Review - Kindernomics Workshop

During the March school holidays, E and I had the opportunity to attend a Kindernomics workshop; thanks to an invitation from Kindernomics, extended to us by Rachel and Pauline from My Playschool.

I was looking forward to the workshop based on what I read from the Kindernomics website. From the writeup, Kindernomics stood out as offering an enrichment program in a league of its own, in a market saturated with the usual speech and drama, phonics classes.

The economics curriculum helps kids make sense of what goes on in the world around them by introducing them to essential and easy to understand economic concepts such as:

• The notion of money
• What are savings
• How waiting can sometimes pay off
• Why work is necessary

The 1.5 hours session was interspersed with various activities which helped in engaging the children as there was a change in activity every 15 minutes or so. The children watched a video which explained the concept of money and how they could earn Kinder Dollars and later choose to save or spend the money.

A table was laid out with different ingredients for baking cookies. I liked the added detail of having the same ingredient with a different measurement (like honey in two different containers, one with 2 tablespoons and one with 4 tablespoons). The ingredients were also labelled with cost in Kinder Dollars.

 

The children proceeded to do a worksheet which focused on addition skills. Thereafter, they took turns to mix the ingredients and prepare the dough.

While they were waiting for the cookies to be baked, the children were led to the Kinderbank where they could deposit the Kinder Dollars they earned. The Kinderbank worked like an ATM and it was fun for the kids. At the end of the lesson, the children could choose to redeem an item if they had money left (if they did not choose to deposit all their Kinder Dollars).

Reflections:

E enjoyed the lesson and being the active boy that he is, the variety of activities offered throughout the workshop; allowed him to learn in an engaging and fun way.  Being a kinesthetic learner, he learned best through hands on activities and plenty of movement.

He identified with using the Kinderbank as he has withdrawn and deposited money when he's with me at the ATM. The choice to save or spend the Kinder Dollars was made by the children and while this is a good concept where they can learn delayed gratification and decision making skills, it was not emphasized.  This concept could have been reinforced by the teacher before they proceeded to use the Kinderbank. Older children might grasp the concept after repeated lessons but younger ones might need the extra reinforcement to make sense of what they are doing.

The workshop barely scratched the surface of what Kindernomics offered in its curriculum. I felt that it did not fully convey the niche of Kindernomics. I was expecting the presentation of economic concepts (other than the more common concept of money) in a unique way.

Nevertheless, the fun and educational factor was present and the briefing conducted after the workshop provided more insights into the curriculum. 

These are the 6 concepts which will be covered in the Kindernomics curriculum.  A term of l0 lessons (1.5 hours each) will cost $550. A child has to attend 30 lessons to complete the whole course but parents have the flexibility to sign up on a per term basis.  Holiday camps are also conducted during the school holidays.  Do contact Kindernomics for more information.