Today I want to share with you a new teacher resource that I purchased this summer and will be using with students this fall. I feel like a huge part of my responsibility as a parent and a teacher is to make sure when I am talking about math, I am talking about the real world applications for learning this. One area where I feel like schools in general and myself in particular need to do better at is helping kids be financially savvy. I know when I got out of high school and went to college, I had no idea how to handle finances, pay bills or deal with not having enough money. This is not what I want for my students. I know our curriculum is already packed and there is not currently a way for us to offer a personal finance class in every high school so I have been looking for ways to talk more with kids about finances during my regular math classes. I was very excited to see this book and have read most of it already.
Here is what I like about this book so far:
- It is aimed at preK-2 which is a grade level I feel like I spend little to no time on financial topics with.
- There are some great discussions about spending, saving and sharing money. Three things that kids this age can understand and that will help form a strong foundation for later in life.
- Great children's literature serves as a springboard for many of the lessons.
- Everything you need is included. There are letters that can go home with kids after the lessons, formative assessment ideas and tips for differentiating lessons.
Be on the look out the next few weeks for a detailed Monday Math Literature post about a lesson from this book!
How do you talk to kids about money or finances? Please respond in the comments below!
Personally, I use Dave Ramsey's children's books about Junior. Books like Careless at the Carnival about not spending all your money on the games at the carnival or the book A Special Thank You about what you should do if you find money that someone lost. I have the whole pack of them and my son's favorite is the Super Red Racer in which Junior has to save up his money to buy a bike he really wants. All of them are great and a fun way to teach kids about handling their money. You can find them here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.daveramsey.com/store/kids-teens/kids-3-12/juniors-adventures-the-boxed-set/prod140.html
i had not heard of these! Thanks for sharing!
DeleteI'm a BIG Dave Ramsey fan, but I've never talked about finances with my first graders.
ReplyDelete❀ Tammy
Forever in First
I'm looking forward to hearing about your lesson.
DeleteInteresting book! I think it would be a useful discussion in my class too. They're never too young to learn:)
ReplyDelete