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Quote of the Week
"Money is a good servant but a bad master." --French proverb
Teaching Children Empathy Through Money Management Is A Crucial 21st Century Skill
"It’s likely you’ve considered teaching your child about money or have already begun the process. In fact, experts recommend giving your child plenty of practice with early money management by opening a saving account, providing a small allowance and divvying up Grandma’s greeting card funds to savings, charity and spending. These are indeed helpful experiences for children to begin understanding money’s value and its role in their lives. But the ethics developed around the use of money can be equally important and can be taught right alongside those practical first experiences. In addition, empathy goes hand in hand with ethics since acting as a responsible citizen means working to understand others who may have very different lives and circumstances than our own." Read more
Reading Corner
 Title: Talk with Your Kids: Conversations About Ethics -- Honesty, Friendship, Sensitivity, Fairness, Dedication, Individuality -- and 103 Other Things That Really Matter
By: Michael Parker
Stage: Pre-school onwards
Why: "A guide for parents to help their children better understand the world around them by helping them think through the questions they face regarding honesty, friendship, sensitivity, fairness, dedication, individuality and 103 other character-building issues." -Publisher
Recommended by Cubs editors
Be The Change
Start a discussion about money with your kids asking some of the open-ended questions modeled in this article: "What if everyone got everything they wanted from the stores all of the time? What would be the implications for employees? For others? What could happen if you spent all of your money on one big toy? What would happen if Mom and Dad spent all of their money on one big toy? What kinds of things do you think Mom and Dad have to work to pay for in our lives? What happens to people who are in a car accident and handicapped and cannot work to gain money? What do you think they do? What do you think the experience of being homeless is like?" Use these discussions as an opportunity to encourage empathy, generosity and compassion in your children.
Kindful Kids newsletter is a resource for parents who are keen to teach children about compassion and service. It reaches 3,646 subscribers. You can unsubscribe here.
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