FamilyMint- Mosaics Review

Tithing.  Budgeting.  Saving.  Financially sound.  Rainy day fund.  What do all these have in common?  They  are all words that describe how we treat or spend our money.   Are you financially sound?  Do you want your children to be?  One of my favorite versus in the bible is from Proverbs 3:16, Train up a child in the way that he should go and when he is old he will not part from it. Part of teaching our children involves leading by example.  We have worked hard to be pretty much debt free.  We want all the caddies to be financially sound and debt free as well.  This is a hard thing to grasp, I think.  Especially when we are living in an instant gratification society.  Many people use credit cards all the time and don't even think about how, or when they will pay it off.  It gets them thru the here and now and they will worry about the balance later.

 

Shockingly... 

2 out of 3 high school seniors graduate without knowing the basics of budgeting

18 to 24 year olds are the fastest growing age group filing for bankruptcy?

 Credit card companies can "prey" on college students to open credit cards and give them a free t-shirt, duffel bag or what ever.

  There are many people out there who think that as long as they have checks they can write them and not worry about what is actually in their checkbook

 Do you want your child to fall into these categories? 

 Well don't think about it another minute!  Check out this program!
                                                      
                                                                 www.FamilyMint.com 

 

This is an award winning certificate program designed to teach your child (or you if needed) about money.  This 60 page book is packed with the information that will help form and reinforce things like saving money, tracking money, delaying gratification, understanding interest and much much more.  This programs is designed for children in the 5th grade and up, but I personally think that once they understand what the differences are in the coins and dollars and can do simple math, it is not to early to start.  The Family Mint Money Management Certification program is a complete step by step program that includes workbook and an online application.

 

Here is one of the caddies filling out  a practice deposit slip.  We  went to the online application and set up Clubb Academy Savings and Loan.  Being almost debt free and a stay at home mom (single family income) money must be budgeted for almost everything.  Therefore the caddies have never received an actual allowance.  A few months ago we developed a points system.  The points work just like money, except for the fact that they can't be exchanged dollar for dollar.  With that said you earn points like an allowance for doing your chores or work and then you can redeem (purchase) things with them.  For example the caddies get 50 points for chores, school work etc.  They also can loose points for not listening, not doing their work, back talking etc.  These are the deposits or with drawls on their account.  These deposits and with drawls go very easily into the online application as an electronic checkbook.  Now that you have a quick picture of how we do it here, lets get back to the actual program.  The workbooks includes:

*engaging exercises

*fun money facts

*Certificate for child upon completion of the program

*answer key in the back of the workbook

  This very thorough program was a blessing for us as a great way to keep with our debt free and financially sound goal.  Speaking of goals, setting them is one of the sections of this program that I am loving!  One of the caddies is very eager to ask us to purchase things for them.  However, when we say why don't you purchase it with your birthday money, the response is a quick decline.  I think that teaching and enforcing goals to be set financially is something that will be carried through out their entire lives. Do you remember the first thing you bought with your own money?  The feeling of gratification and pride when you knew that you earned it.  Teaching children to save for what they want and that there is not a money tree or money fairy is a lesson that they will use for the rest of their lives.  Right now the Family Mint is running a special  INTRODUCTORY OFFER...

Special Introductory Bundle Offer

from 29.99

Includes our 60-page Money Management Certification Program workbook plus a LIFETIME subscription to Family Mint Premium.

Add additional workbooks to your order at 50% off the retail price.
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Family Mint offers two other options when purchasing their program.  Option two which is a premium online application subscription only that runs $4.95 monthly or $24.99 for the year.  The third option is a free online app only that includes a 14 day premium trial!

 

  Check it out at www.FamilyMint.com  They also have a blog that you can access on their site that has a lot of good tips on it such as how to earn scholarships for college or track your spending for the day, while eating out or purchasing those latte treats.  The blog offers great information for goal setting or getting your finances under control.  Get started with your children today by checking out this program.  In essence the program will pay for itself when you are on track saving money. 

      Purchasing the introductory program for only $29.99 will reap PRICELESS results when your children are financially sound.

