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Financial Literacy Program for Kids | A MoneyTime Review
Responsible adults know that teaching kids financial literacy is important, butdo you know where to find a quality financial educationprogram that is child-friendly? Unfortunately, not many parents do. And even more unfortunately, many adults don’t even understand proper money management themselves, so they don’t know the first thing about teaching these money-smart concepts to kids, except for the fact that it needs to be done – somehow.
My husband and I have been putting an extra emphasis on financial literacy topics because we understand that now more than ever, kids in a typical high school setting are not being taught these crucial skills, and as a result, young adults are struggling.
We are so passionate about this topic in fact, that we spent hours putting together a(free) paycheck template for kidsso children as young as six or seven-years-old can practice good money management. We also plan on including financial literacy lessons in our (also free) Life Hack Training series.
However, even with our knowledge of this important topic, we have still been struggling to find a good financial education resource that is thorough and complete to use with our kids. So of course, you can imagine my excitement to come acrossMoneyTimeand their financial literacy program for kids.
The Importance of Teaching Kids Financial Literacy
So why is it so important to teach kids about personal finance and encourage them to get a financial education?
As the brains behind MoneyTime have so wisely stated,
Our young people are more at risk of incurring bad debt than any previous generation. They have more access to cell phone plans, online shopping, credit cards and high-interest loans and no knowledge to help them to make better life choices.
MoneyTime
Kids and young adults need to understand not only what money is but also how it works.
- What is simple interest vs compound interest?
- How do you know what put on your resume when applying for a new job?
- What is the purpose of a credit score?
- What is the best way to handle loans or a budget?
In short – what is the secret to good money management?
Teaching children to be money smart while they are still under your financial responsibility will set them up with positive financial habits. And the MoneyTime financial literacy curriculum is the best online programs on financial literacy for kids we’ve found.
Teaching Kids Financial Literacy With MoneyTime
The first thing you need to know is each child using MoneyTime needs their own email account, or at least access to various email accounts. Email accounts with services such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc, are free to set up, so even if your child only uses that account for this program, you should be good to go. All of my kids already have their own Email accounts, so this was no problem for us.
Once we signed up, I followed the simple instructions in the confirmation email and we were ready to go.
When you first log into MoneyTime, you’ll be greeted with a tutorial video. Watch this video.It is more detailed and more helpful than I first thought it would be.
Once you’re through the tutorial, you’re ready to begin going through the modules and earning/spending your digital dollars!
MoneyTime Modules
In the MoneyTime course, you are given an avatar that you get to customize with clothing, hair color, and more.
Once you are through customizing your avatar, he/she is given a job. This job determines how much money your avatar earns in a year. How quickly your child goes through the different modules or lessons will determine how quickly a ‘year’ goes by. (Each module is representative of a year.)
There are several sub-lessons within each module and each sub lesson teaches your child important concepts related to financial literacy and good money habits. In between each lesson, your child can practice the money management skills he or she is learning by spending, saving, or investing their money.
I loved how comprehensive the lessons and modules were. Your child can take a pre-test of sorts and see how much they know about a certain topic initially. After the pre-test, your child follows the MoneyTime characters through a storyline that is both entertaining and educational.
Finally, your child explores interactive activities and answers questions before moving onto the next module.
Some of the modules included in the MoneyTime financial education program are:
- Earning
- Saving
- Interest
- Career/Employment
- Budgeting
- Banking
- Borrowing
- Loan Repayment
- Property (renting or buying)
- Investing
- Business Ownership (marketing, profit/loss, etc)
- Protecting Your Money
- And so much more
There are enough modules and lessons in here to last your child for a good long while.I imagine you could go through this course in a semester, possibly two, if you worked diligently.
What Grade Levels is MoneyTime Good For?
Typically when I try a new book or course for my kids, I am able to fudge a little on the recommended age and allow more of my kids to participate. However, when the folks at MoneyTime say this financial literacy program is recommended for middle school students aged 10-14, they aren’t kidding.
My 11-year-old did just fine with this program and did not have too many struggles or confusions.
My 9-year-old did okay for the first few modules but then things started getting a little too difficult for her. We will try again with her in a year or two.
After watching my 9-year-old struggle, I didn’t even bother introducing my 7-year-old to this program. However, if you’ve got kids older than 14, they will definitely benefit from this program. I imagine as the modules go on, high school students would begin to run into concepts they are not familiar with and could benefit from. But I would not recommend signing any kids younger than 9 up.
Young children should learn and practice money management skills in more elementary-friendly ways for the time being.
More MoneyTime Membership Information
MoneyTime stands behind their product and is happy to offer their audience the following resources.
Money Back Guarantee
MoneyTime offers all customers a 60 Day Money Back Guarantee so you can try MoneyTime completely risk-free. If you’re not happy with it, they’ll refund your money in full!
Family Subscription Packages
Monthly for 1 child = $12.95
Add additional children for $9.70/mo and save 25%
No minimum contract, cancel at any time.
$49 ($4.15/mo) – 25% discount applied
Add additional children for $37.15 each
Contact info@moneytimekids.com for subscriptions FOR more than 5 children. They’re more than happy to work with homeschoolers to assist wherever they can.
In Conclusion – My Honest MoneyTime Review
At the end of the day, I would have to say that the folks behind MoneyTime definitely know what they’re talking about. I spent many hours going through their course individually, as well as with my son, and I had to agree with almost all of what they were teaching.
I love how MoneyTime took the guesswork out of what I need to teach my kids to make sure they have the knowledge they need to meet and exceed their financial goals when they finally enter the real world.
When I first began using this program, the target audience was Australians and New Zealanders so I struggled with some of the terminology. However, they have since completed updating a US friendly version where all the terms are familiar. I was really pleased to hear they fixed a common issue so quickly and this leads me to believe they will be quick to solve any other issues that may or may not come up.
To try MoneyTime out yourself, go tomoneytimekids.com. Or better yet, MoneyTime has a fantastic newsletter resource that offers regular resources for teaching your child about money. Sign up now! Your students’ future selves will thank you!
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MoneyTime Review | Kids Financial Education Course
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Charlene Hess
Charlene Hess is the founder of Hess UnAcademy. She spent many years teaching before she had her own kids. She now has 8 kids of her own, whom she has been homeschooled for over a decade.
She has now moved on from Hess UnAcademy to focus on her family and her new site, Secret Life of Homesteaders.
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