Thoughtful Parenting: The importance of the family dinner   It
goes without saying that adults are impressed by children who
have a sophisticated vocabulary. Our ability to communicate
verbally is one of the most important social intelligence assets
we have.   One study from the Harvard School of Education
examined children’s use of certain words that have been found to
be good markers of literacy. Of the 2,000 words researchers were
looking for, 143 came from parents reading to their kids, and
more than 1,000 of the words were learned at the dinner table. 
This is not to say we should not read to our kids. It does,
however, reiterate the critical role of the family dinner in
fostering healthy development. Having dinner as a family is one
of the most important things you can do to raise happy, healthy
children.   Need convincing?   Studies show that the more often
families eat together, the less likely kids are to smoke, drink,
do drugs, get depressed, develop eating disorders or consider
suicide, and the mo