Any good ideas for teaching how to count change back? It baffles me that alot of high school kids do not know how to count change back, they depend on the machine to tell them how much to give back, and then they still mess up LOL. No, seriously though, I have a niece that will be starting nursing school next month, and cannot count change back to save her life. And I don't want my boys to not know how to do this. Even if you don't work at a job that requires you to do so, you will always be getting change back and you want to make sure you're getting the right amount back. I know how, I just can't seem to explain it. Any ideas on this? Thanks
practice it.. fake realistic situations. First you count change to him.... Ok Johnny, your total is 3.64. Johnny has to pay you with a 10. You lay the 10 "out of play" as in don't put it in the cash drawer or with the rest of your money, that way you never have the issue of someone telling you that they gave you something they didn't (believe me this happens ALOT!!) Then you start figuring your change with the pennies... ok 1p makes .65, nickles.. no need for them here, dimes.. 1d makes .75, 1q makes $4, $1 makes 5, and $5 makes $10... then you count the money back to the customer either going up or down.. either is acceptable. Then let Johnny count change back to you. It is definately something that comes from practice.
We used play money. I'm sure it's still possible to get it. Sorry if this is stating the obvious, but we taught our children to add, not subtract, in order to give the right change: $3.64 to $3.65 to $3.75 to $4.00 to $5.00 to $10.00. Of course, the tricky bit was for them to remember to use quarters and not only dimes. After a little practice, though, they did just fine.
Yep...we do this too. And I agree. It's pathetic when the Target register "tells" you how much to give back and they can't figure it out. :roll:
This is embarrassing for me but I had to have a customer teach me to count back when I got a job as a cashier. I never learned it in school or at home. We did money problems but IRL situations I was lost. I just started teaching my daughter to count back by playing math games and with play money. My kiddos are currently on real money probation once I learned all my quarters were missing from my coin jar.
We used play money that looked pretty realistic. http://www.moneyinstructor.com/change.asp Here is a link to a web site that teaches counting back change. You can even get work sheets. Does your curriculum have a section on counting back change? I was at the grocery store once and the girl seemed so clueless on giving back change. I asked her to count it back to me and she had a really confused and profound look on her face and said, "What's that"!
Some ideas for teaching money, play grocery store- use a pretend cash register and pretend money and let your child be the cashier. Play board games and let your child be the banker. Use real life, for instance, if they want a pet, make them financially responsible. Have them do chores to earn money, buy the pets food, pay the vet bills etc. Cell phones work good for this one too. One of our older daughters assignments once was to find the best deal on a disney world vacation. We had her call travel agents, go online, research hotels, etc. She was given a budget she had to stay within and certain perimeters. She had a fun time doing it and also learned alot.
I work at a store and most of my co-workers do not know how to count back change. We're suppose to know but most of them just don't because it's easier to read a screen, but I find it easier to make sure when I count to myself and then count it back to them to make sure I'm not shorting anyone.
Yes, we've used the method listed above - starting with pennies and counting up, etc. Having worked in a convenience store setting for a few years (and having grown up working the register in my grandfather's restaurant), I made sure to always count back change. When I had the right amount in my hand according to the computer's calculation, I'd count it back: Okay, 52 cents makes $4, 1 is 5 and 5 is 10. Thank you and come back! (Another thing I did was leave the bill they handed me on the keyboard until they walked away. Every now and then you get someone who says, "But I handed you a $20!" and it was always a jaw-dropper for me to be able to point to the bill I laid on the keyboard and say, no... here it is.. it's a $10. ) Kudos to you for realizing the need to teach this life skill! I often even had customers who weren't quite sure what I was doing - tried to grab the entire stack of money out of my hand and such. :lol:
Uggg.. that happens toooooo often. Before I quit working, I was a manager of a convience store... I can't even tell you how many time I had employees be taken by this scam!! It didn't matter how many times they were told to NOT put the money recieved into their dawer until all change had been given and the customer was satisfied.
LOL I worked with a barky old lady that used to get onto me for doing it, because I couldn't shut the drawer until I put it in, and she deemed that unsafe. Until it happened to her - she gave change for a $20 and he claimed he'd given her a $50. Her only saving grace was that she dropped money into the safe habitually (as did I) and there wasn't a $50 bill in her drawer at all. (And that barky old lady became a dear friend of mine.) We both also counted out ones and fives to paperclip into packets and hid in a bank bag under the register. Then when it was time to count the register down for closing, we already had counted out the majority of what we needed, and only had to count the remaining coinage. Had to do a safe drop for anything over $200 to close out the register. Anyway. Good times. That store is where I met my hubby!
Your not alone. I had to teach myself. Unfortunately, the public school I went to did not teach this. What really gets some cashiers, is when the customer gives them change to get back a complete nickel or dime. For example, if the cashier owed the customer $5.33 cash back and the customer gave the cashier $6.03, the cashier would be thrown for a loop. They don't realize that the customer is trying to make 2 cents (that is added to .33) a full nickel. Which will then give the customer 70 cents instead of 67 cents if he or she would have given the cashier only $6.00.
My mom does this all the time! It throws people off a lot, unless they have a machine that tells the cashier how much they owe back to the customer.
We use play money and I have a collection of small beanies and some MCD's toys that I collected and have saved for that purpose. And I either make paper price tags or use the stickers that one uses for garage sales(dollar tree has them). And it takes practice, practice, practice and more practice. sigh.....we are still practicing. I think this coming school year I will have the kiddos "buy" their lunch and school supplies etc. for extra practice.
My kids have a good way to learn They work for me at the farmer's market - LOL Granted I have a cash register but they still have to be able to do it in their head or count it back because sometimes we all hit the wrong buttons and can't see the amount any more. I'm all for the "play store" way because it works. If they don't see a reason to do it - have them set up a "school store" like real schools did (don't know if they still do) - where you have to buy a pencil or an eraser. You can do this with play money - but have them figure out also how much they made for the week or something
OHHH, I have had more than one customer try this on me. You never ever put the money in the drawer until they are walking away or out the door, especially big bills. I have also freaked people out when I start counting change back to them. They are so used to just grabbing the pile. I agree with all the advice and this is a skill that mostley comes from practice. It really helps if you can count well by 5's, 10's and 25's. Then it is just adding up to the amount that you recieved.
i have had cashers who did not know how to just give change, if they typed in a differnet amount say 20 and i gave them 10 they were lost. I had to tell them what change i needed. I am teaching my girls to count change back.. one time in a store the older casher gave me too much money back!! she did not believe me so i had to go over it with her and tell her how much i could have gotten. boy did i save her that day!! coming us short is not good.
I worked in a grocery store in high school, and I loved that job. And one day 2 ladies came thru my line, and they had me so bum-fuzzled. One was complimenting me endlessly (being 16 yrs. old, it was flattering), the whole time the other one was asking me to change this bill for this, and that bill for that. I got taken for about $250. I was a victim of a short change artist!! I lost my job over it. I'll never forget it as long as I live. My parents had recently separated,my sister had just had her baby and I was helping my mom/sister get by with that job. It was the worst feeling in the world to go home and tell my mom I had lost my job. So, it was a lesson learned.....and one I want to pass on to my kiddos.
I never learned either. I'm with ya! I never learned how to count back either. And I was an honor student. It was just a skill that I never picked up. Actually, I don't even remember being taught it to tell you the truth. But you know what...My kids WILL!!
