Maria's article was a pretty good start. I'm actually writing a small book about this subject for parents, where lessons of money, management, and life skills, are incorporated into games/life experiences. Wish it was done so I could give it to you. But, I think it's an extremely important subject, and sad that our education system fails so terribly at teaching it. I think it's also important to an open subject in the family. I know many families that hide and avoid talking about it because they don't know, are embarrassed, ect. but the greatest lessons in life are learned from mistakes and failures. It's how you deal with them that will make you a stronger, more educated person, or vise versa. For kids, I would suggested making the learning fun so they will stay engaged and really want to learn more even if they don't realize they are learning. You could try making a game such as they could start there own company called "XYZ" or whatever and they could sell services to you like cleaning the house, vacuuming, or whatever chores or things you want them to do. Or, you could own the business and they could come to you for a job. You could even do fake interviews and everything. Then they would earn a paycheck from you of "X" amount weekly, biweekly, monthly, ect. This will help them experience and learn about job interviews, working for a company, getting a paycheck, ect. Then they can start learning about managing their money. You could have fake 401k plans or similar they could contribute to where you match dollar for dollar up to 5% or whatever you choose. Then have them save an additional % for an emergency fund. Once they get a little saved start a savings account for them so when they get older the have a decent start on savings. You could use the money they contributed to the "401K" plan to put in a 529 account for their college. Obviously the younger they are the more time they will have on their side. This will help you as well as them. You could also have fake credit cards so if they want something from say Toys R Us, they will have to save up for it, then use their fake CC at the store, really you would pay for it, and they would pay their bill in full at the end of the month. Also, have the carry a account register so they can keep track of how much they have in "checking" and "savings". You could get as elaborate as you would like depending on your knowledge and their age. As they get into their teens, they could move on to a second job such moving lawns, raking leaves, ect, or even start their own company and grow a lawn business and even hire some friends to help wants it gets bigger. Things like this will help teach great money management, time management, work ethic, leadership skills, entrepreneur skills, social skills, and much more that will really help them get ahead and stay ahead in life. I strongly feel financial education and real life experiences are some of the most important skills to have since these are things that are used every single day around the world and are not going anywhere. Yet, most people including adults, fail so miserably at it. Most, at no fault of their own, they're simple uneducated for one reason or another. Hope that helps and good luck!
04-30-2009, 04:33 PM
Teaching children about money
