Teaching children to shop.

Teaching children to shop needs to be fun, as with all learning. It also needs to be sequenced so that the learner will be able to understand the logic in the process.
Weather teaching the child at home or at school it is always important for the child to have the experience of shopping first- hand.
Discussions about making choices is useful as is the adult’s use of the language of comparisons for example; large/small, heavy/light, expensive/cheap.
When at the checkout the adult needs to demonstrate to the child the transaction. The exchange that is happening, money for goods.
Following on from the visit to the shop one can be made at home. The child should be allowed to choose what is to be sold to maintain interest. Price tags will then be made for each item the price being either a red or yellow counter. The child will only be given 6 counters of these two colours.
They then experience shopping by considering what they can exchange/buy for the counters they have.
The next step is to increase the number of counters for each object to 2 or 3 the child can be given 10 counters.
The next stage is for the child to get an idea of comparative worth for example 5 blue counters is worth 1 red, 2 red are worth 1 yellow and so on.

  The child is then given a mixture of counters and the price tags can vary in colours and number. The child will begin to work out the worth of the counters they have and how they can be used.
It is only when a child has this idea of exchange that the value of coins should be introduced as by then they will understand the concept.