Teaching Kids About Money: Why It's the Impossible Parenting Task by Charlene Torkelson

Education is a wonderful thing, but sometimes as a parent one might wonder if it includes how to practically live life. For example, money. I was horrified to discover my teenaged son had no clue how to write a check. I know ATMs make checks an ancient art form, but he tried to sign his check on the back! Really? I guess he had only received a check and never written one to someone else.

Our society has a problem with credit card debt. So why wouldn’t we begin teaching our children about money early on with the hope they would forgo some of those pitfalls when they become adults? We learn from financial advisers that we should save some, spend some and give some away. How can we translate that money theory to our children? 

I was an entrepreneur from an early age. I started sewing and selling Barbie doll clothes. And I saved my money. When my high school boyfriend began a summer job as a bank teller, he gave me my first checking account. That was one gift I also gave to my own children when they reached an appropriate age. 

I guess I should have taken the time to review check-writing procedures, however. It might have been a practical parenting thing to do.