Becoming a parent, especially for the first time, is an exciting but scary experience. You’ll be entering a whole new world where different rules apply, and no matter how prepared you think you are, there’s usually little you’ve experienced before which you can draw on when making the choices and snap decisions that will become a major part of your life once the little one arrives.
It’s for this reason that there’s an abundance of parenting advice available which you can use to inform your decisions. There’s also a matter of finding a parenting style that works for you and your values.
Positive Parenting
Ethical Parenting
Disciplinary Parenting (Positive Discipline)
Compassionate Parenting
There are print magazines packed with useful advice, web sites with tons of articles which can help in teaching kids about money. Despite all this information being available, most parents are terrified that they’re somehow not up to the job and will do it wrong, and herein lies the most common parenting mistake of all: not trusting in your own judgment and instincts.
So how do you go about raising kids with character?
First, you need to figure out your own values and beliefs. This, of course, goes beyond your religion but many often use their religion as the base for their guiding principles. For example, something like the Beatitudes in the New Testament might serve as a good base for Christian parents.
I will continue to add to this list as more articles are published. I hope that this will be of use to you in your parenting journey. And also remember this: Not one of us has all the answers, we all need input from others in all kinds of situations. Trust in your own capabilities as a parent above all else, and trust in your own ability to make the best of all the advice and support that’s out there. That way you’ll definitely be the best parent your child could ever have.
As human beings, we’re all parenting specialists. In evolutionary and genetic terms, our whole existence is geared towards producing and nurturing offspring, and over the millions of years that the human species has been developing we’ve become generally incredibly good at it.
However intimidating the prospect is of having ultimate responsibility for the nurture of a new and precious life, you should be in no doubt that you have exactly the skills and capabilities you’ll need over the coming years.
4 Ways To Teach Kids The Importance Of Following the Right Financial Habits
It is said that most healthy habits start when you are young. Financial literacy is the ability to make informed money management decisions with the help of available knowledge, skills and tools. Developing sound financial decision making abilities overnight is impossible. The importance and value of money, savings, investing money in the right investment vehicles need to be adopted from a very young age.
When one receives the knowledge of financial literacy when they are young, they are more likely to always make the right financial choices because by the time they grow up, they have observed and analyzed various situations where money can be managed effectively.
4 ways to teach kids the importance of following the right financial habits
1. There are quite a few interactive online games that can teach your child the relationship between earning money, saving money and investing money in the right schemes. They can also teach the child the importance of managing their debt and why they shouldn’t take credit beyond a certain percentage of their income.
2. Teach your child the value of money. Talk to them about your family income and explain why they should always spend less than they earn. Talk to them about your debt scenario, the concepts of mortgage and how greater savings would mean that you can invest your money in income-generating investment ideas. Explain why real estate is an important investment, the difference between fixed income schemes and those which are more subject to the risks in the markets.
However, don’t explain all the financial concepts and theories in one go. Try to impart financial education in small sessions. Also give them small exercises to see how much they have imbibed the knowledge and more importantly how much they can apply and relate to. Many practical financial games are available for children online.
3. Give them a fixed monthly or weekly allowance and give them goals so that they can invest is small bank schemes or other schemes so that they can earn some interest on their savings. At the end of the year, see if their investments have given them some return of not. Also, reduce their allowance progressively and encourage them to start earning to make up for that gap.
4. If the school is not imparting financial education to kids then take help from a trained instructor to explain the financial concepts in a more logical and scientific manner. Also, ensure that they are comfortable with basic math and numbers.
A child learns quickly. What they learn at an impressionable age often shapes their future outlook and habits. Imparting the right financial training and knowledge would mean that they will not only have a more comfortable and cushioned life because they will avoid the pitfalls of debts and bankruptcy.
Parents face lots of challenges while upbringing their children. There is so much to teach them to help become independent and successful individuals. Though not everyone recognizes it, personal finance is one of the most important skills that needs honing. Good education and other skills just don’t cut it, if the person doesn’t know how to handle money correctly and responsibly.
Thankfully, the family environment is a great one to teach kids about issues like debt and credit card. And it’s never too early to start teaching kids about money either. Kids as young as four years old can begin to understand some financial concepts if you make lessons age-appropriate.
