Here’s an interesting Business Week interview of Neale Godfrey. Neale is a renowned expert on children and family finance and has written several books on the subject.
In this interview, she discusses raising money-smart kids and “Generation Broke” (you guessed it – our current generation!). We like Neale, both professionally and personally – I wonder if that’s because she preaches the same things we preach
I am incorporating your site to instill Financial Literacy in my classroom. But in addition, AA also offers me a forum to promote the social sciences (not just mathematics) – economics and political science – as well as foster teamwork, initiative and leadership skills. Read the rest of this entry »
Dan Gasteazoro is an Active Allowance member. Dan is also a Grade 4 teacher at Glacier Hills Elementary in St. Paul, Minnesota.
And wow….what a creative teacher! Not only does Dan use the site for his family — he also figured out a novel way to use Active Allowance for his grade 4 class. He tells us it really helps him engage the children and teach them a wide range of subjects in a fun way. Dan agreed to share his experience:
I started using Active Allowance in my class last April. My “Eureka moment” came when I figured out how to use your site to connect responsibility and reward in a classroom setting without actually “paying” a monetary allowance. I invented an in-class “economy” — with great success! I created “teams” of kids. Since it was near the end of the year, the kids knew each other well enough (and I them) that I could create groups based on capabilities, temperaments, etc. In this way, I was able to have a little bit of everything (the good, the bad and the ugly!) in each group. I wanted the use of checklists to pay dividends based on their behavior. I also wanted them to be able to track their successes (or failures) in the virtual world, so the points-to-dollars functionality of the site and the virtual “Bank” were also really useful. Read the rest of this entry »
I started using Active Allowance in my class last April. My “Eureka moment” came when I figured out how to use your site to connect responsibility and reward in a classroom setting without actually “paying” a monetary allowance. I invented an in-class “economy” — with great success!
I created “teams” of kids. Since it was near the end of the year, the kids knew each other well enough (and I them) that I could create groups based on capabilities, temperaments, etc. In this way, I was able to have a little bit of everything (the good, the bad and the ugly!) in each group.
I wanted the use of checklists to pay dividends based on their behavior. I also wanted them to be able to track their successes (or failures) in the virtual world, so the points-to-dollars functionality of the site and the virtual “Bank” were also really useful.
I wish we had done this ages ago!
We took advantage several weeks ago of a free service from our bank (TD). We created child bank accounts for each of our teens (14 and 17) and gave them debit cards to access them.
Now, when they want money from their virtual family bank account at Active Allowance:
Now, they can pay retailers using their debit cards and not worry about losing their cash or being overdrawn.
I wish we had done that years ago for our 17 year old so she wouldn’t have had to carry so much cash when she went shopping (and sometimes lose it!).
Here’s a list of some of the main benefits:
All free for child accounts (free at our bank – yours may differ)! The only limitation for our bank’s debit card vs a credit card is their debit card doesn’t enable you to buy things online (some banks’ debit cards do work online).
Despite this one infrequent limitation, we vastly prefer debit cards over credit cards for our kids. One of the principles we’re trying to teach them, while we still have some influence, is that they “shouldn’t spend it unless they have it”. And that’s sure hard to do when they have a credit card (especially when I see how undisciplined our daughter can be with her cell phone account! I wish our cell phone company enabled us to create a limit, but that’s a rant for another day).
Oh….and one more thing…..it looks like some of our Teaching Kids Dollars & Sense lessons might be sinking in…at least with our 14 year old son! He deliberately doesn’t transfer too much into his real bank account. He’s a little concerned that if it’s too easily available to him, he might just spend it!
Sometimes, we wonder what lessons might be sinking in. It’s soooooo nice to enjoy those moments when we see some do!
Oh….and did I mention it’s all free
Forbes rated a range of sports, including swimming, rowing, bicycling, basketball, etc. based on four fitness factors, as well as on injury risk and calorie burn.
And Squash came out #1. These kids are in great shape!
But more than that – I love the fact that sportsmanlike behavior is actively encouraged in Squash. No swearing or throwing of racquets is allowed – kids are penalized for it. And they’re taught to play honorably – for example, if the ball bounces twice and the ref doesn’t see it, kids are encouraged to call themselves out (you’re only allowed one bounce, but sometimes it’s hard for the ref to see).
