J. David Speaks: Allowance – Is It Worth The Price?
In general we encourage parents to pay outright for things that are either necessary (food, clothing, books, crayons, etc), but extra things (toys, gadgets, etc) are a different story. These things can be earned. The child’s understanding of the difference between necessary things and luxuries is an important lesson. Creating a system where the child understands that their specific efforts result in earning something they will enjoy.
- Sit down with your child and create an ongoing list of chores. Set specific expectations relating to these chores so that both you and your child understand what you’re agreeing to.
- Set up an allowance based on the items on the list. In order to get their entire allowance, they need to do each chore each time it is expected. They must understand that chores left undone are not paid – so half chores nets half allowance.
- A child wanting something specific is an opportunity for learning. As they save for an item, you can do the math together counting up the savings until they have enough to buy it (if you like, you can contribute a percentage towards bigger items making them more attainable).
J. David Carr is a school psychologist in New York City and a regular contributor to The K5. To read more about J. David, please click here.
April 1st, 2009
