Barbara Frank

Seven years ago, Life Prep for Homeschooled Teenagers was first published. Since then, I’ve gotten many email messages from readers who used the curriculum with their kids and were pleased with it.

Sadly, I’ve also been asked why I chose to include girls in my target audience for the book.

Now, I realize that many homeschoolers are even more conservative than I am, enough so that they plan to keep their daughters at home until and unless they marry. But to keep them in the dark about financial matters seems so misguided to me. » Read the rest of this entry «

Congratulations to reader Sarah, who won last week’s drawing for a free copy of my book, Life Prep for Homeschooled Teenagers.

I want to thank everyone who entered the drawing. Your responses to the question, “What do you think is the biggest blessing of homeschooling a teen?” just blew me away. Anybody who’s intimidated by the thought of homeschooling through high school should read all of those wonderful comments!

The deadline for this week’s drawing is this Friday, April 16, at midnight. Don’t miss out on your chance to win a free copy of The Imperfect Homeschooler’s Guide to Homeschooling….enter now!

These “15 Money Rules Kids Should Learn” are not exactly the ones that we used with our kids, but that’s ok. The rules are up to the parents; the important thing is that parents teach their kids how to handle money responsibly.

Our country’s financial situation makes it clear that there are an awful lot of people running around with NO idea of how to handle money. Unfortunately, many of them hold public office. And not only is their lack of financial sense hurting us, but it’s going to hurt our kids and grandchildren, because they’re going to be left holding an enormous amount of national debt.

What can we do? We can start teaching our own kids to handle money from the time they’re little. It’s not something you do in an afternoon. It takes many years. As I write in my upcoming book, Thriving in the 21^st Century,

Those who are truly prepared for this new economy will be mostly unencumbered by debt, and therefore free to make changes in their careers without being forced to find another job immediately because of all the payments they have to make each month. They’ll have bank accounts to live off of when they need to go back to school for additional training in order to become more marketable. They’ll be able to take time off to start a new business, or to keep a current business afloat by not taking a paycheck for a while. Financial flexibility is of prime importance in the global economy.

Even now, having money in the bank and minimal expenses is what separates those with choices from those tied to a job and living in constant fear of layoffs. By raising money-smart kids, we give them the tools to handle both prosperity and financial difficulty; in the rapidly changing global economy, there are plenty of both.

How do you raise financially literate kids? You start when they’re young, so that by the time they’re teens, they can understand what you’re talking about when you teach them about budgeting, mortgages and other topics they’ll need to know as adults. You can find projects that teach these subjects and more in Life Prep for Homeschooled Teenagers, the parent-friendly curriculum for teaching your teens how to become morally and financially responsible adults.

This week I’m giving away a copy of Life Prep. To enter, go here; the deadline for this giveway is Friday at midnight. Good luck!

All week long, I’ve enjoyed the scent of this hyacinth as I worked. (It’s also a welcome distraction from the messy desk, don’t you think?) Spring is finally here, and not a moment too soon.

Congratulations to reader Jacqueline H., whose name was drawn in this past week’s Giveaway. If you haven’t won yet, keep trying. There are three more giveaways; this coming week’s winner will receive a copy of my first book, Life Prep for Homeschooled Teenagers. You can enter that drawing here.

Have a blessed Easter, everyone!

For the past month, I’ve been giving away materials recommended in my book Life Prep for Homeschooled Teenagers. Now let’s give away a copy of the book itself, which is a curriculum for teaching teens values and skills for the adult world they’re about to enter.

But first, a question: what do you think is the biggest blessing that comes from homeschooling a teen? Leave your answer as a comment on this post by Friday, April 9 Sunday, April 11 at midnight, and you’ll be automatically entered into a drawing for a free copy of Life Prep for Homeschooled Teenagers.

If you’ve ever heard Dr. James Dobson speak to a group, you know how engaging and informative he can be. In this video, part 1 of the “Life on the Edge” series, Dobson talks with teens about how to make decisions within God’s will once they become adults.

What are the toughest decisions we have to make as adults? Leave your answer as a comment on this post by Friday, April 2, and you’ll be automatically entered into a drawing for this video, “Preparing for the Challenges of Adulthood,” part of a video series I recommended in my book Life Prep for Homeschooled Teenagers, where I wrote:

I highly recommend this video series for its common sense and Christian attitude about the issues and decisions our teenagers will face as adults.

Stay tuned for more giveaways!

This month’s issue of Money Matters magazine (page eight) has an inspiring story for all teens. If I were still doing Life Prep for Homeschooled Teenagers with my daughter, I’d add it to her assignments for the week.

It’s the true story of a young newlywed couple who has been married for less than two years, has no debt and has $50,000 in savings, all due to their joint effort to manage their money responsibly.

He has a college degree, and she has a one-year technical degree. Both worked their way through college and graduated without debt. Their goals for the future include a large family, a paid-off house and ample donations to missions. What a great example for all young people!

Money Matters is published by Crown Financial Ministries, the organization that Larry Burkett helped start. Listening to Larry Burkett’s Christian financial radio show helped encourage my husband and me as we worked toward becoming completely debt-free, a goal we achieved (not on our own, only with God’s help!) in 2002.  Do check out Crown’s site while you’re there.