On tithing...
And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock,
even of whatsoever passeth under the rod,
the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD. Leviticus 27:32
Over the last few weeks we've had the privilige of learning from Harry & Lynn Dodd on the biblical principles of money. While we worked with Harry, the kids learned through the teachings of his wife Lynn. We were very impressed (not to mention thankful) with what we learned, and especially what the boys were learning. We purchased the book The ABC's of Handling Money God's Way from them, and have been using it during our home school lessons. Today we put what we've learned into practice by counting the money in Skip's piggy bank. It took quite awhile but it was worth the effort! Skip has been asking for some new stuff recently - including a new Wii game & a racetrack - and this was the perfect opportunity for some hand's on learnin'! As the books suggests, we're replacing the piggy bank with three jars. One labeled Giving, one Saving, one Spending. In keeping with the Biblical principal of tithing, Skip normally gives 1/10 of his weekly responsiblity money (formerly known as allowance) to church each Sunday and has been putting the rest in his piggy bank, along with the money he gets from people such as Grammie, Nana, Auntie and others... In order to have a clean slate - we decided that all the money in the bank would be considered "new", and thus divide it from there. One hour, 6 filthy hands later, we had a grand total of $100.02! We took God's 10% and put that in the giving jar, then divided the rest - putting $45.01 in both the saving and the spending jars. Skip's first question was whether he'd have enough for the game and was pleased when I told him he likely would...and so, later today we'll stop at the bank and deposit the saving money, cash in the spending money (because I don't think the people at Toys R Us will be happy with $5.00 in pennies for starters, and put the giving jar aside until Sunday! I'm really pleased with the lesson we learned, and hope it adds to a foundation that builds a giving heart!!
Footnote: Harry was funny trying to help - he grew tired of piling ten pennies in neat rows and decided to have fun with them instead - he was quiet so THAT was help in and of itself! I think we'll count his money next week. Had our share of filthy hands for the week!
Harry's contribution to the effort! He IS a creative child!
A bit overwhelmed at first!
This is what we started with...
Ta-da!
8 much apprecitated comments from readers!:
AWESOME! We bought this book for Aidan when we were at the creation museum! I peeked through it and realized we would first have to 1.Learn about the different types of money, coin vs cash
and
2. Start giving Aidan money that's "his"
We'll probably wait until next "semester" or perhaps summer until we start, but it's so neat to see another family using the same ideas, and to hear that you like the format, etc...
Even though Lynn Dodd did these lessons with them during the classes, we're doing them again, and re-inforcing what she taught. We're not writing in the book, but I copy all the worksheet pages so we can do it again next year. It's a fast-paced book, so from start to finish not more than a month of school time which is why I think they'll benefit again next year! I do love the book and the jars! It's a very visible reminder of how the money should be divided/used!
One thing we've decided is to not call the money allowance anymore as it implies that some how that the money is rightfully his. Trying to focus on stewardship, so instead "responsibility money" sounds better. We're teaching them that how we all handle what we're given is our responsibility, and that we want him to learn how to be responsible in all he does, including money...so...
Awesome!!! It'll be fun to start this with Aidan eventually. Don't want to add anything else to our plate right now though.
I like responsibility money vs. allowance. I actually heard a kid argue with their parents not to long ago that ALLOWANCE money was OWED to the child, like a handout. I was flabbergasted.
What a wonderful way to teach responsibility and stewardship! That is great! I will have to keep it in mind for Ava and Sasha.
This is really great. What a wonderful way to teach the kids.
My mind is like a sieve!! I can't remember if I've read your post about the dirty Russian toilet but I sure would love to read about it. Can you give me the url to the old post?
Love it. I think this is one of the most important lessons for the little ones. Way to go! :)
Pretty cool way to teach your son about tithing. Your family is beautiful!
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