Financial Literacy
The most obvious benefit to teaching financial literacy directly is that dealing with money is something students are going to do for the rest of their lives, and is typically one of the most stressful parts of one’s life. Learning about budgeting is such an essential skill. But, beyond the benefits to the student themselves, it’s also beneficial to society as a whole. People who are knowledgeable with money will typically carry less debt, and the economic crash of 2008 was largely the result of people buying houses they couldn’t really afford and driving house prices artificially upwards. Ideally, if students learn how to create an accurate, livable budget, then they won’t overspend and get deep into debt.
The following EDUGains videos about financial literacy in Ontario elementary schools and acting out distribution of wealth through drama outline different aspects of financial literacy as well as ideas for incorporating it into your classroom. Some ideas I thought were really great ideas were the connection to the health curriculum and the question wall. First, when it comes to the health connection I loved the idea of having students create a grocery list on a budget - they can really explore the cost differences between healthy foods and more processed, less nutritious foods, and decide for themselves (taking into account health and cost) which is the better choice for them. The question wall’s link to inquiry is a great one - some of the questions shown in the video were ones even I would love to know the answer to. When students understand not only the answers to their questions, but also how to answer their questions then they become truly equipped to manage their finances later in life.
An excellent resource for getting financial literacy into your classroom is A Sound Investment which was put out by the ministry of education in 2010.
The following EDUGains videos about financial literacy in Ontario elementary schools and acting out distribution of wealth through drama outline different aspects of financial literacy as well as ideas for incorporating it into your classroom. Some ideas I thought were really great ideas were the connection to the health curriculum and the question wall. First, when it comes to the health connection I loved the idea of having students create a grocery list on a budget - they can really explore the cost differences between healthy foods and more processed, less nutritious foods, and decide for themselves (taking into account health and cost) which is the better choice for them. The question wall’s link to inquiry is a great one - some of the questions shown in the video were ones even I would love to know the answer to. When students understand not only the answers to their questions, but also how to answer their questions then they become truly equipped to manage their finances later in life.
An excellent resource for getting financial literacy into your classroom is A Sound Investment which was put out by the ministry of education in 2010.
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