Moonjar Canada Partners with Educators to Support Children’s Financial Literacy

Give a child a five dollar bill, and she’ll spend it all on liquorice and ring pops, right?

Maybe not after she’s learned about Moonjar. The Moonjar educational program, started in Seattle and brought to Canada in 2008 by Ottawa resident Brent Dobson, uses a simple, visual method of helping kids learn about money management. Each child gets a colourful money bank with three slots: one for spending, one for saving, and one for sharing.

The program encourages  children to live within their means (“spend”), plan for the future (“save”), and connect with their community in a positive way (“share”). Moonjar Canada President Brent Dobson says, via email, “The Moonjar goal is to take away the ‘fear’ of money. We want kids to feel that money does not control them but rather they control the money, that it is a tool. We want kids to understand that they can make choices with money and set goals.”

Moonjar Canada works with various partners, including educators and financial institutions, to help kids develop good financial habits at a young age.

Moonjar offers teaching kits, complete with lesson plans, to help educators lead children through the basics of sound money management as an adjunct to the school math curriculum.

Dobson says, “Schools are where children are being taught, and [the Moonjar-School] partnership is a very effective way of teaching kids about money.” He adds that Moonjar follow-up at home makes the program even more effective.

At home, Dobson says consistency is key when it comes to entrusting kids with money. The age-old concept of allowance is a fitting way for parents to start kids on their journey to financial independence, although the amount of money will vary with each different family situation. Regardless of how much money children manage, Dobson stresses the importance of Moonjar as a way of opening up conversations about finances on a regular basis around the kitchen table.

Dobson hopes the Moonjar concepts will stick with kids throughout adolescence and into adulthood. “We would love to see those kids making smart money choices their entire lives...we want them to make their mistakes early so that when the stakes are higher they are more prepared.”