Hello everyone! There’s a subject which we at the Wilderness are really passionate about, and that’s Financial education – namely the fact that there isn’t enough of it! Today we’re looking at some of the resources offered by MyBnk which promotes financial education to young people, and how they’ve adapted to lockdown by offering a package that families can work through together when schools may be closed or not accessible for everyone.
Financial education is hugely important – after all, it’s fundamentally what this website is all about. At the moment there’s no real formal education through the school system in terms of how to pay a bill, or how to manage and loan – is it really surprising that so many end up in financial difficulty because of it?
We put millions in to training people to get a good job and support themselves, but so little into the handling of money. Things have improved from where they were, but they still can’t be described as good.
The Wilderness is aimed a little bit beyond the 5-25 market, but we very much share the same aims as MyBnk! I passionately believe that if you do more of this front, you can do a lot to improve many people’s financial position in life.
About MyBnk
MyBnk are a charity which tries to step into the gap in education, most commonly doing financial education in schools but with a range of programs aimed at 5-25 year olds.
They’re very conscious that if you simply talk about taxes, most kids will just switch off – so they plan out their courses to keep then fun and relevant and feature videos, games and pop culture references to keep children of all ages engaged and involved.
MyBnk’s family-friendly “Money Twist” offering
Given schools are closed at the moment, MyBnk has created a series of online resources called “Money Twist” which are designed to be free money education programs that families can do together at home.
There are four online programs depending on the age of your children:
Family Money Twist for Years 1-2 is aimed at 5-7 year olds.
It introduces dinosaur friend Save-o-saurus Rex and introduces basic ideas of value and the difference between “need” and “want” in a friendly and accessible format. During the course your children will be given coins and have to decide if now is the right time to save or spend.
You can check out Family Money Twist for 5-7 year olds and view the course content here.
Family Money Twist for Years 3-6 is aimed at 7-11 year olds.
The Year 3-6 course gets a little more advanced, building further on the idea of the difference between “needs” and “wants”. Here we introduce the idea of building a basic level budget, and the concept of why delayed gratification can in fact be a good thing.
You can check out Family Money Twist for 7-11 year olds and view the course content here.
Family Money Twist for Years 3-6 is aimed at 7-11 year olds.
The Year 3-6 course gets a little more advanced, building further on the idea of the difference between “needs” and “wants”. Here we introduce the idea of building a basic level budget, and the concept of why delayed gratification can in fact be a good thing.
You can check out Family Money Twist for 7-11 year olds and view the course content here.
Family Money Twist for Years 7-9 is aimed at 11-14 year olds.
This course focuses more on developing the skills of comparison, understanding how to think about what the best deal on offer might be, and explore the concept of the link between emotion/feelings and budgeting a little bit more.
You can check out Family Money Twist for 11-14 year olds and view the course content here.
Bonus! MyBnk Money Buzz – Be an Energy Detective (aimed at 9-11 year olds)
There’s also an additional program focused on the concept of energy usage and energy efficiency. In this you become a detective helping Detective Wes track down issues of energy usage around the home! I particularly liked this one – it’s a great mix of helping understand the finances of power usage but also has a good environment message.
You can check out the Family Money Buzz course here!
Are the MyBnk Family Twist and Money Buzz courses any good?
Yes, especially when you’re getting them for free!
I found the content was engaging, and liked the fact they’d thought about the different levels of what will hold a child’s interest for each course, and complexity of what’s being covered. It provides an excellent job of covering the basics of important topics which you can use to start wider discussion with your child.
The courses are well designed with the first page offering some preparation for you as the adult to help get the best out of things. To get the absolute best out of it, I think you’d want to go through the whole course with your child and then try and personalise some of the content to them as much as possible.
In terms of what you do, it’s a nice mix of approaches – on the one hand you’re doing a quiz for part of a module, the next has designing up a budget which you can do a lot with to engage more creative types. I liked the flexibility of the course.
I liked the fact that the courses are modular as well – you don’t have to do these in one sitting, you can dip in and out of them as well so you don’t have to worry about holding attention for a long period!
I thought the courses were at their absolute best when they put the child in a role – such as being the energy detective in the Money Buzz course.
I’m sure MyBnk will continue to develop these, but I think there’s a little room for lengthening some of the courses aimed at older children. The content is good but you can blast through the courses quickly, which can be both a blessing and a curse!
And that’s it!
Please give them a go, and remember that MyBnk is also an excellent charity to support if you feel you got something out of the courses.
And if you’re an adult that needs a little bit of financial fine tuning why not check out some of the other articles on the Wilderness? You can learn about why we suggest never paying the minimum on a credit card here, or find out your investment risk profile here!
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