Albert Barnes Commentary Proverbs 22:6

"Train up a child in the way he should go, And even when he is old he will not depart from it." — Proverbs 22:6 (ASV)

Train - Initiate, and so, educate.

The way he should go - Or, according to the specific nature of his path, that is, the path especially belonging to, especially fitted for, the individual’s character. The proverb enjoins the closest possible study of each child’s temperament and the adaptation of “his way of life” to that.