Why is Financial Education so important?
Ability to manage your finances is one of the most important skills for building a successful life. Unfortunately, many adults do not possess it. Beth Kobliner, a member of the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability, stated that the mortgage crisis during the recent years showed just how little financial knowledge most Americans have.
Presently, nearly half of all Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck, with only 46% of them setting aside any money at all for a rainy-day fund. Furthermore, the average credit card balance a U.S. citizen carries is more than $6,000. Such statistics make the sorry state of average American’ finances glaringly clear. If you want your children to avoid the same mistakes, you need to teach them how.
Unfortunately, Financial education is a huge lacuna in the U.S. public school system. So, parents can’t depend on schools in that field.
Which age is appropriate for starting financial education?
You can begin teaching your children about handling their finances responsibly from a very early age. Just try to make the lessons appropriate to their level of intellectual development. A 3-year-old might not understand the complexities of financial derivatives. However, they can certainly understand that if you give them $2 they can choose which piece of fruit to buy.
According to the latest researches, there is a real benefit to starting young if you want to build your kid’s good money habits. Furthermore, a child’s money habits can be formed for the age of 7.
How can you teach your Kids about Finance?
The most important principle is to take it slow. Try to make your lessons relevant to their everyday lives. The lessons may vary according to how old the kids are. For example, if they are between 3-5 years, you may try to teach them about saving and buying something they want.
Young children often can’t associate going into a store and you buying presents for them. It’s important to point out to them that toys or candies cost money, and that money isn’t unlimited. During the shopping, you can explain to them that you need a particular item, and you will not buy them presents.
Furthermore, you can create three jars, labelled “spending,” “saving,” and “sharing.” Whenever your kid receives money, they can then decide which jar to put it in. The “savings” jar is for important items, while the “spending” jar can be for buying sweets or small items, and the “sharing” jar is for donations or presents for friends.
As your children start to grow up, you can build on these lessons. For example, between the ages of 6 and 10, you can continue with the “jar system”, and even start to give them a little more in their allowance. However, make sure that you supervise their savings goals so that they don’t start to have negative associations with savings.
Around 11-13 age, you can already start to shift to longer-term goals from short-term savings goals. Children around this age begin to get a basic understanding of how money and finances work in the real world. They may also understand concepts such as compound interest, how credit cards work, debt, loans and income. That allows you to expound on your lessons.
Teaching Frum Kids to Live Financially Responsible Lives
A recent study from the money app BusyKid showed that only 21 percent of parents regularly talk about money with their kids and only 10 percent are interested in teaching money management to children . There are no indications that these numbers are different in the Jewish community.
All too often, high school graduates are congratulated swiftly, only to be told “welcome to the real world!” All of a sudden, resumes must be written, jobs must be obtained, and credit must be built. In our world today, it is too easy to overspend on credit cards and undervalue healthy financial habits. For these reasons, Hebrew Academy of Cleveland’s Beatrice J. Stone Yavne High School prepares their seniors for life after high school with their Financial Literacy Class. This course teaches all the essentials, from resume writing to interview skills to stock market investment. Through interactive activities and projects, students learn that “moderation in all things” is a skill learned. Courtesy of Yavne High School
In fact, Vitow noted that her students had picked up very little understanding of money from home. “The girls really didn’t know very much about the topic at all,” she says. “From the strongest students to the weakest students, everyone in the class was starting at the same point.”
“Financial literacy education impacts every individual’s quality of life and is important for everybody,” notes Rabbi Margulies of Mesila. “But in the frum community, this program is different and even more crucial. It is a Torah requirement to use money wisely, and the frum community has different challenges from the general population, such as a heavy tuition load, yom tov expenses, large families, et cetera. These unique circumstances must be provided for by strong financial foundations.”
Tamar Snyder, a journalist who created a curriculum on financial literacy for Jewish Women International’s Life$avings Project, adds another important difference in teaching Jewish teens. “In the secular world, charity is a discretionary expense,” she says. “It’s the first thing to cut when money is tight. But it’s a priority for us, and not something we can cut.”
