There is a lot of emphasis placed on the fact that financial education is not widely taught in schools. According to the Council for Economic Education (CEE), almost 70 percent of American K-12 students are not being taught about personal finance at school. While this number is alarming, CEE and other economic and financial literacy advocates are making progress. However, there is no need to wait until your child’s school adopts a new curriculum. Instead, take a proactive approach and teach your children about personal finance at home; most studies show that students learn their financial skills from their parents. Thankfully, there are a lot of free online financial education resources to help. Following are some of my favorites.
- 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy offers financial education and advice for all lifestages—including childhood.
- EconEdLink offers more than 600 free financial education lessons.
- Jump$tart maintains a searchable clearinghouse of financial education resources.
- Junior Achievement offers parent resources on topics such as budgeting and saving.
- Money Management International (that’s us!) offers financial education services and several lesson plans to help teachers (in this case, you!)
- National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) maintains a clearinghouse of education materials to help you teach basic personal finance. NEFE also offers The Mint for older kids.
This is really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to financial education online; feel free to add to the list if I’ve missed one of your favorites. And remember that setting a good example is one of the best ways to teach children good money management skills.