Question: I get paid little but love my work, and my partner and I get by. Now we suddenly have become parents to two children under the age of four. (It’s a long story…) The children came with a modest school trust fund, and I want to spend the trust fund over the next few years on early childhood education, better equipping my home for the children, and allowing me to slow down my work schedule and have more time with them. My sister-in-law, who works at a Montessori school, agrees with me, but my partner, my parents, his parents, and my friends say I should save the trust fund for college. They point out how expensive college is and how kids today are burdened by college debt. What are your thoughts?  Paul Sutherland: When I chat with teachers I often ask them much the same question, and I have yet to hear one teacher suggest that if you must choose, you should save the money for college. What teachers know intuitively and science has proved over and over again is that the most important period of growth in a child’s life is the first trimester to the first grade. If you want a child to …