Snyder estimates she taught her curriculum to about 750 Jewish girls from all different backgrounds, through high schools, youth groups and JCCs. “People were really thirsty for this,” she recalls. “They were excited about it.”
After Snyder presented her material at Manhattan High School for Girls, the administration asked if she would return to teach a mandatory yearlong course on financial literacy. Snyder taught the course there for two years. A highlight of the course was a budgeting project similar to what the students at GMSG in Memphis did, though in her class, students were assumed to be married with three children—so they were forced to consider the financial realities that would come with marrying a man learning in kollel vs. working, in addition to factoring tuition into their budgets.
Though Snyder now works full-time in marketing and communications, she continues to lead seminars for high school students on personal finance, which she dubs “Everything I wish I knew about money when I was your age.” She also offers budget consulting for Orthodox newlyweds and young professionals, through her web site newlywedbudgeting.com.
“I love teaching people before they get into trouble with money,” she explains. “It’s so much easier to help someone when they’re starting out and haven’t made mistakes. Teenagers today literally don’t know how credit cards work, and yet some of them already have credit cards. This leads to complicated and sad situations that could have been avoided.”
To Snyder, creating a budget is simply about “telling your money where you want it to go.” And this, she maintains, is not intuitive for anyone. “If young people have never done this, they won’t be able to suddenly do it [when they leave home for the first time],” she says. “They need to be taught.”
Snyder enjoys teaching seminars to high school seniors about personal finance, but she believes that Jewish high schools should be requiring the subject as a mandatory course. “It’s not as effective [to offer the subject] as an optional class or a club,” she says. “The students who need it the most are the least interested. They simply won’t take it as an elective.”
Davis Renov Stahler Yeshiva High School for Boys (DRS) on Long Island, New York has offered a course called Personal Financial Literacy to seniors for the past several years. According to Dr. Hillel Broder, general studies principal of DRS, the course covers a wide range of topics in personal finance and financial planning including budgeting and understanding assets vs. liabilities, planning for retirement, understanding the mortgage process, methods of saving, methods of investing, the value of education in relation to income, the importance of building credit and more.
“Almost every student in the history of education has uttered the question ‘Why do I need to learn this?’” says Dr. Broder. “As frustrating as that can be for an educator to hear, students in Personal Financial Literacy do not ask that, because they realize the value of the information both in the short-term and as they continue into college and enter the intimidating world of adulthood.”
Back in Memphis, Rhonda Martin says the topic that most surprises her students is taxes.
“They looked at pay statements from New York City, as opposed to Memphis,” she explains. “Since our students come from across the country, they are familiar with the cost of living in other cities, but it was eye-opening for them to see the difference between gross salary and net salary, and how much you take home depending on where you choose to live. I think they were shocked to discover how little control they would have in that.”
Chris Allulis, who taught a mandatory course in personal finance last year to juniors at Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School in Baltimore, said the primary goal of his course was to have students come out of high school with a basic understanding of finance, enough to help them make good choices as they become more financially independent. However, he added, “the students generally don’t like learning about interest, loans, budgeting or taxes.”
Being a parents its your responsibility to teach kids about money and the life skills they’ll need to thrive as adults. Some of the most important skills that can be taught to them relate to making smart money decisions. One topic that often provokes strong opinions relates to allowance: how much to give, whether to tie it to chores and what it should cover.
To Tie Chores to Allowance or Not?
I recently read a good book that reinforced my beliefs on this topic and introduced a few nuances. The book, “The Opposite of Spoiled” by Ron Lieber, a New York Times columnist, makes the point that allowance is a tool to teach kids how to manage money and not to teach them a strong work ethic, so it should not be tied to chores. Kids will have plenty of other opportunities to learn a solid work ethic (e.g., on sports teams, in school, with part-time jobs) but will not have many opportunities to learn to make smart decisions about money. Kids should still have chores and contribute as a member of the family, but they should not be paid for regular chores (odd jobs are a different story).
How Much to Give?
