Saturday, May 2, 2026

Teaching Kids Financial Responsibility in a Tap-to-Pay World: Why Parents Need Modern Money Tools

Why Old Allowance Lessons Aren’t Enough

Kids do not only use cash anymore.

They see:

  • Apple Pay

  • online spending

  • subscriptions

  • digital wallets

  • game purchases

Parents need visibility and structure.

Financial Literacy Must Become Practice, Not a Lecture

Kids learn faster when they can:

  • earn

  • save

  • set goals

  • make monitored spending decisions

Introducing entrepreneurship at an early age helps students build confidence, independence, and stronger money habits. Techconnextions teaches kids how to manage money in fun, hands-on ways that turn financial lessons into everyday life skills.

Family Tools Making This Easier

Platforms such as Greenlight are helping parents connect chores, allowance, monitored debit spending, savings goals, and financial conversations in one place.

Techconnextions: Where Financial Literacy Becomes Real-World Practice

Money Math Modules Interactive, age-appropriate financial literacy lessons that teach students practical money management skills through real-life budgeting, pricing, saving, profit calculation, smart spending, and goal-setting activities.

Business Simulation Hands-on digital and classroom-based simulations where students operate a mock business, make pricing and marketing decisions, manage expenses, respond to customer demand, and track profits. This experience helps students understand entrepreneurship, problem-solving, and the consequences of financial choices in a fun, realistic environment.

Entrepreneur Challenges Creative project-based challenges designed to encourage students to think like young business owners by developing product ideas, creating advertisements, solving customer problems, planning startup costs, and pitching solutions.

Family Printable Resources Take-home financial literacy and entrepreneurship activities created to help parents extend learning beyond the classroom. These printable guides include savings trackers, allowance planners, budgeting sheets, chore-to-earn charts, goal-setting tools, and family money discussion prompts that encourage consistent financial conversations at home.


Parents who combine hands-on learning with practical money tools create stronger financial confidence at home.

Thursday, April 23, 2026

🚀 Tips to Help Kids (Ages 8–13) Learn Business & Money Skills

Teaching money doesn’t have to feel like school—it should feel like fun, real-life learning.


🎨 1. Use Creative Activities (Best for This Age)

Kids learn best by doing—not just listening.

Try:

  • Coloring activity packs

  • Printable worksheets

  • “Create your own business” challenges

👉 These make learning feel like play.


💬 2. Talk About Money in Everyday Life

Instead of avoiding money conversations:

  • Explain simple decisions

  • Let kids ask questions

  • Involve them in small choices


🏪 3. Encourage Small Business Thinking

Let kids explore simple ideas like:

  • Selling snacks or crafts

  • Offering small services (helping neighbors, etc.)

  • Creating something unique

This builds:

  • Confidence

  • Creativity

  • Problem-solving skills


🧠 4. Keep It Simple (Don’t Overcomplicate)

You don’t need complicated lessons.

Focus on:

  • Simple examples

  • Real-life situations

  • Short, engaging activities


🏆 5. Make It Consistent (Small Steps Matter)

Even 10–15 minutes a few times a week can make a huge difference.

Consistency builds habits—and habits build confidence.


Free Resource!

If you’re looking for an easy way to get started…

👉 Try our Young Entrepreneur Coloring Activity Pack

It’s designed to help kids:

  • Learn money basics

  • Explore business ideas

  • Build confidence through fun, creative activities

Perfect for ages 8–13.


💡 Final Thoughts

Teaching kids about money early is one of the most valuable life skills you can give them.

By focusing on:

  • Saving vs. spending

  • Earning & profit

  • Smart decision-making

You’re helping them build a strong foundation for the future.


🚀 Ready to Go Further?

Explore programs that help kids:

  • Build real business ideas

  • Learn money skills

  • Think like young entrepreneurs

Great for summer learning at home!
You can grab it here 👉 techconnextions.com

Tuesday, April 21, 2026

💡 3 Money Skills Every Kid Should Learn Before 13

In today’s world, kids are surrounded by money decisions—spending, saving, and even earning—yet many never learn how money really works. The truth is: The earlier kids learn money skills, the more confident and prepared they become. If your child is between 8–13 years old, this is the perfect time to introduce simple, real-world financial concepts in a fun and engaging way. Let’s break down the 3 most important money skills every kid should learn before 13—and how you can start teaching them today. 

