FREE HOMESCHOOLING RESOURCE!!! Chore Bucks vs. Merit Bucks

The other day, my daughter came up behind me while I was cleaning out my purse and saw some spare change hiding at the bottom. "I need money!" she proclaimed loudly in her toddler voice! "For what?" I said, half proud that she recognized money has value, and half scared that she wanted it. "You don't just get money," I told her. "You have to earn it. Money isn't free!" I looked around our living room and got an idea. "We have ten minutes before we leave for Grandma's house. If you use these ten minutes and pick up all of your toys, I will give you some money." Her eyes lit up bright and soon both my son and daughter were scurrying around the living room, picking up toys and throwing them as fast as they could into the designated bins. At the end of the ten minutes, about half the toys were put away. I reached into my purse and pulled out two nickles. I put the nickel into my daughter's hands and said sternly, "Here is your nickle. It is worth five pennies. Do NOT put it in your mouth, money is dirty and I don't want you to choke on it!"

Two memories instantly flooded into my head moments after giving my young son and daughter their wages. The first memory was that of being a new mom, sorting laundry on the bed with my then-six-month-old daughter at my side. As I sorted through the clothes, I heard her begin to gag. Instantly, my mommyness kicked into full swing, and I picked her up and slapped her on the back. A nickel flew out of her mouth, across the bed, and onto the floor. A coin must have fallen out of a pocket and wound up in my daughter's hands! She was fine, but it gave me a good scare. The next memory that infiltrated my thoughts was that of being in kindergarten and attending a small private church-owned school. The teacher handed each of us students a "booklet" she had made by stapling several business card-sized slips of paper together. Each slip had a Xeroxed smiley face and the words "Merit Bucks" on it. Each time one of us did something noteworthy, we presented our booklet to the teacher so she could initial one of the bucks for us. We were encouraged to write our names on the back and keep them safe in our desks, because once a month those little pieces of paper became quite coveted. On the last Friday of each month, our teacher Mrs. Hemminger would take us into the adjoining room where she would set up our class "Merit Store." The tables were set up with baskets overflowing with trinkets, toys, pencils and erasers, and other items of great worth to young children. Each item had a price, and the best items cost the most! We got the choice each month to save up our merit bucks and earn the most prized items, or blow them all on the smaller, less valuable items.

Using a system of "merit bucks" or "chore bucks" as a form of currency is a good way to teach kids the value of money, and the benefits of saving it up for something bigger. If you follow the model my teacher Mrs. Hemminger set up, it also allows kids to make the choice to spend now, or save for something better (delayed gratification anyone?). I plan to implement this model with my kids when they get a bit older. My idea is to give them the responsibility to keep each merit buck (or chore buck) they earn safe, and at the end of the week or month, they will have the opportunity to spend their bucks on cool prizes! All of this, without the risk of losing or choking on real money. Whether your kids earn merit bucks for displaying good character or chore bucks for doing chores (or some combination of the two) is all up to you! I've created several different "kinder-currencies" for you to choose from.

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