Teaching Children to Give
Not all learning, not even the most important learning, is done sitting in school chairs. It is up to parents to teach their children the importance of helping others, either by physically helping others to do things they might not be able to do on their own, or by giving money for basic things that all people have a right to.
One woman named Peggy Houser is a financial planner who wrote a book called “Teach Children About Money” in which she suggests that giving children an allowance is a great way to educate them about giving money to charity.
Houser advocates starting an allowance system when children begin school. Then parents teach their children to divide up the money into three parts: money for savings, money for spending, and money for helping others. Make it clear that this is an important family value by saying that,
“Our family believes it’s important to share our good luck with people who are less fortunate.”
Don’t become fixated on what percentage of the total should go to charity; just emphasize that giving should be a part of the normal routine of money management.
“The goal is to make giving money to those in need a routine,” says Houser.