Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

You're shopping, children in tow, and the constant refrain you hear is, "Mom, can we buy that?" Join Mike Smith on today's Home School Heartbeat as he explains how to turn this irritating chant into a learning opportunity.

Mike Smith:


Your opportunity to teach your children about wise spending comes the first time you're shopping and he asks for that eye-catching toy or cereal box on the store shelf. The lesson is a simple explanation: "Our family has a finite amount of money, so we are unable to purchase every single thing we want." A child may need to hear this many times before he grasps the concept of limitation.

For a young child, spending lessons will help him understand the idea of value. Give him a pile of coins that he can divide into pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. He may not understand the numbers behind each coin, but he will begin to grasp the fact that some coins are worth more than others. Later he will discover that a certain combination of coins will provide him with a small toy or some candy. Look for opportunities to integrate money lessons into your homeschool lesson plans.

As your children mature, you can introduce such principles as needs-versus-luxuries and how to comparison shop. You can also help him take responsibility for his spending decisions by allowing him to make mistakes and learn from them. It's better that he learns the pitfalls of impulse-buying early, when the purchases are on a small item.

Until next time, I'm Mike Smith.