One of the things that mainstream schools are criticized for, is not teaching children enough ‘real life’ skills. They leave knowing Pythagoras theory, but not knowing how to cook a simple meal or work a washing machine. As parents that homeschool we have more control in this area, and we can go about teaching our kids lessons that will not only benefit them academically, but in their general adult lives too. Money is one area where lots of young people crash and burn, having never been taught valuable financial skills. They leave home having never had to pay for anything themselves, and have loans, credit cards and store cards pushed towards them by lenders which can be difficult to resist. Equipped with the right knowledge, our children can go on to make the best decisions in the future. Here are three, valuable lessons we can teach them.

The value of money and saving

As parents, we want to make sure our kids have everything they need- and this means making sure they never have to worry financially. While we might not spoil our kids, we go to the ends of the earth to make sure they’re never without anything that they need. The problem with this is kids can grow up not really understanding the value of money, or how hard earned it is. Allowing them to earn their own money by doing chores or other jobs helps to secure this in their minds. Instead of just giving an allowance, let them do age appropriate tasks to earn it. The things they buy will be far more appreciated.

Comparing prices

These days, it’s so easy to compare prices and is something all of us should be doing before making a purchase. Teach them how to search for an item they want online, pulling up all of the different prices and seeing which one is the cheapest- bearing in mind things like shipping and taxes on top. Price comparison sites are also a good thing for kids to get to know their way around, next time you’re comparing phone plans such as https://budgetboost.co/straight-talk-wireless-phone-plan-review/, insurance or gas and electricity tariffs, sit down with them and show them what you’re doing. Searching around to get the best price isn’t about being cheap or tight, rather extra money in your pocket than being paid to a big company when it doesn’t need to be!

Budgeting

Once a child knows the value of money, you can go about teaching them budgeting skills. One fun way to do this, is by having them save some money and then take them on a day out. They will need to budget their money to last them for the day, allowing for things like food, drink and souvenirs. If they get excited and blow the lot in the first hour then it will be a lesson learned for the rest of the day, when everyone else is buying things that they want. Often, making these mistakes for themselves and having to see the consequences is a far better lesson than simply advising them!