Editor’s note: Schools aren’t in charge of our children’s education – Parents are

There was a resounding message this week during an educational summit at Kent-Meridian, and even if you’re not a teacher, it bears repeating.

In fact, it’s probably better you’re not a teacher. You need to be a parent to truly appreciate it.

The point was this: schools may be educating your child, but that doesn’t mean they’re in charge.

Parents need to be stepping up to the plate, because ultimately we’re the ones from whom our children are learning the most.

At the BEST Summit (see page 7 in today’s paper) Kent Schools Superintendent Edward Lee Vargas mentioned the “80 percent factor.” That is the time our children are with us – the remaining 20 percent being the time they are in school.

We as parents need to be making the most of that 80 percent we have with our children, whether we are working parents or not (yup, I’m in the mix on that one, as a full-time editor.) Because we’ve only got one shot at getting it right, before our children go out into the world as adults – prepared or not.

Given all the attention we place on assessment tests, and worries about how different schools rank in terms of passing grades, I think it becomes easier to let ourselves off the hook, in terms of what we’re doing as parents to help our kids become adults and good citizens.

Assessment tests only go so far, as does finger-pointing. We need to be looking at ourselves in this equation, because “education” doesn’t just mean notebooks and pencils.

Education is the process of learning. And some of the best learning happens outside the classroom, when you’re not making a big deal about it.

Education can be as simple as spending time with your children, talking. They need to understand your value system, and to try out some ideas of their own, with your input.

How about a car ride, where they get to pick the radio station, and everyone just shares their day for a half hour?

Education means involvement with your kids – it could be something as simple as shopping for groceries (and learning about the household budget) or as organized as a visit to the zoo (where you’ll both probably pick up facts you didn’t know.)

Education also means the chance to screw up, or to pitch crazy ideas. Sometimes you have to literally get your tongue frozen to a light pole to understand why something isn’t a good idea to try (trust me, I’ve done this and it really does freeze.) We need to be there for our kids when these things happen, so the small screw ups don’t become huge judgement errors down the road.

Just being present for our children can go a long way toward the awe-inspiring process of becoming adults.