New Name! New Franchise!

Introducing Our New Name at We Are Girls

After seven years providing programs for kids in Austin as The Money Academy, we are proud and excited to share that we have a new name and we are now franchising!

Why Franchise?

In our commitment to kids having a fundamental understanding of how money works and knowing themselves as leaders that can accomplish whatever they choose, we have always dreamed of taking our programs nationwide. Due to the overwhelming support and demand for our programs here in Austin, we are thrilled to say that that time has come!

Who would have known that a simple inquiry between a mother and a daughter would turn into a business that makes a difference for kids all over the Austin area and now the nation?

Our New Name and Logo

In the process of franchising, it became clear that we needed a new name. So after a several pots of coffee and some seriously fun brainstorming, Moolah U was born! We love our new name and tagline. We feel that our new brand is fun and really says who we are and what we are up to.

For those of you who have a special fondness for The Money Academy, don’t worry. Our programs are not going away. We will still be offering all of the same programs locally, just under our new name!

Over the next few weeks you’ll begin to see changes in our materials and on the website. We will share our story with you as it unfolds. For now, we want to thank our community here in Austin for making this possible!

Thanks Austin, and Be Great. With Money.

With Love,
The Team at Moolah U

Five Things to Consider When Choosing A Camp for Your Kids

There are so many options for summer camp, the best of which are filling up quickly. Registering early means more choices, but how to you possibly decide among all these great camps? First of all, make sure your kids are on board for whatever choice you make together. No one wants to be stuck in a place they don’t want to be. However, you may want to narrow the choices ahead of time so that your child doesn’t fall in love with a summer camp that you won’t be sending them to. You may also want to include exciting options that they haven’t even considered. When making your selections, here are some guidelines that we hope will help you chose a camp:

1. Balance Their Interests With New Experiences. A great match is a summer camp that addresses topics your child is interested in, but also gives them access to experiencing things they don’t have access to learning anywhere else.
2. Look for Just-In-Time Learning Opportunities. What is on your child’s horizon? Will they be entering a new level of responsibility? Will they need new social skills in the coming year? What will they be dealing with next, that this summer camp could give them practice with?
3. Choose A Camp That Honors Kids as People. Considering that you’ll be leaving your child with a group of people they don’t know, it’s critical that the camp leaders respect and honor kids. Of course, this includes safety measures. But it should also include the way adults talk to kids.
4. Give Them Real-World Experience. Whatever the topic, a great summer camp gives kids real world experience that challenges their problem solving capacity and strengthens their courage to try new things.
5. Give Them Great Memories. Is this camp the kind of extraordinary experience that your child will never forget? While you can’t predict with certainty that your kids will remember this experience, you have a good idea about this one. Trust your gut.

The Money Academy gives your child an unforgettable, challenging and fun experience that leaves them making powerful choices about money and with a new level of confidence and leadership. Kids learn money in an extraordinary experience they’ll remember and build on for a lifetime. But whatever you choose, we hope these tips make the process just a little easier, and that your child’s summer camp experience is one to remember!

The benefit of letting your kids solve their own problems

As parents, we are making choices daily about how to best utilize our resources, including money, to fulfill the needs of the family.  Let’s begin to share that responsibility with the kids. When they are given the opportunity to make their own choices with money, they will bump up against a problem we’ve all experienced of not having enough money for all the things we want.

One of the best ways to teach kids how to solve this problem is to have them  solve the problem themselves.  The key is to not be too quick to step in and rescue them at the first sign of struggle.  This tends to stop their thinking and can send the message that we don’t have faith in their ability to come up with a solution.

It’s in the struggles and the disequilibrium where real learning takes place and they get to enjoy the sweet success of figuring it out by themselves.  It’s also where they learn that persistence pays off and where real problem-solvers are born.  When kids are given an opportunity to succeed at a difficult task, they begin to take on other more difficult tasks with confidence.

As uncomfortable as it can be to watch them struggle with a problem, rest assured that the lesson they learned is going to stick with them forever.

Getting Kids “Money Smart” in Asheville

Last week, we completed the inaugural Money Academy Camp in Asheville, NC.   For one week, 11  young people from ages 7 – 15 came together to create a successful business project, making almost $200 in just two days of selling.  With the help of Lev’s accordion playing to attract customers to the booth, the campers sold hand painted canvas bags and individual greeting cards.

We had a special surprise when WLOS (the local ABC affiliate) came by and interviewed a couple of the kids to share the news with their viewers.  Watch for a link to that news story later this week!

Thanks Asheville and Neo Cantina for embracing us with such warm hospitality!  We’ll be back July 25-29 to deliver one more session of the camp this summer.  See you then!

Like our Facebook  Page for Asheville and get $25 off  the next session of camp!

Mystery Shoppers Wanted for Kid Business Camp

In the Money Academy Camp, we don’t tell the kids how to run their business.  We let them make their own mistakes and learn from the experience.  This creates an environment where they take complete ownership of the experience and get to fully enjoy their accomplishments for themselves.

This is where you come in.   There will be two campers outside the business location with a table set up selling their wares.  You will pretend to be a customer for the kids’ camp business, just as you would at any place of business.  Immediately following your shopping experience, you will meet and consult with the team of young business owners as they evaluate their approach.

Steps to the process:

1.       From a distance where the campers won’t notice you, observe how they are set up, how they are behaving, their appearance and interactions with customers.  Inconspicuously record your impressions. 

