How to Teach Children About Money Management

Kids and Money Management

Crafty Ways to Teach Your Children to Save, Spend and Give

 

Teaching children about money management is an amazing gift a parent can give.  Make it fun and creative for a win-win!  Starting around age three, a child can start to grasp the concept of allowance.  This is NOT money we just give them.  They must actually do something to earn it.  The seeds you’re planting are work ethic, responsibility and persistency.  Who wouldn’t want their children to learn those big three lessons?  This is where it all begins.  Let your child know that you’d really love some help around the house and that they can earn some money by helping out.  That money can be set aside in one container for fun things like toys and games.  A portion of it will be put in a container and saved for something they want in the future.  Help them think of ideas as what that may be.  Maybe it’s a more expensive toy or a trip to the Zoo.  The last part will be put into a container to be given to other people who need it.  Just like sharing toys, it’s important to share money with others who need it.  Help them picture the place the money would go.  Maybe it’s a food bank, a religious organization or an animal rescue organization.  By helping your child visualize what the money in each container will be used for, it gives them a clearer motivation for earning the money and saving it.

Should Allowance be Tied to Chores?

Chores for Kids - Girl holding folded towels

Do you expect your kids to do chores to earn allowance?

 

by Kerrie McLoughlin

The word “allowance” might conjure up images of trust-fund kids and seems to hint at getting paid to do nothing. Poll a few of your friends about whether or not kids should get an allowance, and you’ll hear all sorts of answers. I’ve found there are several different camps on this issue, including those who believe kids should:

  1. do chores because they get a place to sleep and food to eat
  2. be paid by the chore to learn the value of working for money
  3. receive a set amount of money every week to do chores as needed or
  4. be paid an allowance to learn how to manage money

For Moms: How to Bond with Your Tween Daughter

Bonding Over Beauty book encourages mother daughter relationships

 

Over the long weekend I made some time to sit down with a great new book, Bonding Over Beauty: A Mother-Daughter Beauty Guide to Foster Self-Esteem, Confidence and Trust, by Erika Katz. As the mother of an almost 11-year-old daughter, I am always looking for new ways to stay connected to my tween daughter and ways to talk to her about all the changes she is about to experience in her body.

The Imagination Movers: High Energy Family Fun – Win Tickets!


High-octane Rock-O-Matic tour comes to Verizon Theatre on Friday September 28th!

Real guitars, real drums, real fun! Rich, Scott, Dave and Smitty – of the Emmy-winning Disney Channel TV series “Imagination Movers” – bring their 2012 Rock-o-Matic Tour to Grapevine, Texas!

The Imagination Movers began in 2003 as a rock band for kids in New Orleans and have grown into the stars of a hit television series seen in over 55 countries on the Disney Channel. They were the highest-rated and most popular live family act of 2011.  Their reputation of onstage silliness truly engages the littlest of kids along with their older siblings, parents, and grandparents. They combine danceable power pop songs with extremely catchy choruses to inspire audience participation.

On their hit TV show, the Imagination Movers star as four friends who work together in the Idea Warehouse to solve problems through creativity and teamwork. Their friends Nina and Warehouse Mouse are there to help along the way as the Movers brainstorm ideas and explore the Warehouse’s many magical rooms. Each episode features two or more original Movers songs.

Thomas & Friends: All New Episodes on PBS Kids this Fall

Thomas & Friends on PBS Kids - All New Episodes

 

New Thomas & Friends episodes start on Saturday, September 1st (check your local listings). PBS KIDS will also broadcast the new 60-minute Thomas & Friends special Blue Mountain Mystery.  In this all-new adventure, viewers will travel on an exciting journey with Thomas and his engine friends tracking down clues, discovering a lost engine and revealing the power of friendship.  The action-packed special airs in November (check your local listings) following its September 18th release on DVD from HIT and Lionsgate Home Entertainment.

Timeless tales of friendship and adventure on the Island of Sodor are brought to life in the CG animated Thomas & Friends series. One of the upcoming episodes airing this fall (#908 – “Welcome Stafford”) introduces the new character, Stafford, an electric shunting engine.  The episodes also highlight the Narrow Gauge engines and the Blue Mountain Quarry destination, featured in Blue Mountain Mystery.  Currently, Thomas & Friends is the #5 ranked non-movie K2-5 series on PBS (Nielsen, June K2-5 Live+7day).

 

New episodes of Thomas & Friends  include:

Organize with Labels

Organizing with Labels

How to use a label maker as an organization tool

by Lorraine Brock

Label Maker… if you don’t have one now, it’s time to get one! Label makers have so many functions in an organized home or office. They clearly identify items, define the home for items in your spaces, and they also clarify the owner of items so others do not take or eat them.

When I was growing up in the late 70’s, on grocery days my mom would bring home a six pack of 1 liter glass soda bottles. There were five members in our family and my mom would write the initials of each member of our family with a black marker on our own supply of soda. I still don’t know who got the sixth bottle, but that’s another story.

Since there were no fancy labels on the soda bottles back in the 70’s, the idea of labeling even our beverages made the ownership obvious. Other items around our home were labeled in a variety of ways; sometimes with masking tape and a black marker, often with a piece of paper covered with clear packing tape. Although not pretty, they were good solutions.

What to do when you have a shy child

Nurturing Social Growth in Your Child

by Dr. Caron B. Goode

I birthed a social butterfly named Kristin. From the day of her birth, she saw all people as her friend and always said hello. My friend, Karen, birthed a shy daughter named Lisa. Parents don’t often worry about how social butterflies flit through the world; however a shy child usually needs a parent’s help in learning to negotiate relationships in a safe way. Karen understood this. Here is how she helped Lisa.

Karen’s daughter was painfully shy until she entered second grade. When she did interact with other children, it was on a very selective basis and always one-on-one. This was of great concern to her teachers. For a few years, Lisa’s progress reports all read the same: Needs improvement in group interaction and socialization.

Karen was always an optimist and thankful that Lisa wasn’t disruptive in class! Still, it was Karen’s job to usher Lisa into the world of friendships and group dynamics. Karen joined a playgroup and invited classmates over. She and Lisa took part in their local babysitting coop and signed her up for pee wee soccer. Lisa was a good sport about all this socialization. She entered into each situation with her chin up and her eye peeled for the one child she would interact with. So much for group dynamics.