Money and making change

What they’re learning

Your child is learning to represent money amounts, combine coins and bills, and reason about simple purchases and change. This develops number sense as well as financial literacy.

Explain it to my child

Money problems are addition and subtraction in real life. If something costs $3.25 and you pay $5.00, the change is the amount needed to get from $3.25 back to $5.00.

Try it together

Set up a tiny pretend shop with 5 household items priced under $10. Use real or pretend coins. Take turns buying, choosing a way to pay, and checking the change.

Practice

1. $2.00 + $1.50 = ?
2. $5.00 - $3.25 = ?
3. Which is more: 4 quarters or 9 dimes?
4. You have $10 and spend $6.40. How much remains?
5. Give two different ways to make $1.00 with coins.

Check understanding

• Can your child combine money values accurately?
• Can they explain how they checked change?