When you give them money, they use it well. Whether they get an allowance or are just getting a few dollars for an occasion, notice how they spend it. If they're buying things the smart way, they might have been paying attention to your money lessons.
"One of the things that we like to see families do is give their kids some room to manage money so you can see how they do with it," Levine says. This is how they'll use some of the things they've learned, like comparison shopping and how to buy things on sale, and it's how you'll really be able to tell if they've been listening.
"It isn't so much watching like what they buy, but how they make those financial decisions," says Levine.