According to the NY Times, well-meaning parents have long sent their children to specialized camps in the hope of bringing out their inner genius — or at least keeping them busy for the summer. But recently, a camp with a different sort of specialty than the usual cheerleading and music and art camps has been popping up — one that aims to teach children money skills.
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The subject may not seem obvious for a camp. After all, with many adults in America lacking well-developed money skills, could their children get much out of these camps? How are teenagers, and much younger children at some camps, being taught money skills that many of their parents seem to struggle with? And do they go home with any new insights?
The very notion of these camps may seem like another attempt to overschedule children, but the information they aim to impart is clearly needed. According to the National Endowment for Financial Education, most teachers do not feel equipped to teach students about personal finance, even when states require it. A study published in 2009 by two researchers at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, called “Teachers’ Background and Capacity to Teach Personal Finance,” found that 80 percent of states had some sort of requirement for personal financial education, but that most teachers did not feel qualified to teach a financial literacy course.
Of course, no camp is going to be a quick fix for financial illiteracy….
Find out more at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/02/your-money/02wealth.html?_r=1&ref=business
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