We have been giving our daughter an allowance since she was about three. We give her half of her age each week (4yrs. = $2).Therefore each birthday she gets a raise.

    We give her an allowance because she is part of our family (and to help her learn money matters, of course). In turn, she helps us do chores around the house because that's a responsiblilty we have as a  member of our family to help things run smoothly. We have avoided so many down falls that come from giving an allowance by following this train of thinking. For instance, we don't  have to deal with her thinking she gets paid for everything she does. When we want to introduce her to a new chore or need a helping hand doing additional work we don't hear,  "How much am I going to get paid." When she surprises us by doing some unexpected chore, we know it is for the right motives (She knows it won't earn her a any extra monetary reward.) This also keeps her from expecting to paid if she lends a neighbor a helping hand.

     This idea came from Dr. Kevin Leman in his book Making Children Mind Without Losing Your.