subject: Reasons For Teaching Kids About Money [print this page] Reasons For Teaching Kids About Money Reasons For Teaching Kids About Money
One of the most important skills we can pass on to the next generation is teaching kids about money. It may be an old saying, but it is nonetheless true to state that you cannot start them too young. There will always be some disagreement as to how young one can start and who should be responsible for the teaching but a combination of responsible parenting and good teaching practice is probably the ideal solution.
Society seems to expect our children to grow up far too rapidly. There are very few adults with or without children of their own who could recognise an element of themselves in an average ten year old today. To paraphrase the Bible (Corinthians), children have been forced to put away childish things, in order to fulfil expectations by becoming a Man.
Certain Life Skills are absolutely essential for survival in everyday situations, and an understanding of finances is possibly the most important of them all. The Victorian master, Charles Dickens, defined Happiness and Despair as potentially being as little as sixpence, this being the difference between your annual income and your annual expenditure. The principle is just as valid today: in order to be successful, your Income has to exceed your Expenditure.
The basic rules of Home Economics need to be learnt, presented to children in a manner which will appeal and at the same time be easy to remember and follow. Naturally, children will tend to learn most easily by following an example and so the home environment is crucial to the earning process. In most homes, even during the preschool years, children can look forward to some form of Allowance, or Pocket Money. Generally, this is available on a Saturday, traditionally a day of leisure for most people.
There is often an Agreement involved between parent and child such as the satisfactory completion of an agreed task (such as cleaning or tidying up), maybe a favourable report from school. Most families will have their own version, a tried and trusted formula which they have discovered fits their requirements.
Any child who is expected to perform a simple task as a condition of receiving Pocket Money will appreciate the Value of Money far more readily than the child who receives his or her Allowance without having to earn it.
