A few months ago now, I posted about collecting money for charitable causes.  They idea was definitely popular with Miss Kindergarten and Little Miss Three. Their homemade piggy banks were quickly loaded up with change from mom’s wallet and dad’s pocket. Any “fun money” from their grandparents, along with birthday money, makes its way into those little jars.

It is adorable.

The problem, as I see it, is that they have no idea what else they could do with that money. At five and a half and newly three, they simply don’t have any practice. As a result, in the last few months they have designated the totality of their coins for UNICEF and Toys for Tots and Meals on Wheels and the kindergarten teacher and the Salvation Army.

They’ve learned well the lesson that others need money for necessary things. Somehow, I’d like to teach them the other half of the decision to give charitably. When we decide to give to others, we are affirming that we have what we need and enough of what we want, allowing us to share our resources with others.

So how do we teach kids the value of a dollar?

Institute an allowance, declares every glossy book on the market aimed at raising millionaires. But how? I’m trying to teach them that part of being a family, just like part of living in a community, is helping one another with the basics. An allowance, the way it is usually done, boils household chores down to “do I get a raise if I dust the upstairs bookcase?” This is an arrangement I want to avoid.

So, how do we teach kids the value of a dollar and the values of our house?

As always, I’m not alone with my question. Most parents want to teach smart money management, including how to spend, save, and share charitably, without creating a reward system that incentivizes daily life.

Public Radio’s Marketplace offers several important tools for those of you asking the same questions. Check these out:

• The Learning Money Reading List has books targeted for kids in three age categories, 4 to 8, 9 to 12, and 13 and older.
• Listen to this great conversation, A guide to Proper Allowance Etiquette.
• Or this conversation entitled Needs & Wants: Kids and Allowance that is helpful, especially with older kids.
• And I found several good tips in their Kids and Money: Question and Answer section.

I also unearthed a helpful blog post on Mom It Forward, entitled Teach your Kids to Save, Spend, and Share.

I’m still looking around for a good book on the subject. Amazon is overrun with books that look like children’s versions of financial self-help books, but I’m looking for something a little more nuanced, something that reads more like a parenting tool and less like I’m building a better finance major.

Let me know if you have any tips!

For now, we’re starting over with the piggy banks. We’ll make a few more and designate them as “save” and “spend” and “share” jars right from the beginning. We’ll start with a small weekly allowance, and a rule that each jar must be fed.

And this time, we’ll be sure to set a concrete goal for the “share” jar, as well as for the “save” jar. In this way, hopefully, we’ll help them understand what they’re giving away, and we’ll lay the groundwork for future conversations about charitable giving.

Tags: Big Ideas, Books & Resources, Charitable Giving, Free

About Sarah

Sarah Aadland is striving to make family volunteering a meaningful habit for her family of five. Join the conversation as she ponders what they may (or may not have) learned and looks for helpful information about raising compassionate kids.Though she plans to one day put her Masters in Public Policy back to work for social justice, she sees family volunteering as a way to build a stronger community, a better world, and a more connected family. In addition to her children, Sarah tends a large garden, a small flock of chickens, and a habit of mindfulness amid the necessary rituals of parenting.

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