How Much Is That? Teaching My Kids About Money.

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Figuring out what tools our kids need to be competent adults is probably one of the most important goals of motherhood. We all want them to have the skill sets to survive in the world. One of the big ones is how to handle money.

From the value of a dollar to the value of a good work ethic, there is so much to teach them. I know that while they may learn some things in school, the burden of educating them falls on my shoulders as a parent.

Our kids are elementary and middle school age, and I am always looking for resources to propel our conversations about finance. It turns out that there are some super cool things out there. I think I enjoy them as much as my kids do, and am learning right along with them.

If you are interested in helping your kids learn more about money, you might want to check out a few of my favorites:

What To Read:

Dave Ramsey’s Junior’s Adventures Story Time Book Set  Awesome for younger kids. We have an older version with the books on CD–sometimes you can still spot used copies. My kids still love them. Each book teaches a different financial principle.
How to Turn $100 into $1,000,000: Earn! Save! Invest! Super cool for older elementary kids up through teens. It talks about everything from how to earn money to how compound interest works. Interesting and entertaining.

What to Google:

Secret Millionaire’s Club Warren Buffet has a website to teach kids about finance and good money habits. Yup, the Oracle of Omaha. My kids love these webisodes, where Warren Buffet is one of the cartoon characters! They are short and sweet stories, each presenting a different financial problem and corresponding solution. There are more activities on the website too. And my kids know who Warren Buffett is. Amazing!
Cha-Ching! Another great website, featuring short music videos about money and good habits. It also has games, money apps for kids (!), and a playlist you can download. Seriously cool stuff.

What to do:

Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace Junior A kit that contains instruction booklets for how to start a commission/allowance program in your family. It has a chart to keep track of chores and what kids are earning by helping out at home.
Accountable Kids This is a comprehensive program that helps you to teach your kids about responsibility and accountability. It encompasses a variety of goals, one of which is to keep track any chores your child completes and allows you to separate out which are “paid” and which are “unpaid” and expected as a part of daily responsibilities. It comes with a book and a DVD to help you get started, plus a super cool peg rack and responsibility tags to hang on it to help your kids keep track of their responsibilities and help with family communication.

This is just a sample of so many great resources out there. I hope you find them helpful. What have you found that helps you teach your kids about money?