7 Ways to Encourage Financial Literacy in Your Homeschool
Krystal Winn 
Are your children prepared to be financially independent one day?
Are your children prepared to be financially independent one day?Are you fostering a desire for wise stewardship and healthy ideals when it comes to money? Many of us learned these valuable skills much later in life after suffering from the myriad financial pitfalls that our culture so easily leads us into.
Check out the following 7 ways to encourage financial literacy in your homeschool.
1. Start Early! If you’re like me, I keep most of my financial transactions digital . That way it’s neat, orderly, and I can track my transactions without doing the work of documenting them myself. However, it dawned on me recently that my kids rarely get to see me exchange cash. So, how would they witness an actual transaction involving me giving money and getting something in return? Financial literacy is a skill that should ideally begin early in life. One tip to accomplish this is to regularly use words such as saving and spending while talking with your kids. Don’t be afraid that such ideas will bring a burden to your child. Books, games, and activities help make this process fun, and who doesn’t love a bit of fun while learning? Use old fashioned piggy banks, or printable trackers (see this Money Chore Chart available at Nuggets of Wisdom here) so kids can have a visual of their progress.
2.Help Them Start a Business: Get your kids thinking creatively about ways they can bring in extra income and serve others. The possibilities are endless when it comes to kid businesses that make money. Entrepreneurship has a way of naturally causing children to need to plan ahead, work with excellence, and find a healthy satisfaction in completing a job well done! (Check out this mini-course on handcrafted paper boxes that your kids can sell!) From selling their own produce to making clay-baked jewelry, your children are sure to have tons of amazing things they’d love to share with others around them.
Don’t let them limit their ideas to products. Offering services that are simply fun or that take the burden from others is a great way to gain customers and see fairly consistent financial return (think an Easter egg hiding service, a singing telegram service for holidays and birthdays, or a service where an older kid can read to younger kids of homeschool families for an hour!).
3.Set an Allowance: Yes, the good ‘ol allowance. Allowances, no matter how small, serve as a tool for learning about money management. Encourage them to keep portions for saving, spending, and sharing. This will help them get a basic grasp on the idea of budgeting and decision-making around money.
4.Open a Savings Account: Ready, set, save! Open a savings account for your children at a local bank. Take a field trip to a bank branch so they can be involved in the account opening process.
5.Teach Budgeting Skills: Help your kids create a simple budget (check out these printable budget trackers) that details their income and expenses. Regularly remind them of the benefits of sticking to their budget and track their income and expenses.
6.Discuss Real-World Financial Situations: When you think your children are ready, involve them in discussions about real-world situations. Talk about family expenses, bills, and how your household budget is structured. Discuss groceries, utilities, and even vacations.
7.Set Financial Goals: Encourage your kids to set their own money-management goals. Set both short term and long term goals. Take time to help your children break down each goal into smaller steps for an effective way to help them get a bigger picture of what in involved in getting what they’re hoping for.
As stated before, it’s never too early to help our children get going in the right direction when it comes to finances. So join me in helping our children thrive in financial stewardship!
Categories: : business, children, Creativity, entrepreneur, homeschooling, kids