How to help kids understand financial responsibility

 I know I just wrote about how to help kids become frugal, but…

I guess this topic is on my mind now, especially since I have three grandkids and I want them to have an excellent understanding of how money works.

I read an article about a third-grade teacher in South Carolina who is teaching her class about money. She has a classroom economy that pays students in fake classroom money so they can afford essentials like the rent they pay for their desks, and they can earn money by helping out in the classroom. They can use their wages to pay for “homework passes” and other items.

I love this idea. I honestly think our kids will learn all they need to become functioning adults if we can teach them to read, understand math, and have a basic understanding of social science, history, and the like. Who knows what the future will hold with AI taking all the jobs one day, but I can say that any kid who loves to read and can do basic math will likely be okay. However, if kids don’t learn how to manage their money they will be in the same circumstance many Americans find themselves in, earning enough but not getting ahead.

When I was in high school the most valuable class I took was home economics. I am unsure if they offer any courses like this now, but I loved that class and still remember the science behind leavening, and liquids when baking. We also were offered wood shop, auto mechanics, and more when I was a kid. I checked my local high school website to see what classes they offer and all I could find was information about sports, so that is a good indication that they still love to invest in football, but actual adult skills are a low priority.

I’m unsure how the schools determine what your kids need to learn; no doubt it’s mandated by well-meaning administrators. I know that budgets are never enough and schools struggle to find funds, (except for sports).

I think we can teach little kids to read, and do math and science by also teaching them to cook, after all, a lot of cooking requires reading a recipe, increasing the ingredients or reducing the ingredients in order to make the recipe meet our personal needs, and measuring. The process involves reading, math, and science. While at the same time offering practical skills kids can use as a grown-up.

If your kids go to school and are not offered a money management class, I suggest you help them learn at home.

My spouse has complained that he left college and didn’t know how to balance his checkbook. I believe from his tone that he is outraged by this fact.

Let’s imagine what kids will need in the future when all the jobs are AI and they are searching for a path to financial freedom with an overpriced bachelor's degree in any field. According to Yuval Noah Harari a professor of history and author, we all will need to be more flexible in our approach to earning in the future, because we can expect so much change. His books, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (2014), Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow (2016), and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century (2018) are excellent and provide insight to the future in a way that is valuable and worth exploring.

I always thought if you teach kids the basics, like reading, math, and the scientific method, sprinkled with critical thinking, the kids would be alright. I remember when my daughter was taking “keyboarding” as an elective in high school. I told her it was a complete waste of time. I knew she would learn to hunt a peck on a keyboard as a natural outcome of looking things up online. But I lost that argument and she took keyboarding. Later I learned that she also thought it was a waste of time.

Here is what I think a parent can do to supplement learning-

·       Integrate lessons by teaching your kids basic household skills. Fix a leaky pipe, change a flat tire, make a delicious meal, mend a sock…all of these skills are useful. You know many skills you can share with your kids.

·       Cooking is great to teach kids the value of reading, math, and science

·       History is important, learning from the past to avoid future missteps can be of great value. Our memories are short so even recent history can be of use for kids as they approach adulthood.

·       Read to your kids and read in front of your kids. Kids who have parents that read are more likely to read and kids who are readers at age fifteen have better outcomes as adults.

·       Provide an allowance in a manner that forces your kids to restrict spending. Nothing teaches you about money faster than not having enough.

·       If you have investing skills, teach your kids, if you don’t have that skill learn it or find someone who can teach it to your kid.

·       If you know how to do any task, car mechanics, sewing, carpentry, cooking, household maintenance, budgeting, teach your kid. They may learn these things by watching you, but more likely you’ll have to teach them.

·       You are the model. If you are a good, honest, hard-working person, your kids will most likely be good, hard-working, and honest as well. So I say it again YOU are the model.

I think I’ll harp on this idea of teaching kids frugal living and other adult lifestyle choices because I have kids and grandkids and I can say if I have done anything worthwhile over the years it has been to be an example. Now as a mature woman, I hope to be an example to young people of what it means to be older. I hope to show them I am vital, interesting, capable, and vibrant as a mature woman, so they have an example to model their senior life around.

Should I write a book for kids about frugal living? I’ve never done this before, but I think I can. I have three little ones to test my theories with, so perhaps I will.