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To Truly Understand The Cost Of Something, Learn How To Measure It
Kids do not understand the true value of money. To be honest, most adults don’t understand it well either. Society has dictated that we use a form of currency (dollar bills y’all) to exchange effort for value that we in turn give to someone else for something that we deem as an equivalent value.
Here is a quick exercise to try sometime. Try and explain to a child what the real value of money actually is.
Yes, it is simple to explain that we give a $20 to the nice cashier and they allow us to take the shiny new toy home. Yet, to a 5 year old, the concept of money as a unit of value does not compute. They have no ability to understand what is involved in trading money for goods and services. They have no concept to differentiate between a quarter and a $100 bill.
Even with this lack of understanding we start teaching children the value of time at an early age. If you spend 20 minutes cleaning your room I will buy you that toy. The exchange of time for something of value is a lesson that we all start learning early in life. Hopefully, it is a lesson taught around small chores and activities and not needing to spend…
