Teaching Financial Literacy to All Ages: Week 2 - elementary school age

This is part two of our financial literacy for all ages series. Find part one, teaching financial literacy to preschool aged children, here.

In elementary school, most children will begin learning about your country's currency in school. If you've given them a good foundation in their early years, they may already know about coins. As their general knowledge grows, so can their financial literacy!

As your child grows and matures, you can start introducing delayed gratification. You may be familiar with the marshmallow experiment, where children sit at a table with a marshmallow and are told they may eat it now, or if they can wait, they will get a second marshmallow. The best way to teach a child to cope with waiting is to model it yourself. You can talk to your child about how you bypass a luxury item now in order to save for something nicer in the future. (This is also a great opportunity to help your child understand needs and wants.)

As you impart this wisdom and set these examples for you child, be prepared for the deluge of questions your little learner will be asking.

As your elementary school aged child grows, you may start assigning chores and/or giving your child an allowance. To help your child grasp saving, it's a great idea to make a visual aid. Some families use envelopes or jars for the money, a chart with stickers, or any other tool to help your child understand how to use their money.

Lastly, it's time to start letting your child use their money. Sometimes, they will make mistakes. It can be difficult to see and not jump in, but learning at a young age with a loving caretaker is the best place to learn from their mistakes. 

Check back over the next few weeks for building financial literacy for your middle and high school, and college aged children and family members.