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Show 'CHILDREN SHOULD ' LEARN TO HANDLE MONEY SAYS EXPERT Two two-cent lollipops and a one-cent stick of gum and a five-icent five-icent rubber ball make . . . uh-h-h ... ten cents. And ten cents is a dime. This seems like minor figuring. But it's important to a 6-year-old. By spending his weekly allowance he learns how to handle money. In our society that's as essential as learning how to use telephones or cross streets, according to Mrs. Sidonie Matsner Gruenberg, director direc-tor of the Child Study Association of America. She thinks a youngster young-ster should get an allowance as soon as he's old enough to handle numbers somewhere between 5 and 7 years. His allotment may be small at first. Five cents a week will do for a 5-year-old. It can be increased in-creased as his skills and needs grow. Mrs. Gruenberg warns, however, how-ever, against trying to match the child's allowance with that of a playmate whose parents have more to give. Children, she says, have to learn that people live on different differ-ent scales. If they're dissatisfied, it's usually because their parents are. Don't be afraid to say: "We can't afford that." A child must learn there are things he can't have. And don't be afraid to let him hear talk about money at home, provided it's amicable. In that way he'll get a sense of values. He'll understand why Mother and Dad spend two dollars on a steak that will be eaten up at one meal but refuse him a pair of fancy gloves that might last six months. This expert thinks a child should have full charge of his own allowance, allow-ance, even if he spends it on riotous riot-ous living. Suppose he treats his pals to ice cream cones on Monday. Mon-day. Then he can't go to the movie on Saturday. That is, unless he's given a little extra. Mrs. Gruenberg Gruen-berg thinks parents should supply the little extra that first time anyway. It's better to err on the safe side, she says. You're only trying to see that he knows something of the routine of buying, selling and saving with a little fun thrown in. |