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Category: Money and Kids

The Power of Relevance in Teaching Kids Money

The Power of Relevance in Teaching Kids Money

Relevance is an unbelievable teaching tool. That’s because it’s much easier to learn something when it’s relevant to our lives. And, often, it’s more fun. Consider a child studying a unit on growing plants in her third grade class. When the teacher starts talking about how healthy plants grow, her little ears perk up. This year, her dad put her in charge of he family vegetable garden, so learning about soil, watering, and weed control was meaningful to her; it…

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Yippee! I've Got Money! A Letter to Teens

Yippee! I've Got Money! A Letter to Teens

I was asked to contribute an article to a book being published on kids and financial literacy (will share more on that later). Apart from being thrilled to have been asked, I happen to love writing, so I jumped at the chance. My given topic was ‘kids and budgeting’ and is a little longer than I usually post. But I think you’ll find it easy to read. Here we go: ~ Nice. You’ve got money. And if you’re like most…

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The Cell Phone: A Powerful Learning Tool

The Cell Phone: A Powerful Learning Tool

There was a huge graphic of a cell phone on the front page of the Sacramento Bee this morning. It was all about the love affair tweens and teens have with their cell phones confirmed in a study by Pew Internet and American Life Project. If you have a tween or teen, this is not front-page news to you. But I thought it the perfect opportunity to re-print here a section from Raised for Richness, my parent kids and money…

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Is It Worth It?

Is It Worth It?

Ryan just spent $204.44. He didn’t do it lightly. That’s because he knows just how long it took him to earn that money. His one-day-a-week paper route earns him $11/week. That’s 19 weeks of folding and throwing papers. But he also gets $10/week in allowance. Enough to help him get some of the things he wants, but not everything. (That explains the paper route.) With the allowance, his total time was reduced in half. To a 15-year old, that’s still…

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Dinosaur: A Very Large Dog with No Fur

Dinosaur: A Very Large Dog with No Fur

I was participating in a webinar yesterday about kids and money. And by ‘participating’ I mean ‘listening’. That’s because I was cooking dinner at the same time. The experts were a certified financial planner and an executive director in retail banking. They both had good things to say about kids and money. For example, they endorsed giving kids an allowance for the purpose of teaching kids how to effectively manage money. I’m all over that. But, as someone with a…

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