I share custody of my two children with their father. because he will be starting to pick them up FROM school on Friday we will not be together for the shabbos. Is It acceptable to celebrate on Thursday night? I do not want the children to not continue what we have always shared (their father is atheist).

Answer:

In this case, the same God who told us to keep Shabbat, is the God who said to do it on Friday night. So if you do it on Thursday, your children will be getting a warped message. They might enjoy the external trappings of the Shabbat experience, but they will be missing the core of it all which is that it is a mitzvah from God. This is a mistake, because then the jewish observance becomes a voluntary nice thing to do, as opposed to an obligation that we should guard carefully (as well as being a nice thing to do!).

I suggest finding other Jewish activities you can do with your children on Thursday. How about teaching them to say the Shema, which every Jewish child should say before going to sleep?

There are many many excellent books for children that teach Jewish values, and have stories about the holidays, etc. For a recommended reading list, go to:
http://aish.com/literacy/reference/. Books can also be ordered at
http://www.eichlers.com, and a list of local Jewish bookstores is at
http://www.artscroll.com/stores.html