Counting change - Revisited

Canada has nickels, dimes and quarters.  Loonies and toonies too but that's a discussion for another time  LOL

I didn't realize counting change and telling time on an analog clock weren't covered in depth in public school anymore. We're homeschooling, and we cover those things. My daughter just finished 1st grade and she can tell time to the minute now, on an analog clock. She struggled with that concept until she learned to count by 5s, and then it came much more easily. We haven't covered things like "quarter till" or "quarter after" yet. She knows all of her coins, but struggles to count quarters up to a dollar. It will just take some practice/time.

We started both time (to the hour and half hours only) and change (pennies and nickels) in Kindergarten, and moved on to the rest this past school year. It has felt age appropriate so far, the pacing in our curriculum.

I vaguely remember when we first got rid of one and two cent coins, I was led to believe that shops would not be allowed to price items like $3.99. But shop owners still did. These days places like Target and K-Mart etc, price most of their goods at an even dollar value, so $2 or $10 or $46 . It's uncommon to see anything priced with cents in those shops, unless it is on sale or very small items. Other shops still price things like $19.95. And our GST (sales tax) is included in the price, so we don't have to pay $7 plus tax. 

Oh, and they weren't called pennies here, which is odd given how much Australians like to make up words or shorten words and chuck a 'y' or 'ie' on the end!    

I think it's just a societal/generational difference. And I see nothing wrong with that. I admit I'm lacking too in technology in some ways. My daughter has asked me twice now if she can Venmo me money. I have no idea how it works. I need to go and look it up so I can figure out if that's a reasonable way to do things. She hates going to the ATM and pulling out cash for me.

I was looking for a kitchen timer for the longest time. I did not want a digital one because I didn't want to have a hard time just washing it. I wanted just one of those old fashioned circular crank ones. It took me and Jeremy forever to find one. I also would prefer a non digital meat thermometer. But I haven't been able to find one. So I have a digital one and I have to carefully hand wash it.

I think we all have struggles with things whether they be manual or technological based on our age/generation.

I once ordered 12" sandwich at Subway. The girl looked at me very confused and said they only had 6" and foot long. So I said, OK - make it a foot long

THIS! I worked a lot of concession stands during my kids sports careers and the amount of kids that would bring a $20 to pay for a .50 item, and then come back later with another $20 for the same .50 candy blew my mind! I couldn't decide if they were working the game with the parent and keeping the change, or if they just had a pocketful of cash. I often had to yell at them to come back for their change. They'd hand me the $20 and just walk off when I handed them the candy.

This needs to happen more! I started my kids very young with ordering their own food at fast food places, and understanding how to pay for it and get the right change back. It helps them interact with adults and people in general too. I really think we are starting to raise kids that are terrified of the world and just can't interact anymore.
One of the 'games' we played when they were young was "Grocery Store" .. I put real money/change in a toy cash register and they would use it to make change.

I see so many posts on Facebook about how the schools need to teach kids life skills like banking, money management, taxes how to vote, etc.. .. I'm sitting there thinking what are parents supposed to be teaching kids also!

We started paying our kids quite young for work on the farm. Not huge amounts when they were super young, but enough that we could teach them money management skills. They went to the bank and deposited their money, balanced their books and talked to the banker. Maybe it is the small town aspect, but the bank was always willing to work with the kids and show them how to deal with banking matters. They were more than happy to do this.

They also started having to file taxes fairly young. I know that it's not possible for every kid to be able to work and need to file taxes, but the parents should at least clue them in one what they are doing every year.

Our school did have a "Life Skills" class. It was a pretty easy class, but they did show kids how to at least make a meal, some basic accounting, and some auto skills like checking oil, changing a tire etc. My kids never took the class, because that was part of everyday life for them.

Kids also need to be taught (either at home or at school) what all these MLM business do, so they can NOT get lured in to these cockamamie schemes. They think they are getting an actual job or starting their own business and loosing so much money and even ruining their credit.

I’m horrible with counting back change lol but do know basic change. My nephew during 2nd grade barely did coins lessons. In third he did do some worksheets with clocks but then again this was during covid so who knows. It’s sad the stuff they have to teach for the state testing.

This year he did no science only social studies and learning about his home state. It’s hard to cover everything but you would think learning about money would be one of the most important lessons along with reading and grammar. Idk makes me want to do my own lesson with him lol!

jeremysgirl my adult kids still have their "kid/teen" accounts active for just that reason. We can easily transfer money back and forth between the 3 of us as I was the "adult in charge" of those accounts. So if they pick something up for me, I transfer $ there (no delays/no fées) and they can then get it at will. And the reverse, if I pick up something for them at their request, they put $ there and tell me to take it. Works for us. Or works between the two of them, too. (all accounts, same online bank)