When determining how much to give, it’s important to consider what you are expecting your children to pay for with their allowance. With younger children, it might be easiest to just give a formulaic amount such as the number of dollars per week that they are old. So, a 7-year old would get $7/week. However, the nuance was that as the children get older and you want to make them responsible for a larger portion of their spending, you might need to deviate from this simple formula and give an amount that should cover what you want them to pay for.
So, if you want your son to be able to go to the movies twice a month and eat lunch out once a week with friends, then you should make sure his allowance is enough to cover these activities, at least until he starts having other sources of income. The point is to make it fair based on the lifestyle you want to enable and to increase responsibility for more purchasing decisions over time. By high school, it isn’t unreasonable to put your child in charge of their entire clothing budget, perhaps by giving them a lump sum once or twice a year.
How to Split Between Spend/Save/Give?
The other important recommendation was to split the allowance between Spend, Save and Give buckets and use these to teach your kids the values of saving for the future and generosity to those less fortunate. When kids are young, this money can be placed in clear labeled jars so they can have the visceral experience of seeing and counting their money, but I recently opened three separate online accounts for each of my children now that they are older.
The Spend debit account gets funded weekly and the other two are funded monthly. The final nuance was that when the children are young, the parent can determine which percentage of the allowance goes into each bucket, but once they are a bit older, the parent could allow the child to decide and maybe incent them to put some of their money in the Save and Give buckets by matching their contributions or paying interest.
The point of these activities is to impart important money values and habits to our children that will stick with them into adulthood and enable them to make smart money decisions.
TIPS FOR MANAGING SCREEN TIME FOR KIDS DURING THE PANDEMIC
Parents continue to navigate the unexpected challenges of raising and providing financial education to kids amidst the current COVID-19 pandemic. Following are some tips for the kids during the pandemic.
FIND THE SILVER LINING
Remember that a key part of resilience is trading the efficiency of school and work for connection with your child. You are in this together as a family, and you have everyone’s creativity to explore this new space. Use this time to create new rituals and new reminders of the joy in being a family! – Colleen Kraft, MD
CREATE SCREEN-FREE ZONES
As a family, agree on some times and places during the day when you will just be together, without the disruption of checking your screen. Meals, bedtime, game time, and walks around the block are all good times to stash your device and be fully present with each other and with the moment. With so much of life happening on screens, we need to protect quality time and places where we can simply connect with ourselves and each other, without digital distraction. – Dr. Catherine Steiner-Adair, Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, Cambridge MA
PICK AND CHOOSE
While structure is important, worried children may benefit from daily “choices” to help them feel like they can still maintain some sense of control (especially when everything around them seems chaotic)! For instance, when school is over for the day, tell them it’s time to play a game, but they can choose which one. If butting heads, try to offer them one of two options. – Meredith Gansner, MD, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Cambridge Health Alliance
PRIORITIZE AND ORGANIZE
If you’re a parent who’s working virtually from home, be sure to set realistic goals and create a schedule to match your workday. Recognize what meetings you need to “attend,” and what may be less important. If you have asynchronous work to complete, prioritize the most important deliverables, and help your children to do the same. Some teachers have virtual lessons that would be helpful for your children. Some teachers have pre-recorded lessons that you and your child can view at a time that works for both of you.
HOW CAN I HELP?
