Clever Dough Kids Academy is the creation of Amanda van der Gulik; it’s an online program with downloadable workbooks, activities, storybooks, videos, audios and more. It has components for the whole family; a book for parents to read to help them become familiar with what their children are learning and to help them give encouragement and support; information and advice for primary and elementary students; and helpful tools for teens as well.

Van der Gulik has a clear passion about giving children (and teens) the skills and tools to set them up for financial success, even at a young age. The course is broken down into twelve modules, each based upon a particular topic such as Goal Setting, Making Money, The Value of Money, Leverage, Passive Income, and Making it Fun, with each of these ideas carried throughout the course. How many adults understand compound interest? Believe it or not, this concept is explained so clearly and simply that my eight and ten-year-old children now understand it.

Kids are given lots of ideas about ways they can make money and brainstorm many more of their own; you may find they become very enthusiastic about it! Van der Gulik uses six piggy banks to save for different occasions including giving to charity and she doesn’t want children to feel like they’re doing without so there is also a bank for spending on current desires.

Kids don’t like to be told what to do so instead of parents giving the lectures, van der Gulik becomes the mentor and guides children with her information in video format as well as through the chapter books where kids can follow along on the adventures and answer questions about the stories for deeper comprehension. For teens, the videos are given in a more grown-up style with flip charts and they can hear the interaction of the teen audience.

Does this class work? Yes, it does; my children have taken it to heart with many ideas (both realistic and fantastical) and they have their hearts and minds set on making money. Tristan has designed a brochure of services he is willing to undertake to distribute to family, friends, and neighbors while Kallista has her heart set on selling everyone’s items at a garage sale.

My children found the course quite reading-intensive but they do enjoy reading stories, so it was great that the course had the storybooks woven throughout it. Of course, an older sibling or a parent could read the stories to children as well if reading isn’t their thing.

Van der Gulik truly believes in the power of positive thought when it is combined with an action plan and followed through, so get your vision boards ready and be prepared for your children to start earning their own money and putting it to work for them.

-Product review by Crystal McClean, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine LLC, June, 2018