Most people have strong feelings and opinions about money, based on childhood experiences and the values and beliefs of their families. Most often, these experiences, values, and beliefs are different for each parent. It is vital for the healthy development of children that parents talk about these feelings and opinions and establish a consistent approach to teaching children about money.
Here are some guidelines parents can keep in mind as they begin the financial socialization of their children:
Guide and advise rather than direct and dictate how the child’s money should be used.
Encourage and praise the child rather than criticize and rebuke actions taken.
Allow children to learn by mistakes and by successes.
Be consistent while taking children’s differences into account.
Include all family members in money management discussions, decision making, and activities as appropriate for their age.
Explain to children what they can and cannot do and the consequences of violating the limits.
As children get older increasingly include them in discussions of limits and consequences.
Expect all family members to perform unpaid, routine household chores based on their abilities.
Express your desire to have things you can’t afford. Children need to know that parents say “no” to themselves, too.
花些力气教会孩子们良好的花钱习惯是非常值得的，因其带来的好处是使他们受益一生的。没有受过这些金钱教育的孩子们将一辈子为此付出代价。有些父母不和子女谈论金钱，因为他们觉得不应该和小孩子谈论金钱，觉得没有时间，或者是认为他们没有足够的钱。作为父母，不论他们的收入如何都应该花时间教导子女有关钱的问题。
大部分人对金钱所持有的固有的感受和看法都是基于儿时的经历以及家庭的价值观和信念。多数情况下，每个父母的这些经历、价值观和信念都是不同的。父母谈论这些感受和看法并建立起一条前后一致的树立子女金钱观的途径对于孩子的健康成长非常重要。
父母在同子女进行金钱交流时应该记住以下几点：
引导和建议而不是指挥和命令孩子如何花钱。
鼓励和表扬孩子而不是批评和指责孩子的行为。
允许孩子们通过失败和成功来学习。
在考虑每个孩子的不同特点的情况下，保持（观点和方法的）前后一致。
让每个家庭成员都参加与其年龄相适应的金钱管理的讨论、决定等活动。
向孩子们说明什么能做，什么不能做以及超出限制带来的后果。
随着子女的成长，更多地让他们参与关于限制及后果的讨论。
期待每个家庭成员都无偿地做一些与他们能力相符的家务劳动。
表达你对买不起的东西的渴望。子女需要知道，父母也要对自己（的需要）说“不”。
The Orange Rock橙形石头
When I came to the farm as a bride, the rock was there, just around the corner of the house. It was an ugly dull orange, about a foot in diameter, and stuck up a couple of inches through the back lawn waiting to trip me.
“Can’t we dig it out?” I asked after I hit full speed with the lawn mower, breaking the blade.
“No, it’s always been there.” my husband said, and his father agreed. “It goes down pretty deep, I reckon.” My father-in-law added, “My wife’s family has lived here since the Civil War. No one ever got it out.”
So it stayed. My children were born, grew up and went away. My father in-law died. Some time later, my husband died.
After the mourning, there was the coping—and with a sharpened awareness of my surroundings, because I could change them more easily than my life’s situation. The way a woman sees her house when a company comes unexpectedly. I saw a hundred little sore spots. I began to heal them, one at a time.
The spot at the southwest corner of the house, however, was never going to look nice. Now with that rock protection weeds and crab grass to form a scab on the green.
I went to the shed and got my shovel. I was going to dig out the rock.
I braced myself for what was to be a long day, perhaps experienced by previous generations who had tried to dislodge the rock. I put on heavy shoes and rolled out my wheelbarrow. If it took the whole day, that rock was going to come out.
Five minutes later the rock was out. It had been about a foot deep, and maybe six inches wider than it looked from the top. I pried it loose with a crowbar and hoisted it into the wheelbarrow.
I was stunned. That rock had persisted there beyond living memory. Each family had taken it on faith that the previous generation had tried and faith to remove it. Because the rock had appeared to be large and deep, it was treated as immovable and strong. I have seen people do this too—and get others to walk carefully around them and assume a depth of character and knowledge solely from demeanor rather than from actual accomplishment.
The orange rock had earned my respect. I couldn’t just dump it behind the barn. So I wheeled it over to the shed, still within sight of the house. It rests there, with vinca growing around it.
I still see the rock every day but now as something good in my little landscape. It’s a reminder that each generation ought to find things out for itself.
当我成为一个新娘来到这个农场的时候，这块石头就在那儿，正好就在房子的拐角处。它外表丑陋，呈暗色橙形，直径大约有一英尺，有几英寸高凸起在屋后的草坪上，好像随时等着要绊倒我似的。
有一次我正全速开着割草机，一下就撞上了那块石头，连刀刃都碰坏了。于是我就问道：“难道我们就不能把它挖出来吗？”
“不行，它一直都在那儿。”我丈夫说。他父亲也表示赞同。接着我公公又补充说：“我估计，它在土里埋得很深。自从内战以来，我妻子一家就住在这里，没有人曾挖动它。”
于是那石头就一直留在那里。接着，我的孩子们出生了，长大了，又各自离开了。我公公去世了。一段时间后，我丈夫也去世了。
哀痛之后，我面临着妥善安排生活的问题——我强烈地感到应改变一下周围的环境，因为改变它要比改变我的生活状况容易得多。现在我开始观察我周围的院子，就像一个妇人在一大群客人意外来访时审视自己房子一样。结果我看到的都是伤心之处。于是，我开始对它们一个一个地加以修补。
然而，房屋西南角的那一块地方总是让人看着别扭。在石头周围长满了野草，仿佛绿油油的草坪上有一块伤疤。
我走进小棚里，拿出铁锹，打算把那块大石头挖出来。
我鼓起勇气，准备大干一整天。也许先辈们已经尝试过要移走这块石头，但没成功。我穿上笨重的鞋，推出了我的手推车。即使要花一整天时间，我也要把那块石头挖出来。
五分钟之后，石头就露出来了。它入地约有一英尺深，地下部分比从上面看到的可能要宽六英寸。我用撬棍把它撬松，然后搬到了手推车里。
我十分惊讶。那块石头一直盘踞在那里，以至于今天的人们都记不起它了。每个家庭都深信不疑地以为前辈们曾试图搬走它，但都失败了。因为那块石头外表看起来似乎很大，入土似乎也很深，于是人们就觉得它坚如磐石，根本挪不动。我就曾见过这样的人：他们摆出学问渊博、深不可测的脸孔，其实纯粹是装装样子，没什么真才实学，只是想让人们对他们敬而远之。
这块橙形的石头已经赢得了我的敬意。我不能就把它倒在仓库后面不管了。于是，我把它推出小棚，仍作为房舍的一景。它默默地呆在那里，周围爬满了常春藤。
我每天仍然能看到这块石头，但是现在它成了我眼中一道美丽的风景。它提示着人们：每一代人都应当亲自去探究某些事物。