Ask your children to come up with ways that they can help each other (and you). If they can’t think of anything, suggest ideas like “help each other not be bored,” or “help each other with schoolwork.” Post their “Helping Ideas” on the fridge and come up with new ideas every few days, or even every day. – Elizabeth K. Englander, PhD Director, Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center, Bridgewater State University
WALK IT OUT
Schedule breaks that involve physical activity and fresh air. Go for a walk, bounce a ball, skip rope, play hopscotch; the possibilities are endless when it comes to having fun and connecting with your child. Just make sure to follow all current social distancing guidelines any time you leave the house. – Colleen Kraft, MD
MIX IT UP
Treat your child’s mind with respect and kindness by mixing up the day with activities that’ll challenge different parts of their brain (e.g. reading versus math). Monitor your kids for signs of fatigue, increased irritability, distractibility, and fidgeting, and take breaks for physical activity when necessary. Oftentimes, screen use only stimulates the visual and auditory part of the brain, which means senses like smell, touch, taste, and temperature are not being adequately stimulated. What the brain doesn’t use winds up growing less developed, so varied activities and challenges will help your child develop all of their senses. – Martin P. Paulus M.D. Scientific Director and President, Laureate Institute for Brain Research
LISTEN WITH YOUR EYES
Non-verbal behavioral cues (such as a shrug of the shoulders or a furrowing of the brow) can provide helpful information about a child’s understanding of the content being shared with them. The same holds true even for online instruction. In the course of a lesson occurring in real time, make sure that your child presents both verbal and non-verbal cues to let the teacher know what may or may not be understood about a given concept, lesson, or assignment. – Fran C. Blumberg, Professor Division of Psychological & Educational Services, Fordham University
MAKE DISTANCE SOCIAL
Embrace the opportunity to be social with distant friends and family. It can be difficult to connect with loved ones in other parts of the world during busy days at school and work, but consider the current situation an opportunity to connect/reconnect via video teleconferencing mediums. It can also be made into a fun, stress-free social studies “class” with your kids as they learn about other places, customs, and cultures.
Essential Parenting Tips on Raising Kids and Staying Grounded During the Coronavirus
Many articles are swirling around the internet talking about COVID 19 – CoronaVirus, and how to support children at home now that they transitioned to virtual school for a few weeks. Most articles I have read provide practical tips to work with kids, keep them on a schedule and busy with different activities that can break the day.
Here are some positive parenting tips on raising kids by talking about Coronavirus in a way to help your young kiddos deal with their feelings.
You don’t have to scare the kids away. But, under parental guidance, it shouldn’t be a problem to talk about specific virus facts for kids, that can cater to their potential of understanding.
1. Manage your anxiety and model self-regulation
Anxiety runs in families, partly due to genetics and partly due to the modeling that occurs between parents and children.
Kids do learn through observational learning and, in many ways, copy their parents’ behaviors. They also notice their parents’ feelings, showing them “how to feel about a situation.”
Therefore, if you are anxious about the virus, chances are your children are, too. They are getting the “vibes,” even if you don’t want to worry about them. By managing your anxiety, you are modeling that it is ok to feel nervous about the situation but that there is also space for reassurance and hope!
2. Practice good hygiene with your kids
So, while raising kids, discuss, teach, and model hand washing and practice other healthy behaviors during the self-quarantine. This includes taking a shower daily and putting on clean clothes even when you are not going out.
3. Limit media exposure
When you are raising kids, it’s essential to limit media exposure and provide your children with facts about the Coronavirus that are developmentally appropriate.
Children’s brains are not fully developed and might interpret the news in ways that are counterproductive such as worrying them or increasing anxiety and depression.
Try to limit what they see and hear on the TV, social media, and radio. Kids don’t need to be updated daily on the latest developments of COVID 19 or know rates of mortality and the lack of treatment for those who are sick.
They can understand tips for prevention and how we can contribute to protecting those who might be at higher risk, such as their grandparents.
4. Teach your kids compassion
Use this global crisis as an opportunity for raising kids. Try to teach kids about money and encourage them to use healthy prevention practices, and motivate them for calling and making cards for their grandparents, those who are sick, and people who are in isolation.
Teach kids to be generous by putting together care packets for neighbors or those in need, sharing what is available for the benefit of everyone.
5. Practice gratitude
During difficult times, we can learn valuable lessons. So, while raising kids, it’s important to elucidate them on the benefits of practicing gratitude. When we cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes our way, we are more open to what is useful in our lives, our awareness tends to increase, and it becomes easier to notice the positive things around us, especially during this time.
6. Teach your kids about feelings
This is an excellent opportunity to offer the space to check in with each child individually or as a family and talks about how each of you is feeling about uncertainty, the virus, self-quarantine anxiety, etc.
Connect feelings to sensations in their bodies and identify ways to support each other.
So, when you are raising kids, normalizing talking about emotions helps increase connection and family cohesion.
7. Spend time together and apart
Yes! Give each other breaks and practice identifying when it is time to spend some time alone. Teach them how to be present to their feelings, honor their needs, and respect yours. Healthy communication and boundaries are critical during this time!
