Reading A Lot Into It

Reading a Lot into It

Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it. Proverbs 22:6

My parents were both educators within the public school system. My mother taught high school English and public speaking, and my father taught physiology at the college level.

They loved what they did and were good at it. And as a result they left a trail of lives changed for the better.

They were both planners, wise in how they went about teaching others and how they viewed the world. I think they would have appreciated this Chinese proverb: “When planning for a year, plant corn. When planning for a decade, plant trees. When planning for life, train and educate people.”

I learned from the late Abe Brown, my longtime friend who mentored me about prison ministry and so many other things of life, that state governments today determine the need for future prisons based on the percentage of children in fourth grade who cannot read.

That’s a trend that needed to change long ago, but now it’s up to us to make sure it does. The problem seems to be the lack of people adding value in the lives of our younger children until we begin to lose them. Often these children come from homes where little positive intellectual stimulation and learning happens. Head Start programs were developed to stem that tide and increase the learning curve—but the tide still seems to be coming in. There are so many Old Testament admonitions for adults to teach the children—not only God’s Word, but also to teach them other necessary skills as well—reading being one of them.

We each need to be a part of the solution. Get involved as a tutor in a local school or community program. Partner with the Dungy Family Foundation to read at area schools. Whatever it takes, help a child get an education.

Uncommon Key > Determine today that you will make a difference in the life of a child by being available and willing to help that boy or girl succeed.