Welcome June, Our Month for Fathers

Posted Monday, June 1, 2026 2:35 pm

By Sally Goldberg | Fountain Hills

OPINION — “Every child is entitled to having the finest experiences, and every parent should know how to provide them.” So, say the top parenting experts of today. The best part is that no education is needed. Parenting is one of those things that is easy to do well and comes naturally.

If that is so, then why is it often so difficult? The answer lies with life today that is busy, busy, busy. How can you have meaningful experiences with children if you are not there to provide them?

Here are some new ways to think about all of this:

1. Anywhere and everywhere are places to promote Real Intelligence (RI).
2. Almost all Emotional Intelligence (EI) comes from parent guidance.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one thing, but no matter how instant or complete, it is still limited.

Parent-child interaction is endless. Filled with bonding and attachment and totally made of love, it is the major playing field for all RI and EI to thrive. It is its own arena for limitless learning.

For a long time, there was thought to be only one kind of “intelligence,” and that was “academic” (a totally different kind of AI than the one we know today). Remember, it was measured by one Intelligence Quotient (IQ). Then in the 1960s, along came Professor Howard Gardner from Harvard University with a different idea. He categorized eight intelligences: Linguistic (word smart); logical-mathematical (number/reasoning smart); spatial (picture smart); bodily-kinesthetic (body smart); musical (music smart); interpersonal (self-smart); naturalist (nature smart).

With no one way to promote learning, the main idea became to foster all of them. Dad and child, enjoy your month to keep enriching each other in the best ways possible. There is nothing “artificial” about that!

Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to [email protected]. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.