8. Discuss control
Talk to your children about what we can control (i.e., washing hands, staying at home, participating in family activities) and what we can’t control (i.e., getting sick, special events being canceled, not being able to see friends and go to places they enjoy, etc.).
Genius Time Management Tips for Parents to Strike a Better Balance
Ever feel like you can’t find time to get everything done? Genius time management tips for parents to help you tackle your day, without chaos or stress! Strike a better balance with your time while raising kids.
Finding a Better Balance: Genius Time Management Tips for Parents to Start Today
I get emails every day from parents asking for help with sleep, positive parenting and motherhood but one of the statements I see most often is, “I can’t seem to find a good way to balance everything. How do you do it all?”
Start Your Morning Off Right
A chaotic morning leads to a chaotic day, sour moods, power struggles and even down the road to misbehavior. If you don’t organize any other part of your day, make sure you get your morning organized!
Last year, I decided to stop being a night owl and staying up wayyyyy too late after the kids had gone to bed to try to squeeze in time for myself. Plus, my house was in disarray and I knew I needed help making big changes because well… habits are very hard to break unless you have a game plan.
Time management is about using the time you have in the day to be productive. Not hoping things get better. When a friend couldn’t stop talking about this course called Makeover Your Mornings and swore it changed her life, I was skeptical.
But I took a leap of faith and signed up because I desperately needed things had to change.
And then, I started noticing something incredible happening.
I was happier, was sleeping better, had more energy during the day and people could come over unannounced and I wouldn’t be embarrassed about the state of my house. Crystal’s 14-day mini course helps you wake up and tackle the important stuff that will set up your day for productivity, more peaceful relations with your kids and spouse, and overall happiness.
This is why the inspiration for my own Stay at Home Mom morning routine comes from one of my favorite bloggers, Crystal Paine who wrote the book, Say Goodbye to Survival Mode.(and of course, then created an amazing online course based on the book.)
Once I read her book, I jumped on the bandwagon and signed up for her 14-Day Make Over Your Mornings online course and it’s made the difference between struggling at homemaking and mastering my mornings.
Here’s my run-down about the Make Over Your Morning Course if you’re interested in more information:
This 14-day course is designed to help you revolutionize your productivity, streamline your routines, invest your time in things that truly matter, and find more joy and peace in the process.
14 high-quality videos with motivational encouragement from Crystal herself.
A behind-the-scenes peek into Crystal’s everyday home and lives via short video clips.
A comprehensive workbook with 14 chapters filled with practical ideas and inspirational encouragement.
Daily projects to guide you on your 14-day journey and help you implement what you learn.
Printable worksheets to walk you step-by-step and motivate you to follow through.
Keep a Daily Routine & Everyone Will Be Happier (I Promise!)
Routines are a life preserver in the big ocean of parenting and when your routine is working, it’s going to save you from power struggles and other defiant behavior, save you time and create a flow to your days everyone will come to appreciate.
Kids who use routines have been shown to have better nighttime sleep, easier time falling to sleep and less wake up times at night (something all parents need!)
Not to mention, during the day, parents who use a routine see more cooperation and less defiant behavior with their children. Transitions are smoother, they’re less likely to pitch a fit when it’s time to leave somewhere fun or run errands.
Really, it’s a win-win for parents and kids!
Here are the AWESOME benefits of having a consistent routine:
Better behavior.
More cooperation.
Better nighttime sleep.
Less power struggles, tantrums, and whining.
Smoother transitions throughout the day.
A routine tackles the necessities of your day such as naps, meals, school pick-ups, playdates, work, bedtime, etc.
Having a routine is a great way to give kids consistency, allow them a say in their day by offering choices, and set expectations for what comes next.
Try this for Easier Routines:
We use these printable routine cards for boys and girls with all three of my kids and it’s made a complete transformation in our home and with better behavior.
Print them out, (laminate if you have access), arrange the cards in the order of your day and let your child basically walk themselves through your daily routine without any reminders of what comes next.
The best part about using printable routine cards?
