A Character's Education

I love ENDER'S GAME, but it is a bad example of child characters. His characters are small adults. This works for his stories. He explains that the children are geniuses so I can accept the fact that they don't act like normal kids. This doesn't work for every series. I can understand in middle grade and juvenile that the children don't always have the luxury of being children, but that doesn't mean they should have all the experience that comes with growing up. They still need to make mistakes and develop. You can't have an average child who speaks like he graduated from Oxford (unless they did).

It is important to note that even adults can have a low education, if their circumstances are such. This is especially true in epic fantasies. There aren't many schools around when it comes to a medieval setting. Farm boys and girls have an education but it isn't typically book smarts. Their language and demeanor should show education level. You don't have to make your characters sound like complete idiots but once again they shouldn't be educated in everything. Give them street smarts.