This week’s ‘Wednesday for Parents’ suggests websites to teach children about money management. Obviously the best training comes from managing pocket money and savings, but the two websites we’re going to show you tonight also give your child a sense of the challenges and struggles that come with managing money in real life.
The first website came to us from our great friend Ms Beauchamp from St Brigid’s in Greystones (@merrybeau1 on Twitter). She recommends Moneyville.ie, which seems to be more directed at the family setting with its section for parents here. Moneyville’s graphics are appealing and we can see how a child would enjoy the activities. Moneyville’s priorities are the four fundamentals of money management:
- Where does money come from?
- Prioritise money
- The value of money
- Savings
We think this one is worth a look – every month throws up an unexpected financial disaster (much like real life as MerryBeau points out!)
The second one was suggested by Seomra Ranga and is the Values, Money and Me website, which uses stories, interactive activities and calculators to encourage the child to think about earning money, budgeting and saving. Although the website is designed to be used in a school setting, we can see how parents could use it as a way of encouraging their child to discuss how they think about money! The activities are aimed for a variety of ages within the primary school curriculum and covers a variety of topics. It also discusses where the money comes from that pays for pensions, street lighting and schools – a good way to back you up when you say ‘money doesn’t grow on trees’!
As well as online resources, we’d love to hear your tips for helping your child to learn about money management in real life! Let us know in the comments.
As always, all ‘Wednesday for Parents’ posts can be found here.
