Empowering people to figure stuff out on their own is the best way to teach. My Dad handed me the reins to out a small stock account with my own, my siblings and some of his money when I was 11. Man, can that motivate you to learn. I'd read 20 investing books by the time I got into high school. And fundamentally the most important thing it taught me was how to think about money. And its was so effortless on his part.

On a similar note, Warren Buffet made around $50,000 by the time he graduated high school by owning several vending machines, among other things.