Lesson 1: Kindergarteners And Money
The average kindergartener learns eagerly and quickly to listen and respond to rhymes and stories; s/he recognizes numbers and explores counting skills to 100. Additionally, s/he is beginning to understand the process of estimating and predicting sequences using hands-on manipulative objects such as blocks. Most importantly, a kindergarten-aged child engages in the “scientific” process of observing, investigating, predicting and experimenting within her/his environment. This is therefore a great age to begin teaching children about money skills!
A brief history of money
Money, in one form or another, has been around ever since people began trading relations. Some items that were used as money were seashells, sheep, beads, or gold nuggets. Additionally, in the past people often used the items they produced as payment for things they needed; this process was referred to as “bartering“.
For example, a farmer who grew corn would go into town to buy bread. Yet, instead of giving the baker any coins, the farmer would trade some of his corn for bread. Thus, the farmer then received the bread he needed for his family, and the baker received the corn he needed to make cornbread. If that same farmer needed shoes, he might take his corn to the shoemaker’s shop and trade it for a pair of new shoes. Conversely, if the shoemaker needed corn, he might visit the farmer and trade him a pair of shoes for some corn.
The flaw in this system was found in the fact that eventually the shoemaker had more corn than he really needed, or the farmer needed no more shoes. So, if the farmer wanted another pair of shoes, but the shoemaker refused to accept his corn, then the farmer would have to either find something else to trade for the shoes, or he would have to do without the shoes altogether. It was at that time that the need for a trading system that anyone would accept at any time was realized. The name of this trading system is “money”.
On April 2, 1792, Congress passed the “Mint Act”. This established the coinage system of the United States, and the dollar as the official U.S. currency. On July 17th, 1861, the Treasury Department printed and circulated the first pieces of paper money, which were nicknamed, “Greenbacks.” (1)
You and your child might have a great time visiting the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco's American Currency Exhibit online. It offers a variety of fun facts about money, as well as pictures in an easy to follow slide-show.
