recognize their gifts and talents?

Here are a few ideas:

One of my favorite centers in the classroom is the Play-Doh center because I can mold, roll and pat Play-Doh.  Like Play-Doh, children can be shaped into objects they don’t desire to be, or into objects that radiate like the bright colors of Play-Doh by the words, actions and time we spend with our children. 

The home is the perfect environment where words of encouragement and time spent with your young children are the essential building blocks in their adjustment, well being, and good self esteem.

Getting off the busy routine at home and letting your young child just unwind is very important. Free play is so important in the developmental steps of a young child. It is voluntary, spontaneous, open-ended play, with no wrong or right answers. Home provides a safe haven to develop a good emotional foundation.

Young children are born with the desire for we parents or caregivers to set boundaries for their health and safety.  We have rules for driving on the road, being careful and respecting the lives of others. As I tell my young students in my classroom, I set up rules for you to follow because I do care and love you.

Set special days within your home to spend time one on one with your young child. You don’t have to wait till their birthdays. Stay in tune to what your child likes to do such as drawing, reading, music, building with blocks, legos, observing the world through the eyes of science, playing with mud pies, a tendency toward certain sports and games.

Spend time with your child at home on the couch, in the kitchen, bedroom, giving nightly baths to your young child to get to know the special little gal or guy you have been blessed with. They are little people whose young lives can be molded within the home.   

I encourage families of young children to set family traditions no matter what kind of positive or even difficult situation you may be going through. A home, no matter how big or small, messy or clean, is where a young child can feel loved, safe and happy — and it will help him or her to take this wonderful foundation into the world.  

Yes, home is where the heart is. 

Beth Pinyerd serves as young children’s director at Faith Family Fellowship in Spanish Fort.