Check
Age 7+A paper from your bank account that tells another person how much money to take. Most people use cards or apps now instead.
At a glance
A check is a piece of paper that authorises another person to withdraw a specific amount from your bank account. The writer fills in the payee, the amount, the date, and signs it; the payee then deposits or cashes it at a bank. Checks are fading but they persist in birthday cards from grandparents, rent payments, and a surprising number of small businesses, so the literacy still matters.
Example sentence
"Grandpa wrote you a check for your birthday."
Why this matters for kids
Checks are quietly fading from daily life — most adults under thirty rarely write one — but they have not disappeared, and kids still receive them as gifts. A teen who has never seen a check before may not know how to endorse it, may try to deposit it weeks late, or may not realise that depositing a check at the wrong bank can cost a fee. Beyond the practical literacy, the check is a teaching artifact: it shows the structure of an instruction to a bank, which transfers cleanly to understanding ACH, wire transfers, and the entire payment-rails layer below the apps everyone now uses. Skip teaching checks and a tween will assume Venmo is how money moves, which fundamentally misunderstands what the digital convenience layer is built on.
How to teach it
Next time a check arrives, walk through the anatomy with them. Point at each field: payee (the person being paid), amount (in numbers and again in words — explain why both), date, signature, memo line, the routing and account numbers along the bottom. Take them with you to deposit it. Most banks now allow mobile deposit; if so, sit together and walk through the steps — endorse the back ("for deposit only" plus signature is the cleanest), photograph front and back, submit. If you have an older check around, write a practice check together with everything filled in but do not sign it; let them see how easy it would be to fill in the wrong amount or forget to sign. For teens, mention that bank checks (cashier's checks) are different — they're backed by the bank itself, not a personal account, and are sometimes required for big purchases like a car.
Common misconceptions
- Checks have to be cashed immediately. Most checks are valid for 6 months from the date written, though specific banks have policies. Don't panic, but don't sit on one for a year.
- A signed check on its own is the same as cash. A signed check is an authorisation to withdraw — but it can bounce if the writer's account doesn't have the funds. Always wait for the deposit to clear before treating the money as truly yours.
- Checks are old and irrelevant. They are old, but rent, payroll for some employers, and government refunds still flow through checks. Knowing how to handle one is still a basic adult skill.
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