Just Add Kids

We are really fortunate. Our Money Mammals teaching guide, for kids 1-2, just won the Oregon State Desjardins award for leadership in youth financial literacy, courtesy of Rogue Federal Credit Union and Kerrie Davis. Thanks, Kerrie! I also happened to be using the teaching guide this week in my daughter's K-2 class at Larchmont Charter Schools here in Los Angeles, California. The guide provided a nice framework for a "Share" (charitable giving) lesson tied to the school's Thanksgiving food (and money) drive. I brought in some jars and the kids decorated them with fun Share labels and Goal labels for the amount they planned to save over the two weeks until the Thanksgiving drive ended. I enhanced the lesson with video from my show.

The kids really enjoyed setting the goals and I just know that they will do an incredible job bringing in food and money for the needy. The take-home lesson for me was that, once again, you just need a good framework and just add kids. The kids are ready to learn about many aspects of financial literacy at a young age (five and six in this case) and they make any lesson so much more than you could have imagined prior to going into the classroom.

Financial Literacy's time is NOW!

A terrific recent article in The Economist (click the link above) highlights the global push towards improved financial literacy. It shines a bright light on the desperate need for financial literacy worldwide and it underscores two of my core beliefs and what drives The Money Mammals project:

1. TEACH KIDS YOUNG - Jeroo Billimoria, a social entrepreneur who founded Child Savings International, teaches kids 6-14 in 35 developing countries about money through a course called Alfatoun ("Explorer"). She notes that it's imperative to start young because "by 14 most of their habits are formed." Not surprisingly, she encountered skepticism but has fought past that to create a successful worldwide financial literacy program for youth.

2. USE NOVEL METHODS - Lewis Mandell, winner of the William E. Odem Visionary Leadership Award in financial literacy, says, "clearly the way we are going about teaching personal finance needs to be improved" The article notes, "the only classroom method that seems consistently to raise financial literacy among high-school pupils is playing a stockmarket-investing game - which rewards taking high-risk bets."

Kids need to be engaged to be educated. Bland presentations or classes don't cut it. Saving Money Is Fun?! It can be.

It is clearly important to do something and to do something for our children NOW. We cannot wait. We all must work together to improve financial literacy education in this country. But we also can't wait for education system to handle this. Take advantage of the numerous services offered by many of your local credit unions to help teach you and your children about financial literacy. But more than anything else, start educating your kids yourselves. If your discomfort with the subject is holding you back, keep it simple. Teach them to share, save and spend smart, understand the difference between needs and wants and to make smart money choices. Want to get started? Take The Money Mammals Challenge (see previous post this month).