Homeschooling Online - Teaching Respect For Money
Here’s a quick tip on teaching your children to respect money.
It’s imperative. Living in a capitalist society, you want your children to have a healthy respect for money. But they won’t develop that naturally. How do you cultivate that? I recommend starting as early as possible.
My wife and I recently went yard saling. We took our three and four year old with us. Before we left the house my wife gave each of them $1. They could use it any way they wanted but once it was gone then that was it.
The three year old, a girl, spent hers first. We visited three yard sales and she decided to buy a few barbie dolls. So she took the change out of her pocket and paid the home owner selling the dolls. That was that. She left that house the proud owner of a few very close friends.
The older one made it all the way to the last house before he spent his money. He was on a mission to find a specific toy, which we couldn’t find. So on the last house he decided he wanted to buy a game. He gave the $1 bill to a lady and we walked away with his game in tow. I bought a never-used backgammon game, leather, for $5. We all found our bargains.
Start your children early on teaching money principles. Give them a little bit and let them buy their own toys, drinks, candy, whatever. When you take them shopping give them a dollar or two and tell them they can buy one thing and one thing only. In other words, set some limits. Then let them shop. As they get older you can increase their limits.
At some point, though, you’ll want to get something in return for what you give. When they get old enough to actually put out on some chores, tell them if they want some money they will have to work for it. If you’ve trained them well enough in the early years to know the spending power of money then they will learn to work for it or they won’t have any. When they come to you and say “I was wrong. I should have done the chores. Then I could have bought that bike I wanted, or that new dress, or …” then you’ll know you’ve taught them the most valuable lesson of all - respect for the almighty dollar.
Homeschooling Online