They help kids learn to follow routine all on their own, so there’s no nagging or reminding them of what comes next and in time, promotes independence and self-management.
Need help mastering your routine? Mastering Sleep & Schedules not only give you instant access to 40+ sample daily routines, but covers everything from where to start, adjustments to make, number of hours of sleep kids need and naps!
Synch Your Calendars So There’s Never a Mix-Up
If you prefer to use your phone to keep your family in sync, the Cozi Family Planner is the best FREE app for family organization and keeps everything organized in one simple place. You can add kid’s activities, your work meetings and events, personal stuff, date night, even what you’re having for dinner every night of the week – all in one place.
Are You Teaching Financial Literacy To High School Students?
The teaching curriculum consists of lesson plans & worksheets designed to augment a semester course in life skills and personal finance management. The Teacher’s Guide, compiled in a separate, easy-to-use notebook, includes an outline of the curriculum:
Goals
Lesson objectives
Suggested resources
Teaching notes
Lesson One: Making Personal Finance Decisions
Each day, we are faced with many decisions. While most decisions are simple, such as “what should I wear?” or “what should I eat?,” others are more complex, such as “should I buy a new or used car?” As decision-making skills are used and improved, a person’s quality of life is enhanced. Wiser choices result in better use of time, money, and other resources. This introductory lesson provides students with an opportunity to learn more about decision-making. The lesson starts with an overview of the decision-making process followed by a discussion of various internal and external factors that affect decisions.
Lesson Two: Making Money
Building your career is one of the surest ways to increase income and make money. When planning for the future, one of the most critical financial decisions is determining your career path. In this lesson, students will be encouraged to consider various topics related to career planning and the financial aspects of employment. This variation of the decision-making process can help a person match personal abilities and interests with appropriate employment opportunities.
Lesson Three: The Art of Budgeting
Experts say that paying a small amount, however infrequently, can help in providing financial education to kids. A personal budget is a financial plan that allocates future income toward expenses, savings, and debt repayment. “Where does the money go?” is a common dilemma faced by many individuals and households when it comes to budgeting and money management. Effective money management starts with a goal and a step-by-step plan for saving and spending. Financial goals should be realistic, be specific, have a timeframe, and imply an action to be taken. This lesson will encourage students to take the time and effort to develop their own personal financial goals and budget.
Lesson Four: Living on Your Own
As young people grow up, a common goal is to live on their own. However, the challenges of independent living are often quite different from their expectations. This lesson provides a reality check for students as they investigate the costs associated with moving, obtaining furniture and appliances, and renting an apartment.
7 Steps To Set Your Teens On a Lifelong Path to Financial Success
Here is a list of 7 steps that you can use to help in Teaching Teens About Money successfully and to make them responsible adults. Feel free to adapt these suggestions to your individual family dynamics.
1. Start Bank on Yourself policies for your teens (if you have not already) and/or help them purchase their own policy. You can get a referral to a specially trained Bank On Yourself Professional who will work closely with you to customize a plan that’s designed specifically for your family.
2. Share details of your own Bank on Yourself policies with your children and review both your and their policies every six-months. Show them how you are utilizing your policies to predictably retain and grow more of your own money without paying interest or exorbitant fees to banks, brokerage firms and others.
3. Expose your teens to your full family financial picture – including what you earn, what you spend, what you borrow, and how you invest and save. You may wish to have your children participate by writing checks, reconciling accounts and helping to set and monitor your family budget.
4. Put your kids to work. To truly value money, teens need to earn their own income, whether through outside jobs, entrepreneurial ventures or by getting paid for family chores.
5. Don’t forget charity. Encourage your kids to set aside a regular portion of their earnings and income for a good cause, be it church or other worthy nonprofits. Such gifting will be returned to them many times over in terms of the character it builds.
6. Paint a vibrant picture of your adolescent’s fiscal future – one free from the money worries that envelop so many young adults and their parents. Help teens formulate their own vision of what a life of financial self-reliance and freedom will mean for them.
7. Allow kids to make mistakes and even fail when it comes to managing their own finances. Few adults get it right the very first time, either. Remember, we all learn a great deal from our mistakes.
Tim Connolly 
