By Cynthia Martin

For the Sequim Gazette

Look around. They are all over the place. You take your child to school, and you notice the beautiful mountains south of Sequim.

What’s the name of the highest mountain you both see? (Actually, as you look south, Gray Wolf Ridge at 7,218 feet is the highest mountain but it almost looks as if Baldy at 6,827 feet on the left of Gray Wolf is taller.) Most of us don’t know but we can find out. You can go to a book to find the answer, or to the internet. You can go to the Audubon Society, and they have maps showing the range of mountains south of Sequim. Actually, you can go to an old map you have in a drawer; mountains don’t go out of date.

How about noticing the weather? Do you ever talk about the weather with your little one? What is the weather going to be like this weekend or for his birthday? Show him the section in the newspaper that shows the weather for the week. Look it up on your telephone or on the internet or even just call him in when you see the weather report on the news tonight.

Read about the bad weather in some parts of the country, especially where his grandpa lives. Follow up this discussion by learning about the clouds. Talk about the different kinds of clouds and the weather they usually bring.

You probably won’t know all the answers to the questions these discussions bring up, but you can help your child learn how to find the answers. Maybe we supply far too many answers too quickly anyhow. Maybe the better answer is the one that the two of you find together.

The lessons in life can be more subtle. But keep looking. When you see the young boy riding his bike without a helmet, talk about it. This is a chance to reinforce your son’s bicycle habits and remind him why he needs to wear his helmet.

When you see a person trying to cross the street in an intersection and the cars won’t stop, talk about it. These are some of his early lessons in driver’s education.

If you are in the store and you see someone being helpful to an older person, point that out to your child. Talk about being thoughtful.

If you are ignoring your child on your ride to school or even at the grocery store, you are missing a great learning opportunity. When we say you are your child’s first teacher, we should also say that you are your child’s most important teacher. You are probably with him more hours a day than he is in the classroom. Even if you aren’t, you are his one-on-one teacher which is very powerful.

Take advantage of this important time together and talk about every life lesson you can think of. They are all around you.

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Cynthia Martin is the founder of the First Teacher program and former executive director of Parenting Matters Foundation, which published newsletters for parents, caregivers and grandparents.