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ways to teach your child the value of money - Money - nation.co.ke

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MONEY

Fun ways to teach your child the value of money

Ms Maureen Wesonga. Through her All I Can Be savings group targeting children, she teaches the youngsters how to start saving at an early age, shop in a supermarket, make deposits and withdrawals in a b

and other important money lessons. Photo/ANTHONY OMUYA NATION

IN SUMMARY

Tips to help your children get financially responsible

Start early. If they can count, they are old enough to start learning the basics of money and needs and wants.

Play. There are an assortment of board and video games on the subject of money management. Find them.

Budget as a family. Let the children help in drawing up grocery lists. If you are planning a holiday, let your children also use some of their own savings to finance the trip.

Manage allowances. Even if you are giving your children Sh10, make sure that they budget for the money and ensure that they save at least Sh1 or 10 per cent.

Reward savings. This can be done with a kind word or a congratulatory message if a savings target is reached. More ambitiously, you could match your childs savings shilling for shilling.

Restrict piggy banking for older children. They should be taking their money to the bank. They should also be taught restraint and a locked piggy bank will not do this.

Go to the market. Involve your older children in your money markets investments. Let the teens learn the basics of the stock market and government paper.

Be honest. If the family cannot afford a new bicycle,for instance, be honest and involve the children in coming up with ways to solve the dilemm

The story of All I Can Be, a childrens saving group, starts with a chicken. Six years ago, Ms Maureen Wesongas four-year-old daughter, Shani, asked for a

chicken. Not fried or roasted, as you would expect, but a live one.

As Ms Wesonga found out, Shani wanted to rear the chicken for its eggs, which she planned to sell to earn pocket money. At first, just like many parents would d

Ms Wesonga brushed her childs request aside. Shani was too young to understand money that was her justification. However, after introspection she changed h

mind.

I realised that I was killing an entrepreneur. And if I was doing it, many other parents were surely in the same predicament, says Ms Wesonga.

Soon after the chicken-and-egg story, Ms Wesonga quit her job and established All I Can Be Ltd (AICB), a company that teaches children various life skills,

including how to manage their money.

In 2010, the company established an independent savings and credit cooperative (sacco) whose primary focus was building investment portfolios for its members

children. Today, 10-year-old Shani has saved enough money to enable her to make her first major purchase a mobile phone.

Early in the business, Ms Wesonga realised that financial training would have to be rigorous besides being age-appropriate. At the time, she was trying to get loca

banks to support her business, but despite being a seasoned human resources practitioner with a good credit history, she faced tremendous stumbling blocks.

If an adult with a credit history faces this kind of problem getting capital, what about 18-year-olds who have never saved a penny in their lives? Yet we encourag

them to be entrepreneurs, she says.

Through 12 online study modules, AICB takes children as young as five years through lessons on the value of money, savings, and investments. At her centre in

Utawala, Nairobi, Ms Wesonga has simulated a supermarket and a bank.

Here, children carry out practical tasks on money, say, budgeting for their shopping, depositing money at the bank, or even making mock withdrawals.

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