Money

Howdy friends and family,

School is in full swing both at the pre-k school house AND at home.  Kendra and I are engrossed in a consorted effort to find every opportunity to teach.  I'm excited about this because Easton and Layla are developing a love of learning very early.  Easton was quite for a while on Sunday afternoon so i went to see what he was up to.  I walked into his room and found him playing happily with a piece of paper.  

He tore up a piece of paper, placed it on top of his air purifier, and intently studied the behavior of the paper as it floated above the vent.  

I was amazed by his desire to figure this out and his engineering capacity to tear off pieces of the paper down to a size where it would float without intervention.  He was interested in finding the optimal size and weight of paper to hover.  Layla came in to see what we were doing.  She found a full sheet of paper and said, "let ME try, pleeeease?"  after seeing her piece of paper was too heavy she turned the fan speed up one notch and it blasted the paper up into the air.  and so goes her personality and intelligence.  I love how unique they are and how each is intelligent in his/her own way.

The other lesson I had the opportunity to teach is one of my own passions:  money.  I don't LOVE money because that is the root of all evil.  However, I'm very interested in it and enjoy understanding how money works.  Kendra instituted a new twist to our "fuzzy jar" concept.  The twins have a new options to trade in 10 fuzzies for a dollar.  That way they can save and buy whatever toy they like.  Essentially, we are equating the value of a fuzzy to a dime.  This is a cheaper option than me buying a $15 toy each time they fill the fuzzy jar.  I dumped some change on the table and we did some basic money counting with pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters.  Here it is, their first official dollar earned!

I know they don't "get it" right now, but it's never too early to start having the conversations.  I can tell Easton is interested because when we go to the store he finds something he wants and then asks, "How many dollars is this, Dad?"  I can't wait to take the money out of his piggy bank and let him go buy his own items from the store.

One of the most important concepts in money (and time and effort) is called Opportunity Cost.  Wisdom doesn't always come with age.  sometimes age just shows up alone!  I'm determined to have this concept cemented into their decision making process before they head out into the world.  So much to learn... so little time.  :)

See you soon!