Started by the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy in the year 2000, April marks the 11th annual Financial Literacy Month. That makes spring a perfect time to focus on your kids' financial education. All year they've been filling up their heads with facts and figures on many subjects. But have they learned the essential facts about money and how to get on the path to financial independence?
Making sure kids learn these important lessons is one of the goals of Yes, You Can. Jill Grotzinger, a partner in Experience Design Innovation Group LLC (EDI), the Yes, You Can curriculum designers, recommends starting by playing the Whaddayaknow? Game Show with your students or kids. "It's fun to do, and can be used several ways. It's a great introduction to financial vocabulary and terminology. After finishing the Yes, You Can curriculum, teachers can also use the game again as reinforcement before testing," Jill suggests.
Download the Whaddayaknow? game.
To play: Select the value and use the delete key to reveal the question. Select the question and then use the delete key to reveal the answer.
The curriculum provides step-by-step instructions for playing the TV-style game, including:
Creating a game board on the wall using the print-ready materials or using a computer to play electronically.
- Setting up teams of three to five students.
- Asking each team to create a one-word name, such as Brainiacs, and to select a spokesperson and scorekeeper.
- Going in alphabetical order, each team chooses a category and dollar amount, such as "Income" for $200. Terms and definitions are revealed as each team gives an answer.
- Having scorekeepers calculate scores and determine the final score once the last box has been selected. The team with the highest score wins.
In each category, student will learn definitions for five financial terms:
Spending - wants, advertisement, fixed expense, credit card and debt.
Saving - savings account, emergency fund, comparison shopping, compound interest and Pay Yourself First®.
Income - paycheck, net worth, profit, taxes and easy access credit.
Planning - financial goal, spending plan, opportunity cost, systematic decision-making and inflation.
Investing - portfolio, stock market, risk and reward, share and mutual fund.
As each correct answer is revealed, the teacher can discuss these terms and what they mean.
The Yes, You Can curriculum starts kids early on the road to financial independence. They'll learn that their ABCs should also include Assets, Benefits and Credit and the 3 R's can refer to Revenue, Rent and Retirement!