“ The Internet is a wonderful place to teach your child how to find the best price for items on his or her wish list ”
Gonifocfish.com founder and CEO, Gina Bassman, offers seven tips for teaching young children how to handle money. Bassman, the mother of a six-year-old son, believes children can start learning about personal finance in their preschool years.
Detroit, Michigan (
PRWEB) October 23, 2006 -- Gonicofish.com announced today that founder and CEO, Gina Bassman, is sharing seven tips for teaching children about money.
According to a survey by the American Psychological Association, seventy-three percent of adult Americans rate financial matters as their number one cause of stress. Thus, preparing children to make sound decisions about money can help them avoid future worries and to find greater satisfaction in their adult lives. To that end, Bassman, and her husband, Robert, a CPA, are passing on their financial skills to their six-year-old-son, Nico.
“It’s never too early to teach children how to comparison shop,” laughs Bassman.
She should know. Bassman is the former Senior Financial Director for the Detroit Lions. She left the world of corporate finance after eighteen years of experience in order to spend more flexible time with her son and with her husband, who runs his own CPA firm. While at home, she visited several Internet sites that promised deals from a number of retailers. She found that many of these sites were hard to navigate and that consumers got lost in long, unorganized lists of bargains.
Never one to sit still for long, Bassman came to the aid of on-line bargain hunters. She created Gonicofish.com, a central site where visitors can spot the latest and best bargains, coupons, discount codes, and prices from over five hundred merchants. She developed her own, easy-to-use web design to help customers spot the exact bargain they’re looking for. Shoppers can peruse the site by store, by item name, or by choosing one of eighteen different product categories.
Is it any wonder that Nico is already learning to be a bargain hunter?
“The Internet is a wonderful place to teach your child how to find the best price for items on his or her wish list,” says Gina. “One evening, Nico and I had fun shopping online for a toy harmonica. Not only did he enjoy looking at all of the pictures, he learned about value and computer skills in the process. He loved searching for the letters on the keyboard, and he looked adorable plucking his way around. It was a great way for us to spend quality time together.”
Of course, there’s more to handling money than bargain shopping. The Bassmans recommend the following seven ideas for parents of children ages three- to twelve-years old. They have found that creative methods like these are helping Nico understand basic financial concepts:
1)Begin as early as possible to teach your child the different denominations of coins and currency. Many kids can master this concept long before they start kindergarten.
2)Give you child a small allowance in an amount that makes it easy to set aside a portion for savings. For example, if the child receives two $1.00 bills, he or she can spend one now and save one for later.
3)Start a savings envelope for your child. Label the outside of the envelope with the name or a picture of an item the child would like to have. Let the child put some money in the envelope each time he or she receives an allowance. When the envelope contains enough money, take the child on a fun outing to purchase the desired object.
4)Open a savings account with your child. Take your child on routine visits to the bank so that the child can hand over small deposits. Regularly discuss the child’s passbook, and show the child how the balance is increasing. Praise the child as he or she learns how to save.
5)Before you take your child with you to the grocery store, discuss what will happen on the trip. If you plan to let the child have a treat or a toy, establish a dollar limit prior to shopping. Teach the child how to select a treat within the predetermined range. Help the child
learnLearn a Second language & PLAY SOCCER!
EduKick Language Immersion Summer Soccer Camps Abroad...
The Language & Culture Soccer Experience of a Lifetime!
Call us toll-free today at 1-866-338-5425!
self-control by limiting his purchases as planned. This will not only help your child
learnLearn a Second language & PLAY SOCCER!
EduKick Language Immersion Summer Soccer Camps Abroad...
The Language & Culture Soccer Experience of a Lifetime!
Call us toll-free today at 1-866-338-5425!
to distinguish between wants and needs, but it will make the shopping trip a more pleasant experience for both of you.
6)Let the child hand money directly to the cashier, rather than tacking the price of a treat or toy onto your bill. In this way, your child will make the connection that for every item that comes home from the store, there is a cost attached. In our world of credit cards and online shopping and banking, we often forget that purchases do actually remove funds from our accounts.
7)Make learning about money fun. Play counting games with coins. Play matching games with the faces on bills.
Most parents begin to prepare for a child’s
educationEducational (language Immersion) Soccer Programs Worldwide!
Check out EduKick's Education & Soccer Camps!
the moment he or she is born. They dream that the child will one day find a satisfying profession, career, or trade. Bassman encourages parents also to prepare children to use their future income wisely.
As Charles Spurgeon said, “Economy is half the battle of life; it is not so hard to earn money as to spend it well.”
