I wear several hats: I am the president of Net Learning Solutions Inc, I am a husband, a dad, a son, a brother, and a junior high school teacher. At the school that I work at we have had a large number of students absent with flu-like symptoms. The absentee rate was close to 25% – this has an impact on teaching. It impacts those that teach only to the curriculum; those teachers will be in panic mode for the entire year, because they won’t be able to cover all of the required course material. Those of us who prefer to teach the child will have an easier time of it – yes the curriculum has to be covered, but I prefer to teach my students how to think; rather than memorize and regurgitate back what they have “learned”.

What does this have to do with financial literacy? Financial literacy is not about memorizing key concepts and doing math problems. Financial literacy is about using your brain and understanding how one’s actions has an impact on one’s personal situation. Financial literacy is about understanding how money works and encouraging behaviors that will keep money in your jeans. Simply put, financial literacy is learned by doing and reflecting on the consequences. So parents, financial literacy is not rocket science – it’s all about talking to your kids and imparting values that will help them to use money wisely.

My two cents worth,

The Money Professor

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