Giving an Allowance and Chores - A Newsletter for Parents of Fifth Grade Children
Topics: Preteen Years (9-13), Fifth Grade, Allowance, Parenting, Communicating with Children, more...
What Do You Think?Jake and his family are eating supper when Jake says, "I used this week's allowance to buy baseball cards. But I already had most of them so now I don't have any new cards and no money to go to the movie tomorrow night. Can you give me some more money?"(See end of newsletter for a possible answer.) |
The topic of allowances is an on-going debate. Some parents believe in paying their children for work they do. Other parents think children are entitled to a share of the family income. Whichever approach you take, an allowance is one way for children to get money. An allowance introduces a child to:
- the idea of a fixed income
- having to make choices
- living with the consequences
Giving an Allowance
When deciding on the amount of allowance for your child, you will need to consider the child's age, maturity level, responsibilities, and the family's financial situation. Certainly you will want to talk to your child about:
- what expenses the allowance covers
- how much the allowance will be
- how often the allowance will be paid
- how often the allowance can be reviewed
- how to handle expensive purchases
- when an allowance might be discontinued
Tying to Chores
It is tempting to use an allowance as a means to get your child to help out around the house. This is probably not a good idea and can teach the wrong lesson. Remember, a child gets an allowance to learn how to handle money. Ideally the allowance is large enough to cover some basic needs, includes some extra for saving and spending, and is small enough to require choices. A child helps out around the house because he or she is a member of the family. A child can be expected to do chores consistent with age and abilities. By keeping allowances and chores separate, your child is learning people have some responsibilities to fulfill without being paid.
Doing a Word Scramble
Unscramble these words (all are on page one), which have to do with allowances.
| 1. g i n v a s | ________________________________________________________________________ |
| 2. h e c s o r | ________________________________________________________________________ |
| 3. i s e i n o r e b i s l p t s i | ________________________________________________________________________ |
| 4. e o n i c m | ________________________________________________________________________ |
| 5. g a e | ________________________________________________________________________ |
| 6. c o s e c h i | ________________________________________________________________________ |
| 7. l a l e o c n a w | ________________________________________________________________________ |
| 8. p n g e d s i n | ________________________________________________________________________ |
| 9. q e n c e n s o u s e c | ________________________________________________________________________ |
| 10. s x e n s p e e | ________________________________________________________________________ |
Answers: 1 - saving; 2 - chores; 3 - responsibilities; 4 - income; 5 - age; 6 - choices; 7 - allowance; 8 - spending; 9 - consequences; 10 - expenses
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Reprinted with the permission of the Iowa State University Extension. © 2008 Iowa State University Extension.
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