Financial education worksheets for children – what they are and how you can use them -

I recently launched a wonderful set of financial education worksheets for children, and parents have been asking me what they are and how they can be used. In this article, I explain why I created this material, what they are and how you can use them to provide financial education to your child.

The main reason I created this material is because financial education is not taught in schools. Financial education has begun to be implemented in schools, but until we know who will teach the children, it is recommended that we do everything we can at home. I say this because it is necessary for this education to be done by teachers who are trained in the financial area and understand, not only at a theoretical level, but especially practically how to apply these financial concepts. Because, most of the time, theory is taught in school, without the applicability part.

As a primary and preschool teacher, with 6 years of experience working with preschool children, I felt it was my duty to create materials for children’s financial education at home. I have had good results in this field, including publications in international conferences on the theory and practice of concepts transmitted in school for life, but I am also a certified financial planner and consultant (so I have been applying the theory in my life for more than 12 years, even before I became a professional in the field).

Until the state system is finalized to teach financial education to children not only with theorists, I am providing you with these financial education sheets for children. I cannot multiply, to be with you except through physical materials or courses (I am still working on the course, it will be ready soon!).

Financial education worksheets for children – what are they?

Worksheets are tasks that you can do with your child to be able to convey to them – in a visual way, so that they can learn more – a financial concept.
I have also created a short guide for you within these materials, to make it clearer for you how a child learns depending on their age and the psychological levels involved in learning. You also have worksheets that present the main financial concept of each lesson in a way that is understandable to the child and you even have a short story or poem that illustrates the financial concept. The worksheets – with tasks through which the child practices understanding the concept and consolidates it in his system of knowledge and behaviors – together with the worksheets at the end of each chapter, help you to provide financial education to your child at home.

Worksheets are loved by children. They represent a pedagogical means of learning in the educational institution.

However, financial education worksheets for children are only, as I have stated, a means of learning. Your presence is needed – the adult, to explain the concept conveyed through the cards with other examples, to support them in learning, and also to provide them with other learning contexts in addition to these cards. If we are talking about money or needs and desires, for example, we can double this information through a game: “Going to the store” and even in reality when we go to the store. (You can find more about the games we can play in the book: ”Mentality and actions in the financial education of the child – Guide for parents” which you can download from here: https://www.e-learning.psihologiabanilor.ro/product/mentalitate-si-actiuni-in-educatia-financiara-a-copilului-ghid-pentru-parinti/ )

Worksheets – how can you use them?

As we stated above, they are a means by which you can convey information to your child. Being color sheets, with images that reveal what is stated, the child “catches” or understands more if he sees what you are telling him. The more colorful and real the object depicted in the image is, the more the information is sedimented in his knowledge system.

The images used meet all the criteria of the child’s psychological development – those levels that help/support learning. The images chosen are not just for the sake of being, but involve all the learning requirements depending on the child’s age: as accurate as possible, without insignificant details for that concept, using real colors of the object presented, large enough so that the illustrated object can be recognized, and so on.

You can use financial education worksheets for children to help your little one demonstrate learning that concept, initially practicing by completing the assigned tasks, but also to evaluate the information learned. It is necessary to be with him and explain, even demonstrate the completion of the tasks. It is also recommended to bring him, if necessary, new information or new contexts for learning, respectively for transposing that concept into reality. Once you are with your child, you spend quality time with him and your emotional relationship is strengthened, so congratulate him when he completes the task, hug him and acknowledge that you are with him in his growth and development, but also show him that if he makes a mistake you are there for him, to correct him for his good.

Of course, these worksheets are not the only way to provide financial education to your child. In fact, they are just a part, one of the materials and ways in which you can raise a financially educated child. If financial education is taught at school/kindergarten, enroll your child, because that person has (or should have) more information than you about this field, has pedagogical tact, but never, no financial education teacher can replace your relationship with your child and can not streamline the way your child learns financial education. Also, you cannot teach a child something at school and expect it to last over the years, when learning is not continued at home, when it is not practiced.