Now THAT’s sure different from many sports where kids are taught that breaking any rule is ok – even actively encouraged – as long as the ref doesn’t see it. My sons and nephews (not to mention, ahem, moi) play, and have played many sports so I know I’m not painting with too broad a brush when I say that too many coaches ….. from tough sports like hockey through seemingly genteel ones like water polo …. often teach kids to play dirty – just “don’t get caught”. Not values I want to teach my kids.
If you want to learn more, check out: US Squash, Squash Canada or European Squash as a start. Or let me know and I’ll help you figure out what’s available in your area.
Here’s an upbeat version of Auld Lang Syne:
For some reason, my hair loss is accelerating. I really have to stop pulling it!
We recently had yet another, ummmm, not so perfect Parent/Teacher interview. Same old story — our gifted 10 year old’s behavior still leaves something to be desired. Not evil …. just frustrating. He has a lot more “stop” behaviors than “start” ones and gets very little done in school; he’s clearly gifted at lollygagging and being a social butterfly. I bet you’ve never faced something like this
After hearing this yet again, I had a brainwave. We discussed with his teacher the idea of a School “Chore Chart”, whereby the teacher could list those behaviors that needed work and that ……
warning: Parents who abhor linking rewards to behavior should stop reading now and go for a cup of tea.
…… we would provide the reward for good results.
We agreed that while it’s ideal if Adam were intrinsically motivated, it was also wishful thinking. With this process, we could at least guide him towards appropriate behavior — and over time, he’ll develop good habits.
The whole process mimicked what we do at home. Working as a team with his teacher, and also involving Adam in the discussion, we agreed on the behaviors, as well as some special bonus items (if he achieves them, there’ll be dancing in the street!). We asked him what special reward he would like to work towards – that he would get in June if he earned enough. He said he would love to earn a remote control car.
Technically, it was dead simple to make this happen in Active Allowance. We created a second account for him, designed his School Checklist (he chose the colors and decorations), and created just one bank account — his Remote Control Car account. Every Monday, he brings a clean copy to school. On Friday, he comes home with his completed Checklist, signed by his teacher, and we enter the points. Quick and simple.
And so far, after two weeks, his teacher says he’s much more focused. I know he’ll still have his ups and downs, but I’m optimistic that on average, it will be “up”. I’m keeping my fingers crossed (and away from my thinning hair).
In our case, I mistakenly thought our 14 year old understood this but I never explained it explicitly. It was the source of a great amount of unstated frustration for her which festered over several months and created unnecessary animosity towards the system. It took a while to get back on track.
By doing this, you’d be telling your teen “I’ve kept the list small, to relatively few important things, but if you don’t do them, it has a significant impact on your allowance. It’s important to us that you do them”.
While all family philosophies are different, we don’t include homework on the list for any of our children. However, for the younger ones, we do include “homework finished by 6:00 pm” as a bonus item to earn an extra point. And for all our kids, we also give bonus points for finishing major projects (yikes!) early. And it works! Each of our kids accomplished this herculean task twice this year. And they’ve lived to tell the tale
“Any idea how we can inspire our 13-yr old to actually cooperate with our new allowance & chores system?”
There’s no doubt it’s tougher to get teens started on a new system if they never had chores or responsibilities when they were younger. Nevertheless, we do have members who tell us they’ve had good success. Before I elaborate, here’s a brain teaser: Try to distinguish between teenagers’ “Yecch’s” and the “Yay’s” for the following words:
I know it sounds unlikely to some parents, but teenagers CAN often be mature and rational too……but you may need to connect the dots for them. The key is to accentuate the positives – more freedom to decide what they buy, more opportunities to earn extra, more clarity and consistency from Mom and Dad, as just a few examples.
There are no hard and fast rules as to what will work for your kids and your family since a) all kids are different and b) there are so many different family philosophies on this subject. Nevertheless, here are a few things to consider:
For the allowance, create a mini-budget, making it clear how much spending power you’re shifting into his hands and in what areas. Also make it clear what he needs to do to earn extra. This is usually pretty exciting and empowering. For a teen, it’s called “freedom”!
And – especially important – collaborate on creating the chores/responsibilities list too – don’t just hand her a finished version of what you’d like to see. Seek her input and ideas. You can use it as an opportunity to teach her the importance of sharing the family effort as well as help her connect the dots.
Out of the box tip: Sometimes teens suggest a tough task (I’ll wash the floor EVERY DAY!). Resist the urge to rub your hands with glee, or murmur mwah-ha-ha. Consider rejecting it or making it easier, at least temporarily. You might say “Let’s agree to add that one next month” or even reject it altogether. You will be modeling reasonableness which, in turn, encourages buy-in.
