A training program set up to give preschoolers an early business education is now teaching the little students how to be good consumers.

The young students at Shanghai FasTracKids Learning Station, the program designer, will spend part of their class time this year learning how to spend real money in real supermarkets to learn about economics and shopping.

During the 30-minute activity, students will be given 10 yuan (US$1.2) each and sent to the supermarket. The children are allowed to buy whatever they like, but they must buy at least three goods with the total price ranging from 7 yuan to 10 yuan.

"As most young kids nowadays have no idea about the value of money, the activity will help them learn about shopping," said Kitty Yang from FasTracKids.

In the latest shopping, more than 210 children aged 3 to 6 were taken to the Parkson supermarket in downtown to spend their cash. All the children managed to fulfill the requirements, but many of them needed help from their teachers and parents, Yang said.

Yang said most of the kids rushed straight to the candies, snacks and toys without bothering to check the prices first.

More than 80 percent of the young shoppers found their 10 yuan didn't cover the cost of everything they wanted, Yang said.

"Limited money helped to teach my son, who always considers himself a little king at home, that money doesn't come easy, and he should treasure every penny for what he needs the most," said Liu Yufei, mother of a 4-year-old.

(Shanghai Daily News January 27, 2005)