Money matters
Author: By MELANIE MULLINAX

From birth to adulthood, kids have a lot to learn.
They learn to walk, talk and feed themselves. They learn to read, write and do arithmetic. They also have to learn how to form healthy relationships, communicate effectively with others, and work independently as well as cooperatively.
And they need to learn how to manage money.
At the Joy of Learning Montessori School in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., the teachers believe in giving children opportunities to learn about money right from the start.
“When a child is independent enough to come to school, they are ready to start choosing what they want to learn about the world,” says Director Kimberly Jackson. “Children see that we (adults) use money, and they are curious about it.”
Money concepts can start simply.
“We work with young children 2 ½ to 6 years old,” Jackson says. “We have a very basic game that involves real money and a set of cards that have pictures of different coins on the cards. The kids learn to put a real penny, a real dime and a real nickel on top of pictures of pennies, dimes and nickels. They start learning numeric value and what money is worth.”
As children develop, so do money games. By the time most children are 5 or 6, they are ready to play a store game.
“We have a game that involves stuffed animals and toys, things that children would want to buy. We put price tags on the toys and then let another child be the storekeeper. The children show the storekeeper what they want to buy and then come up with the right amount the money to ‘pay’ for it,” Jackson says.
The kids either use real or plastic money.
“They have fun while learning how much things cost and what it takes to buy something,” Jackson says.
She says that learning about money, like life’s other lessons, should be a natural process for children.
“As children develop, they naturally want to learn about all the things that the adults in their life are doing,” Jackson says.
That is why setting a good financial example is very important, says Bill Creveling, a financial consultant and owner of Creveling Financial Services in Winchester. Creveling also is the father of a 15-year-old daughter, Emily.
“Mom and Dad are the starting place,” he says. “If they have the value of saving money, then they can pass that on to their children.”
Creveling says that children as young as 7 and 8 can learn about the importance of saving. He advocates that parents encourage their kids to regularly save 20 percent of the money they earn or receive as gifts.
“If they learn to save 20 percent when they are young and live off the other 80 percent, they will learn a lifelong lesson that will help them financially throughout their lives,” he says.
Saving can start with just a piggy bank, but by the time a child is 7 or 8, Creveling suggests opening a checking account for him or her.
“The checking account serves as an encouragement for the child to save money,” he says.

Like Jackson, Creveling believes that teaching money values should be a natural part of parenting.
“We regularly ask our kids, ‘did you brush your teeth?’ We should also ask them, ‘did you save a portion of your income this week?’”
Of course saving regularly requires a source of income.
Creveling says paying a weekly allowance is a personal family issue, but he believes it is a good way to teach kids about money.
“While we do not ‘pay’ Emily to do things, like clean up her room, that is her own space, she does earn an allowance for extra things she does around the house,” he says.
Grade-school children can start to grasp some ideas of investing for the future. Parents can look at the stock page of the newspaper with their children, picking out companies that might interest their kids, like McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Disney.
“Kids can understand about owning a part of a company, a share, and following those organizations over a period of time to see if their earnings go up or down,” Creveling says.
Setting goals for something special, like a new video game, bike or toy also is a way for children to learn financial values. While it may be difficult for some kids, and even some parents, to wait for things instead of going out quickly and buying them, the process of saving for something will benefit kids throughout their lives.
“It’s really up to the parents to help their children set goals and manage their money to achieve their goals,” he says. “Parents can help their kids set and meet one-month, three-month and six-month goals.”
Creveling says that as kids grow older, long-term financial goals, like saving for a car or even college, can be investigated and planned, but parents should stay involved with advice and encouragement.
Creveling says that taking the time to teach children the value of money pays off in their financial future.
“In my business, I sometimes talk with young couples that really have their financial life together,” Creveling says. “I have noticed that in almost every case, that’s a value they learned from their parents when they were young.”

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