[Vitor]

As you know, this has become a necessity of life, the world is changing rapidly and we don’t know what will happen in the future!

[Jiajie]

Pay them for good grades.
A is $20 and B is $10.
But hit em with taxes.

[Jeffrey]

At that age, I am not sure a book would impart much. It is more important for parents to instill and reinforce good money habits like providing a physical bank for the child to use, taking him or her to an actual bank so he or she can later model your actions, and maybe requiring that 50% of their allowance be saved or invested.

If you have the money, I would open up brokerage account and fund it with an S&P 500 mutual fund so the child can watch it go up and sometimes down thereby developing comfort with market dynamics over the years as well as profit from the extra years compound growth.

You can check also: I’d like to force a “book club” on my teens this summer

[Steven]

Not sure about 4th grade, but this is a great teaching tool for little ones.

[Jonathan]

When I was in 5th grade, I participated in a stock market game challenge at my (public) school. We had someone come in and teach us about investments, but it’s nothing that couldn’t easily be replicated by a parent especially with resources now. The competition was great; it got me watching CNBC tickers as a kid after school and reading the quotes in newspaper the next morning.

The sad part. this was back in 1991, and my top holding in that stock market game was. Microsoft. Had I actually put in even a few hundred dollars then, would be FIRE long ago.

[Marilyn]

I taught 4th grade and we would watch brain pop videos and they were really into it. They are not free though, so I would search YouTube for kid friendly videos like Two Cents.

[Laura]

It’s not exactly a financial book, but When our son was in 1st/2nd grade we read the whole Little Britches series as a family. It had a lot of good financial lessons and is an interesting read about ups and downs in business and in life.

We read it as a family because it was above his reading level at the time and because there were a lot of references to things he wouldn’t have understood then. But possibly as a 4th grader they might understand.

[Kelly]

I have a 10 & 12yr old (just finished 4th & 6th grade). We haven’t talked a lot with them about investing, or read any kids books on the topic… but we talk about money a lot as a lifestyle (during dinner, in the car, etc).

They have an allowance, but in turn, they are expected to do specific chores (including wash/dry/fold all their laundry, alternate cleaning the bathroom and changing sheets, etc.). If they don’t do the chores, or submit their chore chart, their allowance/pay is docked, and they get less. They get relatively immediate feedback – yearly grades doesn’t give this feedback, and kids can work hard and not get perfect grades, I feel like life skills are a better place than grades to put importance.

They are expected to pay for anything they want (or break & need to replace). They are expected to save up for immediate family birthdays, and they have a video game they pay for monthly (their only bill). When I take them to the store and they want something, they know they have to pay for it… we talk about how much money they have, how much they want to spend, what value they will get out of the item etc. They used to spend a lot more, but now, 90% of the time, they choose to save. They are figuring out what they value, what is important to them to spend money on, and when to save. AND learning all the ‘adulting’ things in the process.

They learn about taxes every year at Halloween. My husband made a tax form that they have to file. lol. After we collected taxes, I made candy bars into cookies and gave them to neighbors, we also gave some candy to grandparents (social security tax. lol).

Good luck. every family is different. I hope you find what works for you.

[Kelly]

I _wish_ I could tell you what it was, but when I was in 4th grade we read in class a book about a village on an island where the inhabitants started out only trading goods, and slowly developed the need for credits and tokens, and eventually money. It was great, and formed the basis for everything I learned later about money. I would love it if someone here knew what that book was, and could tell you & me!!!

[Author]

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