It’s Christmas vacation, the kids are home from school and so excited about the coming holidays you are at a loss for how to keep them busy. Add this to the general chaos of the holidays - gifts to buy, parties to attend. You may be traveling to visit family or friends, or hosting guests in your home. All of this can be expensive, and stressful.
Why not use the holidays as a time to pass on good money management lessons? Teach your children the value of saving and budgeting. Give them a holiday allowance to buy presents and treats, and help them spend it properly.
We have resources that can help you do this.
Recently we worked with the Chronicle Herald and Credit Unions of Nova Scotia to produce “Where did all my money go?” an educational supplement telling the story of Taylor and Drew, grade six students learning to save and budget their funds so they can participate in the class ski trip.
“Where did all my money go?” is a 4 page, full colour comic story, which was featured in the November 25 edition of the Chronicle Herald. It is also available online and in hard copy (limited quantities) from the Securities Commission. It also comes with an Instructor’s Guide, providing group activities adaptable for children of all ages & abilities.
To order a family or class set of paper copies, contact us by email, and indicate the number of copies you need. Orders will be filled on a first come, first served basis, while supplies last.
While you are at it, please check out Make it Count, a new and interactive educational resource for parents and teachers and mentors of young children. Turn everyday experiences into learning opportunities. All of a sudden, a trip to the supermarket becomes a lesson in budgeting, or a drive in the car becomes a quick lesson on the cost of transportation. Get the Guide and learn how to talk to your kids about managing their money.
Happy Holidays!
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education,
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youth
There is a need in Nova Scotia for family-friendly resources for financial skills education, according to a recent survey conducted by the CSA. To address this, we have launched Make it Count - a new educational resource for parents and teachers.
The CSA survey indicates 86% of Nova Scotians believe that teaching financial skills is among the most important things a parent can do for their child. However only 21% feel that the primary responsibility for teaching young people about money should fall to the parents, which seems an obvious disconnect. Only half of parents with children 18 or younger have actually taught their children about personal finances and investing.
Perhaps the reasoning behind this is that many Nova Scotian parents admit to being only somewhat confident (59%) or not confident (26%) in their ability to teach their children about personal finances. It is difficult to teach something you don’t understand, and only 11% of Nova Scotians say they are “very confident” in their own investment decisions. 44% are “somewhat confident,” 25% “not very confident” and 15% “not at all confident.”
If you are a parent or mentor who believes in the importance of financial education but need help teaching your children the basics, the CSA has launched a new interactive program, Make it Count, to help you pass on good financial skills.
Make it Count resources center around a series of activities, tips and lesson plans that are simple to follow and more importantly, simple to teach. It includes an online, interactive money management system that allows parents or teachers and children to set up a daily budget, start and track savings goals and chat with other money mentors in an online forum. Children can see where their money is going and how close they are to meeting their goals and mentors can obtain help and support from the online forums.
The Make it Count resources, including the interactive online budgeting program can be accessed at MakeitCountOnline.ca. All resources are free, and available in both English and French.
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children,
education,
parent,
teacher,
youth
