School teaches loans as a a way of life

[sgtiger]

*stepping on the soapbox

As a parent, I think it's our job to teach our kids the skills and values that we want them to take into their adulthood to help them be successful in pursuing their goals. And I think that we need to supplement our children's education as we see fit in order to make sure that they are receiving a balanced education. We are, also, able to give them the one-on-one time that is valuable in meeting the individual needs of our child. Things such as personal finance should really start at home anyway, even if it's to show our kids what not to do. With so many resources out there, it's not so difficult to educate ourselves if our knowledge is lacking so that we can better guide our children. I think that children appreciate a frank discussion of those matters even if they may not always seem like they are listening.

Our already taxed school systems can only do so much. I think the fact that some schools are teaching personal finance at all is to be commended. There still are many school districts that do not even broach the subject. Hopefully the children for whom their parents have not managed to teach them about it will get at least an introduction to thinking about how they will manage their money and get a discussion started in their own homes or with their peers. (Yes, sometimes teenagers do talk about such matter amongst themselves.) I think it's always a good idea to contact our children's teachers about any concerns we have. I'm finding that all the educators I've contacted are all too happy to have parent involvement and willing to share their curriculum notes. And most educators I know are happy to get feedback from parents and students so that they can make improvements to their curriculum for the future.

I know for myself I'm thankful that my dad involved me in the monthly budgeting of expenses. It was something that we started to do together when I was twelve. I think it helped me to have more realistic expectations of what my necessary expenses after high school would be than most of my peers at that time.

By the way, Veronica and others educators on the board, I highly appreciate what you do and admire that you have the strength of will and character to do it. There are some days that I can hardly manage my two children. I can only imagine what it's like to have to try to both educate and manage so many at once whose individual needs and capacities vary.