So, I'm being allowed to teach a finance class to middle schoolers.....

[msjd123]

Want to help me plan the curriculum?

I've taught middle school English for almost 10 years now, but I'm a finance geek at heart, and I'm sooooo excited about this class! There's a chance it may still get cancelled come September if our enrollment goes down, but for now, it's on the master schedule for next year, so I need to plan a semester-long class on the assumption that it will go through.

Here are the basics: It's an 1-semester elective class and the curriculum is almost entirely up to me. It's being called "Adventures in Math" (yuck, not my choice at all) and is supposed to support basic math skills, which means that I'll likely get kids who are not doing well in Math. Based on my experience, that means kids who tend to struggle with anything too sophisticated or drawn-out, who give up easily, and who need high-interest stuff. (Not being judgmental there, but that's the population we serve.)

That said, I want this to be a practical learning experience with lots of of hands-on, high-interest kinds of stuff. So far, I'm thinking I'll divide the semester into 3 units: Earning Money (getting a job, why college matters, interviewing skills, etc.), Spending and Saving Money (budgeting, cash vs. credit, etc.) and Investing.

That's pretty much all I have sorted out so far, though, so I'm open to ideas and feedback. If your 12-14 year old were enrolled in a class like this at school, what do you think s/he would be interested in learning about? What would YOU want him or her to learn?

[PajamaMama]

I'd like to see:

something about how a bank account works: debit card, checks, compound interest

getting a loan and how interest amortizes (for kids of course, just along the lines of 'the first year only 2% of your payment goes to principal, blablabla')

more later...

[choli]

How to calculate how much you pay over the life of a loan or mortgage compared to what you borrow.

Basic budgeting - you could teach how to budget their allowance for transportation, lunches, entertainment, etc.

How to shop - calculating the per unit price, using coupons wisely, etc.

[JennaW]

I don't have much to say but I just wanted to say there was a "finance" unit in my math class in 8th grade and that is when I learned how to write a check. I consider it an important life skill, even though I don't write checks terribly often.

[nadia105]

PPs had great suggestions, I would also include something about ccs, like what you actually wind up paying if you charge a $500 item and only make minimum payments.

What a great class! It's a great opportunity to get em while they're young and before they make financial mistakes that so many people make b/c they don't know better.

[kirstenb]

Originally Posted by nadia105

I would also include something about ccs, like what you actually wind up paying if you charge a $500 item and only make minimum payments.

I was going to say this, plus how long it can take to pay off a balance paying only minimum payments. I would also talk about in the budgeting portion how important it is to live withing your means and not to finance a lifestyle you can't affords with credit cards. Do you know anyone who has lived way beyond their means and is still paying for that mistake? I remember at that age real life examples made big impacts on me.

In the investing section I would go over the major differences between 401(k) plans, IRAs, and Roth IRAs. I would also go over how starting investing at a young age can greatly increase how much you have at retirement.

[koofie]

ditto about writing checks, but especially balancing a checkbook. I took a lifeskills class in HS and this was one of the biggies. Also, how to fill out an application for employment. And how to add time (like 2:15 pm, add 1.5 hours) just in case - its a skill many kids miss. You may want to go over how to read a clock to see if they can!

Maybe a section on shopping? Like comparing prices on items ect?

HTH! it sounds like fun! I'm an English teacher too... maybe I'll ask to do the same type thing one day - then I'll PM you

[xmysticprincessx]

In the "Why College Matters" part, I'd throw in something about the difference between average saleries of someone who dropped out of high school, someone with a high school diploma or GED, and a college education. They had these up in the hallways high school I subbed at.

I also like the idea of having kids figure out how much money they'd make in a day, week, and month at various jobs. Like if they made minimum wage working full time at McDonald's, and then how much they would make doing 2 or 3 possible careers. (And have them research the career- how much schooling is necessary, what do you actually do, etc.) payscale.com gives ballpark figures of what people are earning for various careers in different parts of the country. And then have them look in the classifieds to get a pretend apartment, a pretend car payment, etc to give them an idea of how much things actually cost. (Or have them go to a site like realtor.com and pick out 3 houses and use those to figure out the monthly payments, interest etc.)

I wouldn't get too complicated with them. They're only in middle school, and these kids aren't very good at math (and probably don't like it much). Like with credit cards, maybe giving them a chart with how much they would pay in interest if they made minimum payments, if they paid double the minimum, different interest rates, etc and then have them figure out the difference would be more beneficial than having them actually calculate that out on their own. (Kids hate fractions and percents.)

Oh, and I used to sell cars, and I think one of the most beneficial things would be to show kids how important it is to have good credit. I had one woman whose monthly payment on an entry level sedan went up $40 a month b/c of interest! And showing kids how to work backwards on a car payment too. If I had a dollar for every person who wanted a $20,000+ SUV for $250 a month, I could have retired. Like show them that $250 a month * 60 months = $15,000 and that doesnt even include interest charges.

