A Fine Parent

A Life Skills Blog Exclusively For Parents

About Brigitte Brulz

Brigitte Brulz is a homeschooling mom, author, journal creator and freelance writer. She and her 12-year old daughter have spent quite a bit of time working together on their upcoming picture book Aah! Blown Away, Crash!: An Alphabet Misadventure. Free coloring pages, activity ideas and more information about Brigitte Brulz and her writings can be found on her website at www.brigittebrulz.com.

Missing Your Old Activity Schedule? Here’s a Positive Way to Look at It

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(This article is part of the Coronavirus Support series. Get free article updates here.)

Main-Image-Activity-Schedule.jpgMy family’s calendar was rather full. Then the word “CANCELED” began to cover the days one by one. No more church activities. No more field trips. All of the extracurricular activities seemed to disappear.

But was that a bad thing? Maybe it was time to break free from the busyness outside of our home!

Research shows too many extracurricular activities can have a negative affect on families. Kids need time to learn about themselves and explore their interests without being bounced from one activity to the next.

This article from Psych Central states that too many extracurricular activities can “potentially harm children’s development and well-being” in addition to putting “excessive strain on family relationships and resources.”

Yes, there are many uncertainties at this time. Things are really strange. People are scared. But maybe this is a good time to reflect on all of those extracurricular activities and intentionally focus on family bonding time. [Read more…]

How to Quickly Boost Your Child’s Money IQ

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(This article is part of the Positive Parenting FAQ series. Get free article updates here.)

Boosting Money IQ_Main Image_77494174How financially savvy and responsible are your children? How good is their Money IQ?

Do they understand ATM machines and credit cards don’t actually offer an unlimited supply of money?

Are the words debt, budget, interest, income, and savings like a foreign language to them?

Sadly, according to one article they probably don’t. Researchers found that “73% of American consumers die in debt.” Most of that is credit card debt. People today are controlled by the requirement to pay off debt.

As parents, we have the chance to ensure that our children know how to responsibly control their money instead of living their lives in debt being controlled by money.

We need to be intentional about teaching children financial responsibility. As Christine M. Field says in her book Life Skills for Kids, “Children need to be given the opportunity to make financial decisions as early as possible. It is better to let them learn, experiment, and make mistakes with small sums than to wait…”

Life Skills for Kids BookI have been blessed to be able to stay home and homeschool my daughters, but I am only able to do that because my husband and I have made it a priority to manage money responsibly. It has made such a difference in our lives we decided it is important to instill financial lessons in our own daughters.

I am definitely still learning on this parenting journey (my daughters are 11 and 10); however, there are a few crucial financial tips that I have discovered over the years.

[Read more…]