The Value of a Buck...

photo courtesy of somegeekintn

"Kids don't know the meaning of a dollar!"
"All my kids do is spend...spend...spend!!!"
"My kids can't save a dollar to save their life!"

As a teacher I actually hear this quite a bit! It was just recently that I thought maybe I should look into this more closely. Let me give you some background. Last week Kenzie's Papa sent her $5 in a card...we're talking cold hard cash. :) She's 3 and has wanted a new Leapster game for awhile now and after the last purchase maintained her interest for a staggering week (sorry "Wall-E" she didn't get it.), I put my foot down and said no more game until your birthday...a couple weeks away; what can I say she's my first born and I'm a push over.

So we gave Mackenzie the money in the hopes that our words and a little discouragement from wasteful spending would be enough to teach her the meaning of a dollar. OI know it's ridiculous, but I'm a teacher...we don't just stop at 3:00 :) She spent that $5 as fast as you probably think she did.

Then when another $10 spot came in a get well card I explained, "well if you hadn't wasted the other $5 you'd have enough to buy the Leapster game you want. Tough Love DADDY-STYLE!

After the tears and the laughter from my wife that I actually thought I had won some battle subsided, I realized that this problem will not stop because of my pearls of wisdom. So, I went looking for web options like the e-dork-dad I am. Here's some great sites I found that help kids learn the value of a buck from Toddler to High School Age kids.


LEARN TO SAVE Toddler
PLANET ORANGE Elementary
KIDS BANK Middle School
BANK HS High School