Teaching Life Skills

That, in essence, was the premise to which Tara Connor and Pam Privasky subscribed as they planned and implemented a Summer Quest program entitled Financial Literacy, which included one session for 12 Middle School students and another for 11 Lower Schoolers.

Their idea was to simulate real-life financial situations, choices, and decisions in a fun, age-appropriate manner and give students a jump-start toward understanding the fundamentals of personal fiscal accountability.

“It’s important for kids to be exposed to the basics of handling money and learn the bigger picture of how the world works around them,” said Pam, who, like Tara, teaches Middle School math at Collegiate. “Hopefully, it (the class) will help them become more financially responsible adults.”

Was this a math or economics class? I wondered.

“We do some math, and we do some economics, “Tara said, “but it’s really a class about life skills.” 

Day One focused on the topics of careers, colleges, and taxes. Day Two was insurance, housing, and bills. Day Three was cars, student loans, and groceries. Day Four was unexpected events, entertainment, and savings. Each day’s schedule included guided computer research, discussion, activities, and games such as Monopoly, Life, and Pay Day.

Students used a financial literacy roadmap (downloaded from the Teachers Pay Teacher website) which lists a host of jobs with the monthly earnings one might expect and the education level required for each. First, though, they took a survey to determine their career interests.

“We didn’t want them to be money-driven,” Pam said. “We wanted it to be, What’s my passion? What’s my drive? What’s my love? We talked about how important it is to be happy in your job. If they said, for instance, ‘I want to be a chef,’ we could show them the chart that gives them their (potential) monthly salary. They could then figure their yearly salary and determine taxes, insurance, and bills.” 

How did students receive this information? I asked.

“It’s really interesting,” Tara said. “We had the kids think about some of the things their parents pay every month to keep them living comfortably. They were shocked about how expensive things are. For example, health care. (In the simulation), they have to pay for a dental plan, vision plan, and general medical plan. There was some gentle outrage about having to take that money out (of their paychecks).
    
“They had to calculate based on their yearly income which tax bracket they would fall into. It was shocking to them about how much of their paycheck they’ll never actually see because of taxes.”

Each day, students worked on a variety of simulations and learned the ins-and-outs of wants versus needs so they could make informed decisions. 
    
“The research we’ve done on financial literacy stresses the importance of managing your own budget,” Tara said. “That’s not always a natural skill. You start with income. You take out mandatory expenses. If you want to buy a luxury item, you need to think about how that’s going to affect other choices. Giving them an actual job and keeping track of an actual budget makes it feel so much more real.”

The class included activities in which students earned “play” money to redeem for items in a “snack store.”

“It was fascinating,” Tara continued. “Some of them were reluctant to spend this paper money. We had the discussion of, ‘If this is a credit card, it might feel different.’ You don’t necessarily have that loss effect when you’re buying something on credit or your information’s saved on your computer versus physically spending the cash. Some kids didn’t spend a dime until the last day. Some spent it as fast as it got into their hands. It was really interesting to see them apply these skills, even in a very miniature setting.”

Like so many educational endeavors, academic or otherwise, the outcome might not be apparent until years hence.

‘We wanted to make sure they’re financially savvy and safe and able to make good choices so they can be successful in the future,” Pam said. “They were excited. They were curious. They made connections. It was fun to see the wheels turning.”
 ~Weldon Bradshaw