Side Roads: Love children? Educate them

Schools may close for the summer, but a child's education never stops.

As classes and homework take a leave of absence, the void they leave behind will be filled with other pursuits, every one of which will be a learning experience in its own way.

What kind of education will your child have this summer?

I consider myself to have been a lucky child. My summers were spent playing outside, helping work on the farm when I was forced to, and reading.

We children were blessed with a patient mother who always had time to read to us, or, after we learned to read for ourselves, she was always there to answer a question or explain the meaning of a new word. She and my father read the paper every day, and talked about what was going on in the world, and I listened. I loved to read, and consider the endless time I spent with books to be one of the strongest foundations of my childhood education.

It wasn't until later years that I realized how many other influences contributed to my education as well, beginning with where we lived. All around were fields and woods and springs, brimming over with life. There were flowers everywhere, some planted by my mother, others growing wild. There were lilacs so thick and plentiful that I could run through them as if in a small forest, taller than I stood, the scent of so many blossoms almost dizzying, especially right after a warm spring rain.

Of course, there was another facet of my education. It was called work, and it usually involved a hoe, which I wielded neither accurately nor well. The funny thing was, I not only learned to do it, but also to like it, and the sense of accomplishment it gave me.

As I look back at the things I learned, and how I learned them, I think I have found the key element in the successful education of a child. It's the people who are willing to teach them, to make sure they learn from the life around them. In my case, those people happened to be my family.

Life has changed in many ways, but there are still plenty of moms, dads, grandparents or other relatives, and paid caregivers as well, who go the extra mile to see that a child's need for learning is met.

There are working moms and dads who are never too tired to read another story, or to allow a child to help with a task, when it would be so much easier to do it themselves.

These are the people who realize that they are a child's most important teacher, and that school is always in session.

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Persinger is community editor for The Tribune. She may be reached at (812) 523-7063 or jpersinger@ tribtown.com. This column first appeared as a blog on The Tribune's Web site at www.tribtown.com.