Give Them a Jump Start
A wide variety of organizations have dedicated themselves to teaching children about financial responsibility. Often, they tout themselves as “financial literacy” advocates. Many of these are quite good, and some of them have free information for parents, teachers, and children. If you're looking for a resource that you can use to help educate children, the Jump$tart Coalition is a good place to start.
Who can teach financial literacy to my kids?
If the teachers at your child's school can not, or will not, teach financial literacy, try searching around in your community. A parent of your child's classmate may have some expertise and be willing to share it. Likewise, you can ask local financial advisors for assistance.
The Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy is a not-for-profit organization based in Washington, DC. The goal is to promote financial literacy for students from kindergarten age all the way up to college. After conducting a number of surveys, the group found that the average high school graduate does not have basic personal finance skills. As a result, a young person's first experience with a credit-issuing company is often a bad experience. For example, a college freshman may rack up debt and find himself unable to pay the bills. To combat this, the Jump$tart Coalition finds ways to promote financial education.
Resources, Resources, Resources
You can find handy resources in a lot of different places. Many financial companies offer educational resources as a public-relations strategy. You can find turnkey programs developed for teachers to use in the classroom, complete with handouts, posters, quizzes, and lesson plans. Likewise, you can find Web sites that are created for young students. These programs usually feature interesting characters and places in an effort to keep childrens' attention.
Where do you find these resources? The Internet is full of them, but you can use the Jump$tart Coalition's Web site (
The More the Merrier
As you expose yourself to the world of prepackaged financial-literacy programs, select a few that may be useful in your child's school. If you can find a teacher or a volunteer willing to teach a class on financial topics, take advantage of it. It is easier for your child to be responsible and resist financial temptation if his peer group is also financially literate.
