02-05-2012, 07:40 AM
Good to start young! But personal finance skills should start at home, not in school though.....
The Straits Times
May 2, 2012
Preschool kids learn how money works
3 friends start Kindernomics to teach four- to six-year-olds economics in bite-sized chunks
By Joyce Teo
PARENTS who struggle with economics and the basics of how money works will be able to turn to their children for help, thanks to a new business that mixes fun and finance for preschoolers.
Kindernomics, as the programme is called, was started about two months ago by three young, single and ambitious friends to help children make sense of the world around them by teaching them essential economic concepts in simple bite-sized chunks.
'We want to transform the preschool landscape and early childhood education. It's very important for kids to make independent choices,' said co-founder Chan Yun Cheong, 34, who has an MBA from Cornell University and has worked in London and New York.
At an office space in the Forum shopping mall on Orchard Road, four- to six-year-olds can attend weekly classes that cost $550 for a 10-lesson term, with each lesson lasting about 90 minutes with up to 12 children at a time.
There are also one-off camps at $280 each for four-year-olds to seven-year olds. At a recent camp, for instance, children learnt about natural resources, how important they are and how they can be conserved. The classes and camps have attracted about 70 children.
Kindernomics uses interactive e-books and has even designed its own automated teller machine for the children called the 'Kinderbank' to teach them about money.
Mr Chan said the Kinderbank 'illustrates to the kids that the ATM is not a free money machine'.
It is used to emphasise the practical experience of saving and the value of money, rather than the importance of money, he said.
Indeed, money is a very small part of their curriculum, the founders said.
'We teach financial literacy as well as the concept of the value of money and trade-offs,' said co-founder Janet Chia, 33, who has a master's in applied finance from the Singapore Management University and is a volunteer teacher at her church.
'A degree doesn't prepare you enough for life... We want to be a global city and a financial hub. For us to be able to be competitive, we need a host of life skills such as critical thinking and problem solving because more often than not, things do not happen our way.'
The third co-founder, Mr K.H. Yeo, 28, who graduated with first-class honours from Sydney's University of New South Wales and worked with the financial services company Boston Consulting Group, added: 'Understanding the world around you, and how things work together, is incredibly important. We want to incorporate practice-based learning into childhood education.'
The founders say that learning through hands-on experience - the children may get to bake in class, for example - has endeared the programme to the children and their parents.
Ms Paula Robinson said her four-year-old son Garrett went to Kindernomics' natural resources camp and learnt how to recycle paper. 'They tore up bits of newspapers and recycled them into new paper, which they turned into a party invitation, so that was cool,' she said.
'The earlier the kids learn about money, the more they will realise it is not an endless supply.
'We see so many people getting into financial difficulties at a younger and younger age, so it's very important to me to teach my children how to handle money.'
She said Kindernomics offers a 'supplementary programme, but it does cover some things that other schools don't, such as how to work within a budget and how to handle money. Some schools might just focus on that briefly'.
'I think if kids were concentrating more on this in school, it wouldn't matter if they came from a rich or poor background, they would be able to work within their budget and become more successful in life,' she added.
The Kindernomics trio were reticent about how much they invested in the business. They admitted to digging deeper into their savings, as the initial budget for their start-up costs proved inadequate. Despite this, the founders are keen to expand in the region, saying an education player from India has already expressed interest.
joyceteo@sph.com.sg
The Straits Times
May 2, 2012
Preschool kids learn how money works
3 friends start Kindernomics to teach four- to six-year-olds economics in bite-sized chunks
By Joyce Teo
PARENTS who struggle with economics and the basics of how money works will be able to turn to their children for help, thanks to a new business that mixes fun and finance for preschoolers.
Kindernomics, as the programme is called, was started about two months ago by three young, single and ambitious friends to help children make sense of the world around them by teaching them essential economic concepts in simple bite-sized chunks.
'We want to transform the preschool landscape and early childhood education. It's very important for kids to make independent choices,' said co-founder Chan Yun Cheong, 34, who has an MBA from Cornell University and has worked in London and New York.
At an office space in the Forum shopping mall on Orchard Road, four- to six-year-olds can attend weekly classes that cost $550 for a 10-lesson term, with each lesson lasting about 90 minutes with up to 12 children at a time.
There are also one-off camps at $280 each for four-year-olds to seven-year olds. At a recent camp, for instance, children learnt about natural resources, how important they are and how they can be conserved. The classes and camps have attracted about 70 children.
Kindernomics uses interactive e-books and has even designed its own automated teller machine for the children called the 'Kinderbank' to teach them about money.
Mr Chan said the Kinderbank 'illustrates to the kids that the ATM is not a free money machine'.
It is used to emphasise the practical experience of saving and the value of money, rather than the importance of money, he said.
Indeed, money is a very small part of their curriculum, the founders said.
'We teach financial literacy as well as the concept of the value of money and trade-offs,' said co-founder Janet Chia, 33, who has a master's in applied finance from the Singapore Management University and is a volunteer teacher at her church.
'A degree doesn't prepare you enough for life... We want to be a global city and a financial hub. For us to be able to be competitive, we need a host of life skills such as critical thinking and problem solving because more often than not, things do not happen our way.'
The third co-founder, Mr K.H. Yeo, 28, who graduated with first-class honours from Sydney's University of New South Wales and worked with the financial services company Boston Consulting Group, added: 'Understanding the world around you, and how things work together, is incredibly important. We want to incorporate practice-based learning into childhood education.'
The founders say that learning through hands-on experience - the children may get to bake in class, for example - has endeared the programme to the children and their parents.
Ms Paula Robinson said her four-year-old son Garrett went to Kindernomics' natural resources camp and learnt how to recycle paper. 'They tore up bits of newspapers and recycled them into new paper, which they turned into a party invitation, so that was cool,' she said.
'The earlier the kids learn about money, the more they will realise it is not an endless supply.
'We see so many people getting into financial difficulties at a younger and younger age, so it's very important to me to teach my children how to handle money.'
She said Kindernomics offers a 'supplementary programme, but it does cover some things that other schools don't, such as how to work within a budget and how to handle money. Some schools might just focus on that briefly'.
'I think if kids were concentrating more on this in school, it wouldn't matter if they came from a rich or poor background, they would be able to work within their budget and become more successful in life,' she added.
The Kindernomics trio were reticent about how much they invested in the business. They admitted to digging deeper into their savings, as the initial budget for their start-up costs proved inadequate. Despite this, the founders are keen to expand in the region, saying an education player from India has already expressed interest.
joyceteo@sph.com.sg
kindernomics are we going to stress out our kids or not it's so ridiculous they are just kids but already they have so many things to learn. 
