Contact Us:
Sue Tidwell
Director for Childhood Education and Care
269-473-8271 Office
269-473-8209 Fax
 

The mission of early childhood education is, "To provide young children with developmentally appropriate experiences in safe, nurturing environments that are Christ-centered and consistent with the message and mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church." 

Each Adventist school and pre-school is a center for evangelism. It has its foundation in the biblical imperative for purposeful training of the young child. We are admonished to teach the words of Holy Script diligently unto our children (see Deuteronomy 6:7) and to train our children in the proper way (see Proverbs 22:6).

"Too much importance cannot be placed upon the early training of children. The lessons learned, the habits formed during the years of infancy and childhood, have more to do with the formation of the character and the direction of the life that has all the instruction and training of after years" (Ellen White, The Ministry of Healing, p. 380).

Due to the changing demographics of families in North American culture and society, the need for birth through Pre-Kindergarten programs has increased. To meet this challenging demand for Christ-centered quality care, the North American Division established an Early Childhood Education and Care Advisory to which we are apart. This Advisory has created a Seventh-day Adventist-based curriculum for our three- and four-year-olds, a curriculum that encourages not only age-appropriate learning but best practices for their developmental stage. We are also producing a Pre-K companion for Stepping Stones, the Kindergarten curriculum.

The Lake Union Office of Education shares the materials that are produced at the NAD level and assists our conferences with their use and implementation in order to provide education of the highest quality for all church/school-operated early education programs. We are committed to ensuring our programs will focus on bringing these children and their families closer to our Savior and to an understanding of the biblical principles of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Sue Tidwell

Director/Early Childhood Education