by Jan Combs, former financial aid officer at Harvard Graduate School of Education

Spending extra time at home with the kids? Use the current crisis to teach kids valuable money lessons!

During this unique time, many have children home from school for the foreseeable future. Whether they are preschoolers, middle schoolers, or in high school or college, now is a great time to speak with your children about money and impart valuable financial lessons. Times of economic uncertainty can provide teachable moments to children and adults alike, and what better time to learn than now? No matter their age, your children can grasp age-appropriate money milestones that will serve them well moving forward.

This is part one of an ongoing series we’re launching on the Insider blog on “Kids and Money.” As you prepare to send your child off to college, you should also be thinking about how to foster in them the skills necessary to build financial independence. In this series, we’re going to discuss how students can earn, spend, save, borrow, and protect their money in a way that aligns with personal and family values. Type “Kids and Money” into our Search Box to find all installments of the series.

Whether your child is old enough for a “traditional” summer job or not, there are definitely ways that kids of all age—teens, tweens, and younger kids—can make money during the summer, put their time to good use, and start saving.

How to Instill a Spirit of Saving in Children

As parents, we understand the value of saving. We also know that the earlier one begins to stash money away, the better off one will be in the long run. Teaching children financial literacy concepts and encouraging them to save early is key. How, then, do we instill a spirit of saving in our children? I’ll share a few ideas that have helped my children learn—and get excited—about saving.

As parents, we understand the importance of literacy, and we encourage our children to be readers. Just as we introduce books early on, there is a great benefit to starting financial literacy conversations early in your child’s life. Although there are many ways of approaching financial literacy education, this article will highlight four basic steps to take to teach your kids how to manage money. The importance of parental influence and the value of ongoing and age-appropriate conversations cannot be understated.

Final Preparations for Sending Your Child to College

The past year has been chock full of college visits, college applications, waiting for admissions decisions, and finally, picking the college that my son would attend. His high school graduation and all the related celebrations are behind us now, and summer is coming to a close. All of a sudden, reality sets in, as does the panic of preparing for this next major milestone in our lives—sending him off to college. I wanted to share some practical points to think about as you prepare your child for their next step.

Putting Together a Payment Strategy for College

After your child has deposited at the college of their choice, the pressure of meeting college costs all of a sudden becomes very real. That first college bill is usually sent out in July with a due date in August. What takes many parents by surprise is that the bills are sent directly to the student, either via snail mail or, much more commonly, via an electronic notification, either to the student’s new college email address, or to their student account portal, which typically requires the student to log in and retrieve their billing statement.

Making the Final College Decision

Congratulations on your child’s college acceptances! Their hard work has paid off and now the decision as to which college is best for them needs to be made. I always encourage parents and their child to step back for a moment. Don’t worry about choosing that one perfect college, as there are likely many colleges that fit your child’s needs and would ultimately provide a rich college experience. College is what a student makes of it, and what they accomplish while they’re on campus matters much more than the name of the college. Choosing the student’s preferred college, while also balancing financial considerations however, can present some challenges to a family. It is those very challenges that prompt me to share some important considerations that may assist you in making the final college decision.

Comparing Financial Aid Awards

It’s a very exciting time in the life of the high school senior when those college acceptance letters start rolling in! Excitement mounts and the process of deciding which college offer to accept begins. This decision cannot be made, however, without carefully taking into consideration the financial aspects of this endeavor. On the heels of the college admit letters come a number of merit scholarship offers and financial aid award letters. Now that we have all of this information in hand, we are tasked with figuring out which college is the best academic and social fit for our son, while also making sure it is a financial fit for our family. The number crunching has begun!

Finding Private Scholarships

November was an exciting month with the receipt of the first college admit letter for my son. Watching your child’s face light up when they get their first notice of good news from a college is priceless. With that excitement, however, brings a striking reminder that a college financing plan is key as we plan to pay for this huge investment. I feel good about having already filed both the FAFSA and the CSS Profile Form, but know that there are other necessary steps to take related to financing college. Although we have been searching for private scholarships throughout the year, getting that first college admit letter kicked us into high gear. Knowing that many parents are in the same situation, I wanted to share some ideas related to the private scholarship search process.

During the month of October, my son submitted nine college applications, which included a mix of private and public institutions, both in- and out-of-state. It was certainly a relief when he hit the button on the last of his applications, all submitted via the Common Application. While he was busily working on his applications, I focused my efforts on the financial aid application process, completing both the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the CSS Profile Form (PROFILE). Last month, I shared details on completing the FAFSA, which is required by all colleges, in hopes that the process would be less intimidating to those first-time parents of an almost college student.