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Seven ways to teach kids about money
- Delay gratification – this is a key lesson for both parents and kids. If you can teach kids that rewards don’t always come right away, you teach skills for a lifetime.
- Be a good example – if you routinely buy yourself bright and shiny objects (that new iPhone!), don’t be surprised if your kids feel entitled to periodic gifts themselves “just because.” Big and small toys are nice, but try to send messages at the same time that they are rewards for working hard or for milestones achieved, not just to relieve boredom.
- Use your own life lessons to teach your kids – sure, kids tire of hearing that you walked five miles to school in the snow every day, but they do learn things out of your real life experience. My mother grew up during the depression and World War II, and her stories of doing without sunk in after many hearings. Stories about starving kids in Africa are somewhat removed, but your own sacrifices have more immediate value to your kids.
- Donate your time – Work a soup kitchen or build a house with Habitat for Humanity, but try to find an activity you can do with your family that shows the value of volunteerism, and that also introduces them to real people who have less than they do.
- Give an allowance. Make the allowance large enough for their age so that have real money to spend (for my daughter it’s been $1 from 5-8 years old without complaint). Let them spend it on anything they want – part of the lesson is that it is their money. Use the allowance money to teach them saving or to stop the whining in the store. They have money so are free to buy something if they really want it. Sites like ActiveAllowance.com can provide tools to manage allowances and chorelists. Some kids can relate to on-line or off-line accounting systems
- Make room for charity donations and big savings goals – when they are old enough, figure out ways to introduce other concepts into their savings. You might add $.25 a week to their allowance with the agreement that this saved money will go to the charity of their choice. Likewise, if they want a new bike, help them see the value of saving by giving them a goal to work for. The
Learning Cents Bank is one tool to help them see how money can be divided between long and short-term goals, as well as to charity. - Open a 529B plan for your kids’ education. Do it when they are small and invite family to contribute for the long-term benefits. These accounts grow tax-free during a child’s first eighteen years and are a good way to focus saving efforts early.
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Basic etiquette for little kids 3-5 (and beyond!)
Quick! You have 25 days to get the kids in shape to make a good presentation at Christmas dinner. Like a lot of stuff in parenting, consistency and patience are by-words and yes, you can teach a toddler new tricks. Here are the basic etiquette skills little ones should have:
1. “Please,” “Thank you” and “You’re welcome” are not optional. Repeat them over, invite your kids to correct you, and you’ll find by Christmas a pleasant and polite Pavlovian response.
2. Eating with fingers is for babies, with the obvious exceptions (pizza, ribs, chicken legs for example). Little kids can use a fork, though you may have to help load it up from time to time. Resist the temptation to feed them and they will pick up this skill, leaving you free to get them another glass of milk.
3. Kids need to ask to be excused to leave the table. Teaching kids not to run around during dinner is not easy, but you’ll make it harder if you chase them around to get them to eat.
4. Salt and pepper go together. Pass them together for a polished impression.
5. Even little kids can and should use napkins, keep them on their laps, and learn to use them rather than wiping their hands on their pants.
You can make it easier for the kids by eating dinner in a room without distractions like TV, and make a rule not to allow toys or books while eating the family meal together.
Good luck and Bon appetit!
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More benefits of eating together as a family
More and more evidence suggests that making time to eat together as a family is right up there among the best things you can do for your growing kids. Now a study on eating behavior indicates that kids who eat together with a family eat better, even if the family all eats in front of the TV. The study, published this month in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior suggests that the best way to get kids to eat right is to prepare good food and put it in front of them. It appears this is even more true with girls, who ate more poorly than boys when eating alone. Interviews with other experts in an article in the New York Times suggests that families with difficult schedules make the effort to have that family meal, even if it is breakfast. Especially with teenagers, this is sometimes the only chance busy families get a chance to catch up and parents get to follow changes in their kids.
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