Our Opinion: Celebrating our children, and those who care for them

Through its partner agencies, one focus of the United Way of Central Missouri is children, from their health and wellness to their education.

That's why we join the United Way in celebrating the Week of the Young Child this week.

It is to honor the more than 35 million children from birth through age 8 in America, as well as their families, teachers, child care providers, and others who help these young learners and future leaders.

On Monday, early childhood educators, students and child care professionals started off the week with a Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting at Show Me Childcare Center, 2702 E. McCarty St. Later in the day, Capital Region Medical Center's Sam B. Cook Healthplex held a fitness activity at the YMCA Child Development Center to underscore the importance of physical activity for children.

On Thursday, area child care providers will attend a field day at Southwest Early Childhood Center, 812 St. Mary's Blvd., from 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. It will feature tricycle races, obstacle bounce house, parachute plan and outside play to improve gross motor skills.

On Saturday, a Week of the Young Child Carnival will be 9:30-11 a.m. at the Memorial Park pavilion.

The carnival is open to all preschool families, to celebrate and encourage spending time together in play.

Locally, the Week of the Young Child is sponsored by Scholastic, and events are coordinated by the United Way of Central Missouri's Early Childhood Advisory Council.

Even if you don't have a young child, Week of the Young Child still is important to all of us. "The children are our future" is a cliche, but it's true. Same with another often-used phrase: "It takes a village to raise a child."

The United Way constantly strives to help children in our community in various ways.

Scholastic makes generous donations, including donations of books at various events. Research has shown that third-grade reading proficiency is a good predictor of academic achievement in the future.

These are just two organizations in a community that focuses on our future jobholders and future leaders. For that, we can be proud.