Tips for Combating Summer Learning Loss and Instilling Positive Money Management Habits in Kids
Have you heard the term “summer learning loss?” You may not realize that during summer break, kids tend to forget a substantial proportion of what they learned in the previous school year. In one study, children’s achievement scores declined over summer vacation by a full month’s worth of school-year learning.[1]
Parents – you can help combat summer learning loss and help your children pick up skill sets that are vital to their security, heath, and emotional well-being by teaching your children about money.
Summer break offers an excellent time for parents to empower kids with financial literacy knowledge and instill positive money management habits. In this post, we provide you with tips and resources to make the lessons easy and fun.
Tip 1: Leverage Teachable Moments
Throughout the course of the day, there are many moments when you’ll be called upon to make financial decisions. Use those chances to discuss what you’re doing with your children and get them involved. Here are a few examples of timely financial education:
Tip 2: Assign Your Children Chores
It’s critical for children to build strong work ethics and understand the connection between work and earning money. Assigning chores that contribute to the family’s well-being are a great way to help kids develop industrious spirits that will serve them well when they become adults.
Leverage chore assignments to give kids opportunities to practice earning, budgeting, saving, and spending, especially while they still have the safety net of living at home and receiving family support. Assigning kids chores and having them practice adulthood by contributing to paying bills, saving money, and making early financial decisions will help them prepare for life’s financial realities in the future.
Tip 3: Provide Formal Financial Literacy Education
Your kids will not get high-quality financial education at school. Very few schools teach kids about money at all. Our youth graduate from high school ill-prepared for the financial decisions they’ll be required to make in adulthood. That means it’s up to parents to give young people the formal financial literacy education they need.
Many parents feel under-qualified to teach their children how to manage money. If you fall into that category, now there are resources to help. Here’s an instructor’s guide that walks you through how to teach your children money skills as they follow along in their student guide.
Tip 4: Encourage Entrepreneurship
Whether your child will start his or her own business or work for a company – entrepreneurial skills are important to cultivate. When companies hire workers, they often look for innovative individuals with entrepreneurial and leadership skill sets. Parents can help their children develop these skills.
To nurture entrepreneurial skill in children, start by having a discussion about what it means to own your own business. Ask kids if they’ve ever had an idea for starting a business. Give encouragement and direct them toward education that can help. There’s a lot of kids’ projects online – take some time to explore together.
For younger kids, we offer an entrepreneurship project complimentary – Lemonade Stand Business.
Conclusion
We hope these tips and resources give you some fun ways to combat summer learning loss and help instill positive money management habits in your kids.
Use this summer break to empower your children with financial literacy lessons that can support their growth and encourage self-sufficiency as they mature into adulthood.