Children and money

From the very birth of the child, he aspires to what seems to him the main thing. He seeks to live in society as adults. He tries to do the same as adults, every time he has the opportunity. When he does not have such an opportunity, he tries to learn to do something like adults.

First he learns to lift his head, walk, talk, eat porridge. Then - to dress, read ... Actually, teaching what the adults know is the main activity of a child of any age. Although we adults often take it lightly: "he picks himself up," "he imitates," "he plays". He learns to live, that's what we need to understand by looking at his games.

A child who is not delimited stubbornly from the adult world, understands early enough what money is and why they are needed. He sees that financial relations are an integral part of adult life. Naturally, this part of his adult life he wants to make his own. At least he wants to learn it.

Well, then it's time to help him. Social development, unfortunately, goes much worse for children without the participation of adults. And the ability to handle money is a social skill.

Of course, it's best to start with theory. It is worth explaining to the child in more detail why money is needed and where they come from. By the way, the explanation that to handle money you need to be able to count well, very stimulates interest in the account.

I know people who consider interest in counting and reading to be "unnatural", because they were not native to our primitive ancestors. However, since man is a social being, it was always natural for a human "cub" to study what is an integral part of our society. And reading, counting, money and music have long become such parts of our world.

Do not believe me - just look around. Mentally remove letters and numbers from everywhere. Imagine that all the money in the world suddenly disappeared. That all advertisements, films, programs on TV go without music, and the phone does not ring a tune, but a bibicon. The world will remain, but it will be a completely different world. In the meantime, we live in this, and we need to help our children also learn how to live in it.

So, for this, we explained to our kid what money is and their role in relations between people (remember that relationships are not only emotional, but also workers, for example?).

However, any theory should be fixed sooner or later by practice.

How can you teach a child to treat money and understand their "price"?


Method 1. The most common. Pocket money.



Pocket money is the same amount of money that you give out to your little man every week or every day. He can spend it as he wants. When he finds out that they are always missing for something, tell him about the accumulation of money. Try to make it visually. For example, many psychologists recommend that this show: take a number of coins of one value. And start building a turret out of them. One coin to put on another and ask if it's a lot of money? "No", the child will answer. Spreading coins on, after a while you will build a turret that the child will say "yes."

You can accompany it with a story about how the squirrel lent money. And then, when it became a lot, I bought what I used to do earlier, when I was spending everything at once, I could not buy it. However, one day she collected too much (the turret becomes very high and falls) and all her money is wasted. Do not save up to infinity, but do not waste money thoughtlessly, that's the meaning of the story.

After you tell the child about the possibility of accumulating money, give him a box, piggy bank, casket or purse, where he could save money.


Important rules for the introduction of pocket money!

1. The amount should not depend on the behavior of the child. Behavior is not something for which you can pay a salary. Such money is corrupted.

2. The amount must be issued regularly. For the same reason that a child needs a regime - children like a sense of certainty.

3. You do not have to decide what the child can or can not spend his money on. Otherwise, the sense of giving him "his" money!

4. You must stop buying it different things. Now this is his waste. And do not give him extra money. He must learn how to calculate his costs. Otherwise, why did we start all this? ..


Method 2. Difficult. Making money.


When a child already more or less intelligently manages his money, it's time for the next stage of his "financial" training - making money.

How important are the children themselves, one can see from several life examples. My daughter, when she "lived" for two weeks on earnings and pocket money at the same time, was faced with the need to choose: either salary or pocket. And the salary was less than pocket, and she understood it. And yet - the earned money seemed more attractive to her. She was incomplete four years.

When her five-year-old girlfriend found out about this, she began to give up her pocket money and ask her to get a job.

Opportunities for earning money from children can be very different.
Teenagers can be arranged by janitors, assistant foresters, babysitters, etc. With them, everything is simpler.
But even younger children can be found. However, most likely, in the role of the employer you will have to speak to you or ask someone of your acquaintances to become one, even though the money will still come from your wallet.

The child can then work with a friend "coming servant", for example, every day to wash dishes or once a week to clean up in the front garden. Walking dogs. Clean the cat tray and take out the garbage. Help to collect fruits and vegetables and walk with a younger child. To retire in the forest or on the beach (not necessarily at once and completely, for example, you can set the norm in one garbage package). Clean shoes.

With special pleasure the child works when it does on a couple with an adult.
By the way, this is a wonderful reason that he began to help in the work of his mother, if she works at home. If she knits to order, he can help her bring wool, serve tangles, etc. He can help clean up and generally be on the hook if she sews at home, glues boxes (a child of school age can also glue!), Stringing beads, etc. If the father is a private carpenter, the child can "work" as his apprentice.

As a home tutor, a four-year-old daughter helped me prepare for classes and conduct them, and also took upon myself the distraction of younger siblings and sisters of students so that they did not interfere with the learning process and did not feel deprived.

A little later, she became a "cleaner" in the children's center - three times a week after classes put in order class. Now she is helping her neighbor to take care of the kindergarten broken in the front garden, and she agreed with her neighbor without my help, on her own initiative. She is five years old.

As you can see, there are a lot of opportunities in finding a job for a child of almost any age. And an astronomical salary at this age is not needed.


And then, again, several rules must be observed.


1. You can not pay for household duties. Because it's part of the behavior. And for the behavior, as we remember, you can not pay.

2. The performance of work and the issuance of wages should occur regularly.

3. If a child has a job, then he is a working person, and demands an appropriate attitude to himself. Be ready for this. Do not deceive his expectations. Of course, even a working person can not be required to drink beer or throw food if he is not 21 years old. However, after 21 years is also not necessary.

4. It is desirable that the post of the child has a name. This is a special pride of the baby. Even if it's just a "private janitor" or "dog nanny."

5. The child has the right to spend his salary at his own discretion.

6. You should stop buying it different things. Now it's his costs. He is now a Man Earned!

7. Take care that the work does not interfere with its main activity. Although this happens rarely.


I hope this article will help someone. Good luck, dear parents!


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