Our two kids have taken an interest in money lately. Not so much the big dollars but they have spent time categorizing different coin denominations and moving their piggy bank stash from one container to another. The different values of the penny, nickel, dime, quarter, loonie and toonie are lost on our 3.5 year old but our 5.5 year old is starting to do the math.

The concept on needing a specific amount of money to buy an item she wants is starting to take seed. She announced loudly in the car (with her collection of coins in a sandwich bag) that she was rich! We asked her what ‘rich’ means and she quickly responded that it means that you have lots of money. We didn’t correct her at that point but have started to introduce the more nebulous concept of values and worth to tie in the different meanings of the word rich.

She also raised the question on an allowance. We’ve embarked on that conversation/negotiation and it is underway! The journey will follow in the next post.