I made a plan to teach my kids the value of money. Like most of our homeschooling lessons, this was going to be a hands-on, real-life experience. It started with me giving each of them 4 quarters on our trip to the flea market.
There’s nothing like walking through the flea market, or anywhere for that matter, with 4 kids in tow. So I gave them some general directions before we started: Stick nearby mama or papa, smile and say hi to folks, be respectful about what you touch. It was a beautiful morning and by the sounds of their clinking quarters, my kids were excited.
Well, the smiling and saying hi to folks pretty much caused mass fawning over my children. Vendors began offering trinkets to my kids left and right…old piggy banks, little pocket toys, you name it…and all free of charge.
So far, no money lesson.
We arrived at one spot that had the most beautiful vintage porcelain dolls with detailed Victorian outfits. Surely out of the $1.00 range, but I told them they could look.
Eyeing my daughter who was practically drooling over one particular doll, the woman in charge says to me, “Oh, she can just have it.”
“That’s very nice,” I say, “but I’m trying to teach them about money. You’d be helping her learn a lesson by telling her the price .”
“Oh, okay,” she obliges. She then asks my daughter for her quarters, takes them in her hand, gives them a little shake, and then hands all of them back saying, “Here’s your change!”
From this particular vendor my kids left with Victorian dolls, cute birdhouses, some china tea set pieces, and ALL of the quarters I gave them.
So we didn’t learn the value of money, but we did learn the value of nice, friendly, generous folks.
And of course, the value of saying thank you to them.
I’d say another homeschooling lesson accomplished.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
It s nice to know that there are still some generous people around. And the value of saying thank you is always important.
Yes, indeed…polite manners are always in style.
As much as I love how you found a lesson in this and a great one too, I cannot help but point out that you should be teaching non hostile takeover technics in Wall ST. Due to no fault of your own ( other then mothering 4 beautiful and polite children) you have cracked the most incredible formula on how to achieve a lot with little or no financial back up.
I think White house would be better off you doing the budget for them. Or better yet Aumies
Oooo, Aumies in the Whitehouse…I’d vote for them! Wonder if they’d still share one room?
Your kids are crazy cute! And what a great way to (attempt) to show the value of money. I actually thought giving the kids a dollar in quarters would lead to tears not being able to buy what they wanted. Shows you how cynical I am
Believe me, I prepared myself for tears, but as you saw, this day was about a whole different lesson.
I enjoyed your post. You have lovely kids. Nice job mom.
Thank you for stopping by!