Children begin school quite early nowadays. Preschool starts quite possibly as soon as the age of two, then begins kindergarten at age five or six. While homeschooling does exist in the U.S., it is the norm for children to be taught by persons other than their parents. This includes education in reading, writing and arithmetic, certainly, but it also includes extra curricular activities, such as piano lessons and soccer. Nationwide, children are often taught by persons hired to do so.

With much time spent away from home being taught by other persons, it brings to mind the question, just what exactly do parents teach their children? With the teaching responsibility largely placed on others, what is left for the parent to do?

While these questions could be answered with any number of things, specifically I'm aiming at the topic of teaching our children about money. Though the topic may sound uninteresting, it actually is of high relevance when considering our consumeristic culture and the obvious lack from young individuals on how to manage finances.

Given the current situation, I am going to suggest that children be taught three things regarding income. These things were not invented by me. I learned them from someone else. Nonetheless, what I am going to share is practical, beneficial, and universal (it can be implemented by all persons to greater or lesser degrees).

Thus, here we begin. It is advantageous that children learn three words regarding cents and dollars, pounds and euros--learning and practicing: Give, Save, and Spend. These three words are simple to remember, are catchy when said, and thus, can easily be memorized.

While the word, give, may seem an unnecessary thing to teach, it is perhaps the hardest of the three words to implement and practice, particularly when it's so easy to spend . . . on one's self. Though an entire article could be written on the importance of giving, I trust you can put two and two together on the value of teaching children to give, of teaching them to think . . . of others.

Like giving, saving is another thing that we do with money. Again, I do not need to spell out the importance of teaching children to save . . . . And the final thing: Spending--the third thing we do with money. Everyone spends. We spend on utilities, college, cars, homes and haircuts. Everyone spends. However, perhaps what a child most needs here is to be taught how to WISELY spend, to know the difference between needs and wants and to be able to fathom the cost of living.

Children begin learning subjects at an early age. Their teachers instruct them in a number of subjects. Parents, though not hired to do so, are also teachers. Though they may teach their children any number of things, in this article we are zeroing in on cash. Give, Save, Spend. Three simple words, easy to remember--three things that we do with money. There is value in teaching children to give. There is value in teaching children to save, and there is value in teaching children HOW to spend . . . lest they grow up being consumed by consumerism.