 💰 1. The Difference Between Saving and Spending Most kids naturally want to spend money—but learning when to save is a powerful lifelong skill. What Kids Should Learn: 
  • Money is limited (once it’s gone, it’s gone) 
  • Saving helps you reach bigger goals 
  • Smart choices matter 
Simple Activity: Give your child: $5–$10 Ask them to split it into: Spend 💸 Save 💰 Give ❤️ This helps them visually understand how money is managed. 

 🧮 2. Basic Profit & Earning Concepts Kids should understand that money isn’t just given—it’s earned. What Kids Should Learn: Profit = money left after costs You can earn money by solving problems 
Simple business ideas (lemonade stand, selling crafts, etc.) 

Simple Activity: Ask: “If you sell something for $5 but it costs $2 to make, how much do you keep?” This introduces profit thinking early. 

 🛍️ 3. Smart Spending Decisions Not all spending is equal—kids need to learn how to make choices. What Kids Should Learn: 
  • Needs vs. Wants 
  • Comparing prices 
  • Thinking before buying 

Simple Activity: Next time you're shopping, ask: “Do we need this or want this?” “Is there a better price?” This builds decision-making skills.

Inspire your child to think like an entrepreneur! This printable coloring + activity pack helps kids explore business ideas, creativity, and money basics.
✨ Perfect for beginners ages 8–13
👉 Get it here

Monday, May 4, 2020

Cool Tool! Poppin' Presentations with Genial.ly

Haven’t yet tried this cool tool, but today I learned about Genially through my #Edmodo community. Genially is a presentation tool that can be used  to create interactive content...Here's a quick tutorial that gives a brief overview of how it works; another great alternative for students to use to make their presentations pop!

Sunday, March 29, 2020

Exciting News from Audible.com... Free Audio Book Titles!


Story time? Free online books!

At stories.audible.com, you will find hundreds of titles available completely free. The collection has been handpicked by editors and is a mix of stories to reach young people, ages 0–18.

These stories offer a screen-free option that will hopefully break the monotony of home school time.

There are selections for listeners in English, Spanish, German, French, Japanese and Italian.

To access the free titles, just visit stories.audible.com/discovery from any web browser from your laptop, desktop or phone. The experience is completely free – no log-ins, credit cards, or passwords required. Just click, stream and listen!

Saturday, August 3, 2019

Create a Mobile App without Code

Richard Burns' Free Technology 4 Teachers is one of my favorite Ed Techies who consistently shares great educational tools and tips. Today, I came across his tip on how to use Glide to create a mobile app without code. Glide is a cool new tool that allows anyone who can make a spreadsheet to design a mobile app. There are also pre-designed apps and templates that you can start with on  the teacher list of apps that has been made available through supportREALteachers.org.  Check out Richard's blog post and video how-to here!

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

#Draggo...My New Favorite Bookmarking Tool

#Draggo has recently become my favorite bookmarking tool. Since learning about it at #TCEA14, I've used it everyday...I especially like that you can 'chunk' groups of websites, which comes in really handy with my lessons in Edmodo. Here's my Draggo collection of Edtech resources so far... for more detailed instructions check out LEARN - LEAD - GROW : #Draggo: A Social Bookmarking Alternative for an excellent overview!

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Reflector: Display Your iPad on Your Computer...

In total agreement with giving sympathetic nods due to absence, so I thought this one would be a good way for me to jump back into sharing mode...
Deep South Ed Tech: Reflector: Display Your iPad on Your Computer Unet...: Please pardon my absence - iPads happened. (I'm hoping for sympathetic nods here.) Speaking of iPads, let's talk about a program c...

Friday, September 28, 2012

BlendKit Course-Week 1

This was the kick-off week for participating in my first MOOC course and this week's topic was Understanding Blended Learning. As I continue my studies in instructional design for online learning, this activity has reinforced my understanding that blended learning is another way of allowing instructors and designers to look for creative ways to engage learners and use a variety of media to address specific needs of students. It also helped me to remember that according to Carmen (2002), some of the key ingredients to creating blended learning include: live events, self-paced learning, collaboration, assessment, and support materials all of which have been presented in this week's learning. While most online designs favor a systems approach, due to its consistency and ease of support, blended learning allows for a "move toward a networked model or, less emphasis on presenting information and more emphasis on building the ability to navigate the information, which equals connectivism," a theory touted by George Siemens (2002). For this week's learning activities I created a course blueprint and mixmap to lay the foundation for creating a blended learning course. Let me know your thoughts!


