After a foundation is laid, you will need to add a strong structure to fortify their growth.
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These sections  are organized by age level, but the information is not restricted to that age group. Consider looking at other age ranges as well. Also, make sure to check out the Archives.

Give Your Children  Money Lessons
        Too many of us and our children have gotten caught in traps that money has caused, or rather the lack of money knowledge. It is up to parents to help their children avoid these traps. When you are having conversations with your children, include those about money often.  
esperian.com suggests the following steps to help children manage their money. 
        Talk to your children as you shop. Let them see you compare prices on the things you buy, even cereal and bread. Use coupons to save money. Allow your children to look for and cut out coupons for cereal, household, and personal items. Show them how using coupons saves money. Let them hand their money and coupons proudly to the cashier.
       Help your children make healthy choices. Look for the best prices iton newspaper or magazine ads and online for the things they want. Help them to save their own money for the desired item or ask for it as a future gift.
        When your children see you using your digital devices to pay, help them to know it is not money at the touch of a button but money that is deducted from your checking or savings account. If you use a credit card, show them you are borrowing money that you have to pay back.
        Give your children lessons about money for their future lives. Talk about money daily, give your children guidance and help them make smart money decisions. 

Plan to Find Joy in Doing Chores
     Giving children chores can make them feel wanted, teach vital life skills--ethics, responsibility, self-reliance, and self-esteem--and help ease the workload for parents. Children are capable of doing much more than parents think. If parents do not expect perfection and help children to know they are part of a team, working together to keep the house clean and neat should not be too much of a challenge. Doing things with their hands releases “feel-good” brain chemicals that protect against depression. Kids who help at home are more confident, resilient, and compassionate, do better in school, and grow up into more successful young adults. Helping cooperatively to keep house reasonably clean and orderly gives pride to all in the family.
          Find a chore your kid loves to do, and start a habit of wanting to help out that’ll last a lifetime. Catherine Newman
     Children of all ages can help around the house. All children can make their beds each morning. Your family can read books about doing chores (goodreads.com/books about doing chores) or sing songs (moms.com) to make doing chores more joyful but getting the jobs done takes action.
           See The Ultimate List of Age-Appropriate Chores by Robert Myers, Ph.D.
     Elementary-age children can help without constant reminders. For this age, a chore chart or task list will help children check off work as they complete it without someone looking over their shoulder. This requires trust on the part of parents as well as honesty on the part of your children. Honesty is one of the traits you can instill in your children in this way.  You might give rewards such as stars or special time playing computer games for tasks done well and without complaining.
     Doing chores together is an investment with the wonderful dividend of spending time together doing a meaningful activity and enjoying and valuing that time.

Plan to Go with Geography
          Geography is a living, breathing subject, constantly adapting itself to change...For me, geography is a great adventure with            a purpose. Michael Palin
     Give your children a great adventure. Plan to give them a well-rounded education with fun. Give them an awareness of physical features of Earth and knowledge of political boundaries and people. Give them a fascination with different countries and different people. Help them to know the difference between a continent and a country, even the names and features of states. If you are planning a family vacation, explore the area on the computer before you go so they know the natural formations that make that state or locale unique.
      www.wehavekids.com/education/6-Fun-ways-to-Teach-Geography-to-Kids-at-Home offers the following ideas for parents. Use songs to acquaint children with geography. Some suggestions are on the Kids Learning Tube Channel on YouTube: The Solar System, the 7 Continents Song, the Fifty States and Capitals Song, and the Fifty Nifty United States.
     Using puzzles of the United States showing states in different colors and shapes helps children to recognize their own state as part of our country. With a world map puzzle, your children can find continents and far away countries.
You can hang a large map of the world in your children’s rooms. Then post pictures on the sides of the map of the landmarks, physical features, people, and food that your children find in magazines and newspapers. Reading children’s books set in different countries may interest your children in finding those countries on a map or globe.
     A worthwhile purchase might be a desk-top globe so children can find their place on Earth. A game they might play is closing their eyes and placing their finger lightly on the globe while a sibling spins the globe. When the globe stops spinning and where their finger is might be where there is an earthquake or a flood or someplace they will “find their love.” Your children might use a tape measure to figure out distance, deciding ahead of time how to use the lines on the tape to show measurement when they place the tape against the globe, such as one inch to be one hundred or one thousand miles.
     How about a game of indoor soccer and volleyball using a blow-up or beach ball globe? If the kids miss hitting the ball, they might be asked to name the spot on the globe where the ball lands.
     Children can create their own maps of their surroundings, including how many blocks to school or to the park. They can create a map of your house showing different rooms in distinct colors. They might even make up imaginary towns or areas in which they or their play figures would like to live.
Children are often curious about where places are. It costs so little to help your children learn geography in these ways.
     John F. Kennedy has said history makes us friends, and geography makes us neighbors. Help your children be good neighbors.