 

 

 

Preparing For High School

  High school.  These words seem so harmless don't they?  Now, I know they are not harmful words, they are just intimidating to some.  What does high school mean?  For me it is a pivotal time in a child's life.  It is these years that really shape a child.  I think that high school is the time that can make or break a child's chance to be a successful adult. These years are not to be taken lightly by any means.  As we are quickly approaching the high school years I am scared, excited, nervous and a whole ball of other emotions.  It is hard for me to believe that starting with next school year I will be the mother of a high schooler!  I do not know where all the time has gone.  It seems like yesterday that we brought him home from the hospital (as it does for all of the caddies).  I am sure that you all feel the same about your children.  Time just flies so fast.  As I look back on the time that we have had I feel so blessed.  In being called to be a mother and a homeschooling I am honored.  I have been given these 4 children to raise.  To be trusted to raise these children to know and love our amazing Lord and savior.  What an amazing thing!  With homeschooling our "little" ones I truly get to share in each of my children's moments... when they realized they could read all by themselves, when they get it (and when they don't),  when they don't want to do another day of learning about Egypt (or whatever the topic is at the time),  when their face lights up because they did a lot better on their test than they thought..just to name a few.  I taught 3 of them to read on my own! As life continues to go on we are constantly learning, changing and growing.  That is just the one of the realities of life.
       High school is a different element for so many people.  As parents we are all proud of our children.  We all want what is best for our children and we all have opinions of what that looks like to us.  In talking with many different parents (homeschooling and not) I have heard many reasons why we choose to have our children educated the way we have chosen.  "I wanted my child to have the same social experiences that I had...I want my child to be away from home before college, I want my child to learn to listen to other people and be able to "take orders" from others".. are some reasons that I have heard in my homeschooling career that other families ended their homeschooling journey at high school.   The pro and I are at a loss for what to do. The options are just endless, it seems.  We can enroll in the brick and mortar school,  our district is rolling out a new virtual academy next  year where we can either do all classes at home or pick and choose which we wanted to do,  we can do post secondary, we can enroll in an academy (which would be like the virtual school at home I believe), or we can just do what we are doing now at the high school levels.
  All of these options leave me feeling exhausted.  I recently contacted our schools to discuss our options that involved the school. First off, they were not the most open about the homeschooling, needless to say.  Researching our options is very time consuming. I am completely on board with this as we are looking for the best option for our child. 
     The oldest caddie wants to be a mechanical engineer when he graduates.  This leaves me searching for the best program for him to get him into a good college that offers this course of study. We want him, a well as all of the caddies to succeed.  I believe that they will all take different courses in their lives.  However, what ever that course be we want the best for them. We all have different ways or reasons for doing what we do in our lives.  I have been in constant prayer asking for the Lord's guidance in this very important time in our child's life.  We will be taking a lot of time over the next few weeks (probably months) to decide what we feel is best.  I ask that you pray with us and for us that we make the best decision for our child (not just what we want or what is easier).  I will be sharing in the future our journey as we enter into this uncharted territory.

Snow Days

quarter sized snow flakes

  I remember seeing or hearing of the first snow of the year as a kid.   My siblings and I would start begging our parents to stay home from school the next day.  Some days we stayed home, some days we didn't of course.  We would build the snowmen that everyone built, have snowball fights and we even would "ice skate" on the bit of water that laid on the ground just on the outside of our fence.  This wasn't an official rink at all, but we had the best time. 
  As an adult one of the first things that I think about when it starts to snow is the roads as I am sure they are on the minds of many.  I pray that everyone is safe and we don't have a bunch of accidents.  I don't look for the latest school closing, as I don't follow the county schedule.  The caddies here do get excited when there is snow on the ground, however snow days are not something that is begged for here.  We always get to go in the snow.  In the morning we try to get as much school work done before lunch.  After lunch we take a 30 minute break and go play.  Then we come in enjoy some hot chocolate with marshmallows of course, and finish our work.  Usually by the time we are finished, the Pro is available to go play too!  We build snowmen and sled down our hill.  Of course snow days wouldn't be snow days with out the snowball fights!  The last snow that we had, we build snow people.  Each one of the caddies wanted to build one for them.  With the snow being as wet as it was, it made amazing packing snow! It didn't take two many rolls to have the parts of the snow people made.  We spent a few minutes trying to figure out what to use for the face that you would see from the house.  We used black paint, since traditionally you use coal.  The youngest caddie wanted an apron on hers so that you would know it was a girl.  As you can see in the picture above that we used a pink one.. 
     Snow days make amazing memories.  Memories of having fun together and spending time together with family and friends.  One final thing about snow days that I love is the beautiful pictures that we see.  I love how the snow sets on the trees  I love the quietness of  the wet, cold blanket that is laid over the earth.  I hope that you all get to go out and enjoy the snow when it blankets your house. Most importantly go make memories in it with your families!

Blessings from the Clubbhouse!