Improve financial literacy for children by teaching them to share, save and spend smart.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Lessons for Preschoolers
All the lessons are in both English and Spanish. Pretty cool.
-John
Friday, November 03, 2006
"This Doesn't Fit Into Our Budget"
Neale's book is available at most major booksellers.
-John
Monday, October 23, 2006
All About Allowance
When? Determine when you think your kids can handle it. I know from experience with my own three-year-old that she is too young (for an allowance, though certainly not too young to discuss and handle money). Five or six seemed to be the consensus amongst experts. Try this poll to see what 5000+ parents think, http://life.familyeducation.com/allowance/parenting/43766.html?detoured=1
Teaching Tool: Let your kids know that allowance is a tool for them to learn how to manage money, but don’t get upset when they manage it poorly. Use it as a teaching tool, not a disciplinary one.
Allowance/Chores: Strongly consider not tying allowance to chores. Though I’ve seen some reasoning to the contrary, all the sources (below) for this post suggest that chores and allowance should be separate. “In my experience, and according to many psychologists and counselors, an allowance should not be tied to personal achievement [grades]…or doing chores around the house…Give an allowance to teach your children the basics of good money management.” -Paul Lermitte from Making Allowances.
Watch yourself: If you’re concerned about how they will treat their money (and you should be), pay particular attention to your own money habits and try to be consistent with what you tell your kids and what you do.
Responsibility: Help them build personal responsibility; let them make mistakes.
Calculating the allowance is a little more difficult and a more personal decision. One prevailing thought (seen on Pearson Education’s Family Education site among others) is to give your child a weekly dollar amount that is half their age ($3/week for a six-year-old). Parent response on this particular site was vehemently against that idea because of the paltry allowance it would create. David Owen in First National Bank of Dad makes a very strong case for a substantial allowance AND providing a substantial interest rate to the children to teach the power of saving and compounding. The experts generally agreed that it’s most sensible to determine what the child will be responsible for (a list that will likely grow as your child grows) and provide them with enough for that. Whenever you start, whether it be four, five or six, keep it simple. Janet Bodnar in Dollars & Sense for Kids (aka “Dr. Tightwad”) suggests making them responsible for one thing (sweets on supermarket trips, trinkets on trips to Target, etc.) Also, give them money in denominations that allow for doling it up and saving, sharing (donating) or spending it (five ones instead of a five-dollar bill).
For more in depth information, the following books were my sources for this post:
Janet Bodnar’s Dollars & Sense for Kids
Joline Godfrey’s Raising Financially Fit Kids
Paul Lermitte’s Making Allowances
David Owen’s The First National Bank of Dad
Pearson Education Family Education Site (featuring National PTA material)
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Kids and Ads
1. Who created this message?
2. What words, images, and sounds are used to attrach my attention?
3. What is really being "sold" in this message?
4. What does this message mean to me?
These may seem like somewhat adult questions, but with advertisers targeting the massive kids market as young as early as two, it's time we equip our kids with the tools to spend smart.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Teaching kids to share - a simple idea
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Starting Early Is Very Important
Get started now:
1. As soon as children can count, introduce them to money. Take an active role in providing them with information. Observation and repetition are two important ways children learn.
2. Communicate with children as they grow about your values concerning money --- how to save it, how to make it grow, and most importantly, how to spend it wisely.
3. Help children learn the differences between needs, wants, and wishes. This will prepare them for making good spending decisions in the future.
-Brought to you by National PTA® by Paul Richard (from FamilyEducation.com)
Let me know what's working for you to help teach your kids about money.
-John