2.       Visit the camper business establishment and pretend to be a customer.  When you approach, notice how they engage you.  Ask the kinds of questions you would ask if you were a customer who happened to be coming to the host business establishment.  You can make a purchase or not, it’s up to you.

3.       Notice the Money Academy Staff and how they handled themselves in relation to the Campers.  Their role is to support the campers in being safe and help them notice their presentation and interactions.  The Staff is not there to make sales or answer questions about the Campers’ Business.  They will have information about the Money Academy to share, if there are customer questions about the program. 

4.       Proceed to the Camp meeting room, where you will be greeted by our staff and they will prepare the Campers to meet with you.

When should you start talking about money to your kids?

Another great article from The Economic Times:

Money Academy Camp, CEO for the day leading financial analysis of product

“Teaching kids to count is fine but teaching them what counts is best.”   Bob Talbert, American columnist.

This quote lies at the core of the philosophy behind teaching fiscal responsibility to children.  Parents and teachers focus on math and other artistic skills, with kids as young as four years old being enrolled in esoteric classes to get a head start in life.

But amid all these classes, we forget to impart an important life skill-financial literacy. How many of us realize that when our kids enter the real world, the first thing they confront is money?As a wealth adviser, I have seen that when it comes to money, smart people commit blunders, whether it is in dealing with banks, taking loans or making investments.This is the reason one should begin teaching money management to kids at a very young age.

The best time to do this is between 5 and 12 years, which is not to say that those above 12 years do not appreciate this concept. They do when the content is interesting, but it takes a little more time for them to understand the importance because they have developed deep-rooted habits and have turned into consumers.

As they enter the teenage or beyond the sixth grade, they become hardwired because of peer pressure and external environment. So it becomes difficult to get them to adhere to a financial literacy program. At this stage in their lives, they are keen to buy mobile phones, gadgets, branded clothes and do things that their friends are doing. Telling them to act sensibly and responsibly might be a tall order if you have not inculcated good habits from an early age.  In fact, it is a good idea to introduce financial literacy as a subject in school from Class I itself.

Many of you probably give your children pocket money, but what you don’t realize is that this does not teach them the value of money or how to manage it. Most parents do not take the initiative to teach their children about money. They may touch on the concept of piggy banks and savings early on, but are usually reluctant to discuss money and family finances with their children.

The best way to teach kids about money is to let them deal with money early on for they need to understand its power and the consequences of their decisions.  It’s far better that they commit mistakes at a young age with smaller amounts of money than financial blunders when they grow up.

By starting early, you can give your children a strong competitive edge for their future financial success. The key learning points for kids should include having healthy values about money, setting goals and priorities, making prudent choices, delaying instant gratification and understanding the virtues of hard work.

Also, don’t forget that even though you might not teach your kids directly, they are learning by observing you.

(The author is Financial planner and author of The Art and Science of Teaching Children about Money, Amar Pandit)

Free Game Event: “Blast the Money Trap”

Monday,
June 20th
6:30 – 7:30
Free Event!
Appetizers Provided

Come join the Money Academy at Neo Cantina where kids and parents will play “Blast The Money Trap” .  In this highly interactive game,  players get the opportunity to make investments and build their assets in a fun, kid friendly style.

The game is uniquely oriented to kids perspective and capacity to understand money at their age.  This provides them real life examples that they can easily assimilate into their own lives.  They begin to see the value of saving to invest vs. only using money for spending.

Every family that attends receives
$25 Tuition Discount to Money Academy Camp!

Game playing starts at 6:30 and completes at 7:30.   Appetizers will be served and the event is FREE!  You must call to reserve your space at the table.  For kids ages 7 – 15 and their parents.

Camp starts June 20th at Brick Oven

For the first time, Money Academy Camp will be hosted at Brick Oven, Arboretum!  It’s a convenient location for our Northwest Austin families!  With just 5 days to go before camp starts, we still have space in this session.

Get your kids “Money Smart” this summer!  It’s the best investment  you can make in their future of financial stability.

Brick Oven

June 20-24

Register online now to hold your space.

First Camp of summer starts June 6th!

Our first camp of the summer starts Monday and there is still room to enroll your child in the best experience of their summer!   Parents report that what their kids learn about money in camp stays with them forever.  After 7 years of working with kids in this  program,  we’ve seen dramatic results from the graduates.

Kids are bombarded with messages of consumption and spending from the media and the culture.  How are we going to ensure their future of financial responsibility and independence?

We have to engage them in real-life, real-money experiences that have them learn about money first hand.  Most importantly, they can see for themselves that they are many ways to use money besides spending.  What if we used money to make more money?   Now that’s not something that was never taught in school!  And don’t we all wish we had learned that when we were kids.

Money Academy Camp gets kids inspired to use money to build assets and financial independence.  In camp, the kids create a real business for the week, sell a product for real money, and they get to keep the PROFITS!   Now that’s what gets their attention.

Make an “Investment” in your child’s financial future!

Girl Scouts Earn a Badge at Money Academy Camp

I applaud the Girl Scouts for encouraging financial literacy for girls!  In these shaky economic times, it’s even more important that young girls have the tools to be financially stable.

The best way to learn about money is  through experience. Give kids a challenge, like  a small business project,  to help them get real-life, real-money experience.  

This is what Girl Scouts provides and Money Academy Camp is here to support the girls in earning a badge while learning about money and business.