Family is still the primary influence on money-management attitudes and behaviors. The good news is that children want to learn about money and look to their parents for guidance - the 1999 Youth & Money Survey by the American Savings Education Council revealed that 94% of students surveyed preferred to turn to family for financial advice and guidance. But many parents are uncomfortable talking about money issues with their children or feel unqualified to teach their children about personal finance.

There's no reason for parents to take on the challenge alone. Many education specialists have developed interesting materials and fun tools that can help parents teach good money skills to their children and, perhaps, learn better money skills for themselves.

Read more about some of the organizations with financial education materials for children:

• Choose to Save®
• Consolidated Credit Counseling Services, Inc.™
• Consumer Federation of America (CFA)
• FirstGov for Kids
• Institute of Consumer Financial Education (ICFE)
• Jump$tart Coalition
• The Mint
• The Money Camp™
• National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE)
• NEFE Teen Resource Bureau
• U.S. Department of the Treasury

Choose to Save®

Choose to Save® is focused on one thing: financial education. Information and advice on raising money-smart kids is available in the Savings Tips section, including resources as varied as Grandparents, Youth & Money and Kids & Money - Preschoolers through Teenagers. The Brochures section includes brochures for parents and children to download, including titles such as It's Never Too Late to Save, Just Starting Out, The Magic of Compounding and a Piggy Bank Wrapper.
 

Consolidated Credit Counseling Services, Inc.™

Consolidated Credit Counseling Services, Inc.™ provides education and professional counseling to help families end financial crisis and solve money management problems. The Learning Center offers free self-help booklets on many money management issues. Budgeting 101 provides information and advice to allow college-bound teenagers to create and use a successful budget and avoid high debt while getting through school. Kids and Money is designed to help parents of young children understand how kids learn about money and provides useful ideas for creating successful learning experiences.
 

Consumer Federation of America (CFA)

CFA works to give consumers a voice in matters and decisions that affect their lives. The Publications section includes a brochure titled Teaching Your Children How to Save and Spend, which addresses what teenagers need to know about money and how best to teach them good financial skills.
 

FirstGov for Kids

FirstGov for Kids is a U.S. government interagency portal for kids that includes a Money section with an extensive list of Web sites designed to help kids of all ages learn more about handling money. Cyberchase: The Quest provides younger children with a series of adventures and games designed to teach them about saving and spending. Teenagers can learn about financial concepts and strategies related to small business ownership from the Small Business Administration's Teen Web Guide and Small Business Classroom.
 

Institute of Consumer Financial Education (ICFE)

ICFE works to help educate people about the importance of increasing savings and offers tips for spending and using credit wisely. The Children and Money section caters to both parents and children. "Money Skills Kits" provide suggestions for parents and grandparents, and publications for children and young adults include a Young Spender's Profile evaluation tool and a How to Develop Improved Spending Techniques and Practices publication that describes a step-by-step process for young adults to gain control of spending.
 

Jump$tart Coalition (Jump$tart®)

Jump$tart® promotes personal finance education at the K-12 educational level. Its Clearinghouse section includes a comprehensive database of low-cost or free personal finance materials.
 

The Mint

NCEE and Northwestern Mutual collaborated to create The Mint, a Web site with resources for teaching young kids how to be money-savvy. Children can access interactive learning tools on topics such as earning, saving, spending, tracking, investing and owning. The Tips for Parents and Ideas for Young Kids sections offer parents many pointers and suggestions to help them successfully teach their children financial responsibility.
 

The Money Camp™

The Money Camp aims to teach children and adults alike personal money management skills. The Web site's Resources section provides financial literacy articles and links to financial sites for children, adults and teachers. Both children and parents can check out the Links for Kids section, which lists dozens of useful resources for teaching kids about money.
 

National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE)

NEFE's principal mission is to assist people in achieving pragmatic personal financial management skills. To raise financial literacy, NEFE offers Education Programs tailored mainly to young adults, but open to all age groups. The Web site offers parents with young children many resources, including an easy-to-follow guide: Simple Steps to Raising a Money-Smart Child.
 
The NEFE Teen Resource Bureau (NTRB) was developed by teens to help their peers gain insight on smart personal finance management. Teenagers and young adults can visit the NTRB Web site to find out how their peers are handling money matters such as budgeting, saving, investing and developing entrepreneurial businesses.
 

U.S. Department of the Treasury

The U.S. Department of the Treasury offers a great resource for parents and teachers of children age 6 and younger with learning tools and games on topics such as savings bonds and coins. By following the Savings Bond link, children can learn what a bond is, where to get one, and how much money a bond will create for them. By clicking on the U.S. Mint link, children can learn everything they could want to know about the different coins in their pockets.