Personal Financial Education

[SarahLou21]

My Daughter is 8 and she has started to get an allowance from me and her grandma. I want to teach my child how to deal with money, and grow up with a better understanding of the financial world. Can anyone recommend a educational game or programme I can buy to help my daughter understand the value of money?
Thank you! I would really appreciate any suggestions.

BW! Sarah

Do you need to buy a game? My parents educated me by walking me down to the bank once a week to put some or all (depending on what I'd spent) of my pocket money into a savings account. Dad also talked to me about stocks and shares (not that I have any!) and showed me how to read them in the paper, pointed out things like cash converters/payday loan companies and explained how they weren't always the answer. We had things that we saved up for and a little book from the building society so we could see how the money was growing/shrinking. The emphasis was always on saving rather than spending (for university or a house) and when I was fifteen the options were a) get a job and keep your pocket money, which will go straight into savings or b) no job and no pocket money, therefore no savings. I chose a)

There is the OTT option (adopted by the parents of a friend): they gave her a diary when she went to high school and made her account for every single expenditure, down to the penny, with a meeting at the end of the week where she had to justify what she'd spent They were fantastically tight though...

If you do want to buy a game, I would suggest Bamzonia.com. It teaches money lessons to children and covers loads of topics. It encourages the children to go through the lessons by rewarding credits for completing them that then can be used in the game. Bamzonia is in schools and available for mums and dads to help teach their children so I think it's exactly what you are looking for. Of course, all of the practical things mentioned by CharminglyOdd are great too, Bamzonia just formalises things a bit and covers every topic of importance accurately. I'm not great financially so I needed a bit of help :)

Thank you! Some good points there charminglyodd! I think it is really important to teach children from the grass roots up. And yes understanding what loan companies do etc...and learning about the pros and cons of different services is good. it is important to have a dialogue with your child about finances. I remember having a post office account, and it gaining interest, but i was never explained why it was gaining interest, just I was lucky to have it. I want to teach my child its fun to have and make money.

Wonderingpiglet I really like the sound of Bamzonia as Abby loves going on the computer, so it would be really good if she went on there and learnt something other than her friend's facebook updates. So what do the lessons teach them and does the game teach them about financial education? or is this just in the lessons. Thank you! Sorry all these questions i am just intrigued! : )

The lessons cover all sorts of things, starting off with quite basic information but working up to some really important subjects. Debt and credit are covered and taxes and budgeting and what to expect in a bank. Lots of information and definitely some subjects that i wouldn't be confident talking to my children about. The game teaches a little about money, there is a really good banking mini game for example but I think the game is more of a reward for working through the education. My children are awarded credits for progressing through lessons and they can use this in the game. I would recommend it and its not expensive (£5.99 for the year when we purchased) so you can't really go wrong :)

Sounds really good! What is the website address? thank you! : )

The website is www.bamzonia.com
I hope it works well for you, best of luck!