Never Too Soon

In recent years there’s been much discussion about what schools should and should not be teaching. But there is a growing consensus that most schools have overlooked one very important aspect of preparing students for life’s responsibilities. For most of our lives, we are all involved to some degree in financial management – whether that entails budgeting and spending responsibly, buying a house or a car, saving for our children’s education, managing a retirement fund, running an organization or business, or overseeing the finances of government. To be sure, the recent staggering number of people who have been overwhelmed by easy debt or who have lost their homes through foreclosure, along with the runaway spending by government officials at all levels, suggests that much more should be done to teach all Americans better principles of money management.

That is why I was delighted to learn recently that the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) has developed a program to teach very young children about money. Recognizing that attempts to teach financial literacy to high school and middle school students often fail, CUNA has wisely designed its program for preschoolers. Because older students already have been saturated with advertising messages and with peer pressure for the newest and best of everything, no matter the cost, the obstacles for beginning a financial literacy program once bad habits are established are impractical to overcome.

As CUNA points out, “Children learn about money from many sources. Long before they enter school, they observe adults using money and buying things. They watch television daily and see thousands of commercials each year. Like it or not, money is a part of your preschooler’s life.”

The Credit Union National Association calls its program “Thrive by Five,” and it offers “parent and child tested” activities and resources on its website that are meant to give parents ideas for:

* Teaching how money works and what it can do,
* Talking about how your family uses money, and
* Modeling good money management.

In addition to providing tips for teaching preschoolers about money, CUNA’s website contains simple stories about money for preschoolers, a list of 17 things a five-year-old should know about money, and hands-on learning activities that teach concepts such as “saving should be a habit; once money is spent, it’s gone; people have to make choices with money; and don’t trust ads.”

This sounds like an excellent program. It is especially encouraging that our state currently has the highest per-capita rate in the nation of “Thrive by Five” program materials distributed to our schools. Come to think of it, if ”Thrive by Five” is successful for toddlers, why not offer a similar program to those government officials who often provide such poor examples for our youth by the routine way they indifferently exhaust public funds and concurrently chalk up crushing public debt?

Responsible money management is important for everyone, whether individuals, families, businesses, or governments. We are seeing credit card debt, bankruptcies, and mortgage foreclosures increasing out of hand. It would be a true blessing for us all if other civic and business organizations follow CUNA’s lead in assuring that people get an earlier start in learning how to handle money wisely. If this program proves to be effective in the long run, we’ll all benefit tremendously.