Financial literacy is at the top of the list of life skills my husband and I want to develop in our kids before they’re out on their own. We’ve talked about it lots in recent years and acknowledge the importance, but we’ve learned the hard way that teaching money skills is easier said than done when you’re working with a limited budget.
*I received these materials free of charge and was compensated for my time writing this review. As always, I wasn’t required to write a positive review and all opinions are my own. See disclosure for further details.*
Regardless of our desire to give our kids experience with money, our household budget simply won’t allow it. We’re a homeschooling family and we’re three years into the process of planting a new church. There’s definitely not enough financial margin here for our kids to receive allowances for chores. Therefore, they have had little hands-on experience handling money or budgeting.
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Even so, you certainly don’t have to start a new church, homeschool, or even have a limited budget to know how hard it can be for kids to learn how to handle money.
That’s why I’m excited to share what I’m learning about The Kingdom Code and how it teaches children to make and manage money God’s way.
Teaching Entrepreneurship and Money Skills with The Kingdom Code
The Kingdom Code is a 34-week Bible-based curriculum that provides hands-on experience with money management through entrepreneurship. It’s ideal for grades 4-8 and was originally designed to be taught a couple of days each week.
When we opened our package from The Kingdom Code, we found the following materials:
- The Kingdom Code Complete Starter Kit – This kit contains everything needed to use The Kingdom Code with one student: the full color text, financial forms and activities, worksheets for review, vocabulary flash cards, Teacher’s Guide, Treasure Map reward system, stickers, receipt book, and binder-size posters.
- The Jr KCK Budget Kit – This is a great way to get my 6 year-old involved while letting big brother do most of the work! It introduces the budgeting system for The Kingdom Code on a much lighter level than the curriculum itself.
- The Kingdom Code Coloring Book – This is also fun for my little one; she’s always happy to color along while I’m reading a lesson aloud or discussing with my big kid.
Money Skills and So Much More
What sets The Kingdom Code apart from all the other financial literacy programs is the emphasis on making money before managing it. I’m especially grateful for that since it allows kids to develop money skills by managing the money they make rather than the money we rely on as a family.
The Kingdom Code coaches kids as they choose a business, develop a business plan, market to customers, and secure sales. When all of this is in place and they begin to earn money, they move on to money management and hands-on experience with budgeting and financial record-keeping.
Another thing that makes The Kingdom Code stand out is the JOEYS budgeting system. It helps kids designate percentages of their earnings to:
- Jesus (tithing based on the Old Testament’s 10%)
- Others (gift-giving or donating to charities)
- Education (saving for college or other educational expenses after high school)
- You
- Savings (with an emphasis on self-control and contentment)
In addition to the financial aspects of money management and entrepreneurship, The Kingdom Code also emphasizes contentment and responsibility. This goes a long way in helping kids understand when spending is necessary and when it’s not.
Our Experience with The Kingdom Code
Because entrepreneurship is such a big component of The Kingdom Code, we found it a little difficult to get started. Not to worry, my kiddos found their big idea. It just took some out-of-the-box thinking.
You see, most of the suggested ways for kids to earn money — referred to as Treasure Builder Ideas in The Kingdom Code — are based on services like trash pickup, yard work, and pet care. We live in an apartment complex and there are restrictions in place that prevent my kids from starting that sort of business.
Don’t get me wrong, there are lots of fantastic suggestions for starting a business. It’s just that none of them work in our specific community. Instead of the suggested business ideas, my kids are setting up an online shop to sell their artwork.
My kids finished the first group of paintings they want to sell and now they are using what they’ve learned in The Kingdom Code to establish their business. It’s all still in the early stages, but they’re working on logos, videos and photos for marketing, shop setup, and product pricing.
Once again, it’s not one of the suggested Treasure Builder Ideas, but they’re excited about it and already have big plans for their business. That’s what’s so awesome about entrepreneurship: what you have to offer to the world doesn’t have to look the same as what everyone else offers. What an incredible lesson to learn at an early age!
Once they get their business off the ground, they’ll be able to dig in and really make use of all there is to learn through The Kingdom Code. That means they’ll get practical experience with money skills by implementing the JOEYS budgeting system, keeping a ledger, working with sales forms, and much more.
Bottom Line: The Kingdom Code is a fantastic option for families who need a practical and biblical way to teach money skills to their kids through entrepreneurship.
Get Connected with The Kingdom Code
Want to learn more about The Kingdom Code? You can check it out for yourself at their website.
Better yet, you can use FC15CSK at checkout to save 15% on a Complete Starter Kit from now until August 31, 2018. How cool is that? :)
Lastly, you can connect with The Kingdom Code by following on your favorite social media platforms. You can find them on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest.