So that was fun.  I got to hang out with  kindergartners  and first graders this morning.  With Ryan’s former K/1 teacher.  It was like old times when I used to go in twice a week and teach math.  Only this time, I was the student.

That’s because I wanted to find out what 5- and 6-year olds know about money.  I told them that I wanted to learn from them today.  They thought that was pretty cool and sat up straight for me.

So when I asked about money, this is what I got:  “You buy stuff with it.”  Yes, indeedy, that is what money is for.  And since about 10 other kids said the same thing when I called on them, I decided to move on.  Besides, I was really more interested in what they thought about being rich.

It’s sort of a no-brainer…being rich is very nice, but my real goal was to see if they could understand that there were different things, besides money, that they could be rich in.  And would you believe it!?  They totally got it. 

“You can be rich in friends,” said one little girl.

“Or you can be rich in kindness,”  said another.

“Rich in kindness means you are nice to other people,” explained the girl sitting next to her.

Holy, schmoley, was I ever impressed.  They even shared that being rich in kindness and friends is more important than being rich in money.  And now that we’ve got priorities established, I’d like to show them how they can become rich in money.  Because those are the kids who will grow up with the foundation to use money and really make a difference in this world.