Summer Challenge for Kids and Parents
Summer is a time when parents enroll their kids in all sorts of classes – swimming, martial arts, art, dancing, writing, acting, etc. I remember the days when I joined the boys and also enrolled in some classes myself. I was their “classmate” in their kickboxing classes. I also enrolled in my own tap dance classes while they had their own.
It’s a fun way to open doors and engage in new adventures and I would always suggest something non academic for summer classes, unless your kids are really bugging you to enroll them in that advanced Math class.
These days there are all sorts of classes and camps during summer. And they can be costly. Gone are the days when parents’ wallets take a breather from children’s expenses during summer. Sending kids to the province to spend a month or two with lolo and lola does not seem to be a regular option anymore. I remember having a friend who said, “My parents always send us to Baguio during summer to save on aircon expenses!” It’s not that simple anymore. In fact, on a per day basis, summer might even prove to be more expensive than school days.
Challenge your kids to earn during summer
It may be a good idea to challenge your kids to have an earning activity every summer. Just take one or two classes at most, then spend the rest of the break being creative and earning money instead of just spending mom & dad’s money! This is an important component of raising kids with high FQ.
Start with your kids’ gifts. What are they good at? Can they earn something from these skills? After having attended a good share of their dance lessons, I challenged them to come up with their own dance classes one summer. It was a big project for them as they came up with their curriculum, marketing materials, did their own marketing, identify and communicate their USP (Unique Selling Proposition) because a major dance school is just in our neighborhood. They distributed their flyers, called potential students and titas of potential students, gave samples in our parish and in our homeowners’ association gatherings, structured their pricing, finalized their schedules (to avoid conflict with our summer vacation and other activities) and all the other details. They were able to come up with a dozen of students.
To conclude their summer dance camp, they had a Recital Dance Concert with ticket sales. So again, this involved designing and selling of tickets, photo shoot and video making, inviting other guest performers and co-hosts and the whole production process for their event! They also had to pray hard for a good weather because the venue was outdoor.
It was a great experience for my sons. My husband and I had a preview of how the three of them would be in the real business world. We saw them brain-storm, argue, settle among themselves how to divide responsibilities and profits and it was all good and exciting.
Other ideas
Other earning activities they’ve done are teaching guitar lessons, art exhibits, working as part of restaurant crew, making videos, hosting, etc.
I actually like the idea of working as a waiter because when my oldest son experienced being a part of the Teriyaki Boy crew while he was in high school, he developed a deeper sense of appreciation for service providers. He would remind me not to follow up on orders too soon as he himself experienced how it is to be on the other side of the fence.
Maybe DepEd should consider making one summer devoted to this and making it a requirement before one can graduate. Another good work experience that all our students can benefit from is to be tour guides or even just interns of good tour guides. I think studying our historical spots will make them appreciate history more. In the recent elections, we have seen how we failed to teach important historical events and periods to our children and this could be a practical way to improve on that. When we study history, we understand where we are now, why we are where we are. When we understand history, we become more patriotic and we have a better way to address existing challenges.
Learning about money and other things camp
I’m very excited to be part of Security Bank’s Smart Saver Kiddie Camp. It’s a series of interactive workshops for both parents and kids with these three components:
- There will be ten different sessions tackling different topics such as arts, crafts, photography, Singapore Math, entrepreneurship, etc.
- A financial literacy talk by an influencer well-versed in the topic. (This will be my part. 🙂 )
- A bank tour that will allow the children to appreciate the banking processes, and learn about the importance of banks in everyday life. (I requested the Bank officer in charge to include investment products in their tour because of my belief that even our kids should not be limited to savings only. 🙂 )
The first among these ten events are happening on the following dates:
May 19, 2016 – Arts & Crafts, Financial Literacy Workshop, Bank Tour (2 sessions 9:30 am and 2:00 pm at the Brasserie of Security Bank Tower)
June 1, 2016 – Singapore Math, Financial Literacy Workshop, Bank Tour at Pegy Waffle 9:30 am.
June 26, 2016 – Kiddopreneur at the Shangrila Mall, Financial Literacy Talk and Bank products awareness at 2:00 pm.
The other events, some in key cities outside Metro Manila, will be announced as soon as they are finalized. For interested parents, children, bloggers, please call Security Bank Customer Service at 887 9188 or email Christine Cabusora at MCabusora@SecurityBank.com. Registration can be made online.
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ANNOUNCEMENT
I will be the Finance speaker in a series of workshops of Security Bank’s Smart Saver Kiddie Camp. The first two will be on May 19, 2016 at 9:30 am and 2:00pm at the Brasserie, Security Bank Tower, Makati. 
Watch out for the next schedules of this Workshop Series.
Rose Fres Fausto is the author of bestselling books Raising Pinoy Boys and The Retelling of The Richest Man in Babylon (English and Filipino versions). Click this link to read samples – Books of FQ Mom Rose Fres Fausto. She is the grand prize winner of the first Sinag Financial Literacy Digital Journalism Awards. Follow her on Facebook and You Tube as FQ Mom, and Twitter & Instagram as theFQMom.
ATTRIBUTIONS: Image from freepik.com and Security Bank
