INSURANCE company Pru Life UK aims to encourage parents to teach their children about financial literacy at home as it made teaching materials for its program, Cha-Ching Kid$ At Home available online.

Cha-Ching Kid$ At Home is an offshoot of the company’s long-running program, Cha-Ching, which is a series of three-minute animated music videos that “help children learn about the fundamental money management concepts of Earn, Save, Spend, and Donate.” The videos are currently available on the Cartoon Network Asia YouTube channel.

The at home program contains materials and guides to help parents teach their children “key management concepts — earn, save, spend, and donate — in an interactive and engaging way,” according to a release.

“Each guide directs parents to a relevant Cha-Ching music video, key topics for discussion, and activities to help their children put learning into practice,” the company said.

The guides are downloadable for free on the Cha-Ching website (chaching.cartoonnetworkasia.com/en/) and can be viewed online or printed. The guides are in English but Filipino translations will be available soon.

Aside from the guides, Cha-Ching is also holding daily challenges on its website that include activities or discussion pointers. Each challenge takes approximately 15 minutes to complete “aiming to encourage parents to incorporate discussions around money with their children as part of their daily life,” said the release.

The Cha-Ching home materials are currently available in nine countries in Asia and six in Africa.

HISTORY OF CHA-CHING
The Cha-Ching program started in 2011 as a response to the Financial Crisis of 2008 when it became clear that many people would benefit from learning about financial literacy.

“Do people really understand what they’re buying? Do they understand the products that they’re purchasing? [Were] the companies and other companies selling those products responsible?” Marc Fancy, Prudence Foundation executive director, said in a digital conference last week, explaining the “genesis” of Cha-Ching.

The company partnered with Cartoon Network to produce Cha-Ching to target children aged seven to 12. Mr. Fancy said they consulted with education specialists and psychologists and found that “behavior change happens at its height for children aged seven to 12.”

“So if you really want to plant the seeds of good behavior… you’re much better off talking to children aged seven to 12,” Mr. Fancy said.

Cha-Ching also partnered with several schools in Asia and Africa to incorporate financial literacy in their curriculums, an effort that “has now already reached 500,000 children across five countries,” and trained “just short of 10,000 teachers in Asia,” he explained.

The financial literacy curriculum is currently being implemented in Negros Occidental, Palawan, and Bicol for students in Grade 4. Mr. Fancy added they are currently working with the Department of Education to continue spreading the program in other provinces. — Zsarlene B. Chua

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