Carman, J.M. (October, 2002). Blended learning design: five key elements. Agilant Learning. Retrieved June 26, 2011 fromhttp://www.agilantlearning.com/pdf/Blended%20Learning%20Design.pdf
Siemens, G. (2002, September 30, 2002). Instructional Design in Elearning. Retrieved June 26, 2011 from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/InstructionalDesign.htm

Monday, March 19, 2012

Math + Technology = Cool Construct!


One of my seventh grade students used Paint.net to create this digitally-drawn construct after learning how to arrange geometrical shapes using compasses in Pre-algebra class. Great example of creativity and innovation!

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Technology ---Just Do It!

This post is primarily a note to self. I come across numerous great ideas daily, and I read, try and use some (not all) of them as much as I can find a way, but I fail to share these great ideas--so I am going to try this again, starting today. One tool that I have really grown to love is Edmodo. I started using it with my students at the beginning of this year, and gradually began using as my own PLN more and more. Edmodo is a free online collaboration site that is specifically designed for education-the kids love it, and so do I. OK, even though I have much more to say on Edmodo, that's my post for today--I did it!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Web 2.0 Explained

For teachers who are new to using "Tech Tools" check out this video which gives a fairly simplified explanation of Web 2.0



For more resources check out Discovery Education's website

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Free E-Books:Technology Tidbits

After reading Shelly Terrell's blog post on Free E-books and resources for your summer reading I was delighted to see how David Kapuler highlighted some of my favorite tech ed resources in a series of free e-books. In a collection of six volumes he has included a wealth of resources, many of which I had not heard of before. One in particular includes the host site, BookRix which allows users to read and create their own "digital" books for free!


Monday, January 25, 2010

Google Teacher Academy

Well, its done! I officially submitted my application for this year's Google Teacher Academy.
The theme for this year's Academy is "Innovative Education Leadership in the Age of Google." The academy will select 50 participants from a pool of applicants. I got my idea for the video mainly from David Wiley's What does open education look like?, thanks to a post from @ShawnRoner.

The trend of openness is growing rapidly and I definitely think it's time that we as educational leaders be informed enough to hop on board, and I'm sure Google will help lead the way!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Video on Teachers Using Facebook

This vid is a bit outdated, especially with the recent changes in Facebook privacy settings, but it gives teachers a good general overview of the possibility of its uses in the classroom:

Facebook for Educators from Inigral Inc. on Vimeo.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Creating your own YouTube Channel

For teachers who have not yet journeyed into the vast world of YouTube, but have a Google account (Gmail) you can create a YouTube account using your Google login. (I think this is supposed to simplify the process since YouTube is owned by Google however, I think for some it just confuses the process.) Or, you can go right to YouTube and create an account.Once you have an account created you can search educational videos, add your own channel to your blog or website as well as add videos to your playlist. I recently created my own YouTube channel which includes a playlist of How-to videos.

Tip...
If you are looking for a way to share a favorite video without displaying the distracting comments use Silentube it!. Silentube it! allows you to open a video within this site and play the video in peace!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

How to Start a Blog

I started blogging about a year ago and have tried to be somewhat consistent in posting to my Technology in Education blog. Tech Tips, Tools is a newly created blog which encourages my goal to share more this year. By way of today's #30Goals challenge to become a guest blogger and reading shellterrell's blog post I learned that that subscribing to YouTube and creating your own educational channel is a good way to organize educational videos. Here's one on How to start your own blog:

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Focusing Efforts in 2010

I just read a blog post from MZimmer which gives tips on how to focus blog efforts each day. Not that I will be able to follow his same outline, but I will definitely begin to use this as a spark for focusing my ideas. Oftentimes, I fail to write simply because of the overwhelming wealth of information that I receive from my Personal Learning Network (PLN) ....thank you! As I continue my morning routine of checking my Google Reader and reading my Twitter feed I will continue to share with other educators in the quest to effectively integrate technology in education.