I've had children start here as young as 10 months who eat all the table food the other children eat but chopped really small. I keep serving about a tablespoon of each item at each meal with seconds and thirds if they eat for the little ones.

I had a little one start with me who had never eaten fruit for her parents and she's been here almost 4 months and she's eating every fruit I serve. I have a picky veggie eater and her Mom is so impressed that I've gotten her to eat so many new veggies, but hey by the time we run around all morning and she sits down to lunch she's darn hungry and she eats. I don't offer any alternatives, what I serve for meals is what we are eating. Then I'm not throwing food in the garbage as they learn to eat what I serve.

However, I do keep books for each child with notes about what they like and don't like so when I buy my groceries I buy the favourite foods and pretty much cook the same things every week. My dckids don't mind the same foods every week, but I give them lots of variety and mix up the food items very well so they don't have the same thing daily. I have a chicken lunch, a pork lunch, a fish lunch, a cheese lunch and a beef lunch weekly. In the same way I vary the fruits, veggies and grain items.