Its awesome that they're giving you the chance to teach this class. I taught math before, and this is the one thing that I think should be included in every math curriculum. If school is to prepare kids for the future and adulthood, they're going to use stuff like this every day vs stuff like trig probably never (unless they're going to be a rocket scientist or something).

[Ironica]

Maybe you can also include a segment on statistics and probabilities. It's really just fractions and percentages from a different viewpoint. You can tie it to finance with gambling games: have them play craps (for monopoly money), *then* have them calculate the probabilities of each roll coming up, then have them play again and see how it changes their strategy. (Ok, I admit, this comes almost directly from an episode of The Wire. But it seemed to make sense!)

I'm guessing IRAs and 401(k)s are kinda far out of your target audience's experience. Unless they're pretty much middle-class, their parents probably don't have these types of accounts, so they may barely have heard of them. OTOH, they *have* heard of the stock market, so you can have them pick investments to allocate fictional money to, watch the market, and calculate how much their investment gained or lost. Then after following their individual stocks for a week, you can put them in groups to come up with a mutual fund portfolio, and see if they come out with more money at the end. After both those exercises, compare their results to the same amount of "seed money" put into various types of accounts. If you can, have them go out to actual banks to get literature on savings accounts, money market accounts, and CDs... maybe that could be extra credit? For that, you can discuss how to actually talk to the bankers and get the information, which will serve them well when they have need of an account.

[lalaland42]

In middle school we picked stocks and watched how they did over the course of the semester. That was fun. My stock didn't do much IIRC.

[xmysticprincessx]

Does your school have a credit union? Maybe you could have someone from your affiliated credit union come and talk to the class about different types of accounts. Some credit unions in the area do this, and they also encourage students to sign up for an account there too.

[MistyB]

Search for Economics for elementary. Junior Achievement also has a whole curriculum that you can use.

[Momtwice]

And how you have to read your fine print very carefully on credit cards EVERY TIME you get a pamphlet from them.

For instance some cards up your rate if you pay a bill late to ANOTHER creditor, or if you close the account, etc. etc.

Can I go back in time and take your class?

[msjd123]

Bear with me since I don't know how to multi-quote!

Originally Posted by nadia105

PPs had great suggestions, I would also include something about ccs, like what you actually wind up paying if you charge a $500 item and only make minimum payments.

I am definitely going to do this! That was going to be the crux of my credit card segment, actually -- i.e. looking at the lifetime cost of paying something off slowly.

[msjd123]

Originally Posted by xmysticprincessx

Does your school have a credit union? Maybe you could have someone from your affiliated credit union come and talk to the class about different types of accounts. Some credit unions in the area do this, and they also encourage students to sign up for an account there too.

Yes, I was going to start looking for some guest speakers, and I love Kistenb's suggestion of a real-life example of someone who messed up and is now paying for it. (Can you imagine trying to approach someone about that, though? "Hey, I see you really screwed yourself up -- want to be a guest speaker on what NOT to do with your finances?!?!" LOL!)

[msjd123]

Originally Posted by xmysticprincessx

In the "Why College Matters" part, I'd throw in something about the difference between average salaries of someone who dropped out of high school, someone with a high school diploma or GED, and a college education. They had these up in the hallways high school I subbed at.

I also like the idea of having kids figure out how much money they'd make in a day, week, and month at various jobs. Like if they made minimum wage working full time at McDonald's, and then how much they would make doing 2 or 3 possible careers. (And have them research the career- how much schooling is necessary, what do you actually do, etc.) payscale.com gives ballpark figures of what people are earning for various careers in different parts of the country. And then have them look in the classifieds to get a pretend apartment, a pretend car payment, etc to give them an idea of how much things actually cost. (Or have them go to a site like realtor.com and pick out 3 houses and use those to figure out the monthly payments, interest etc.)

I wouldn't get too complicated with them. They're only in middle school, and these kids aren't very good at math (and probably don't like it much). Like with credit cards, maybe giving them a chart with how much they would pay in interest if they made minimum payments, if they paid double the minimum, different interest rates, etc and then have them figure out the difference would be more beneficial than having them actually calculate that out on their own. (Kids hate fractions and percents.)

Oh, and I used to sell cars, and I think one of the most beneficial things would be to show kids how important it is to have good credit. I had one woman whose monthly payment on an entry level sedan went up $40 a month b/c of interest! And showing kids how to work backwards on a car payment too. If I had a dollar for every person who wanted a $20,000+ SUV for $250 a month, I could have retired. Like show them that $250 a month * 60 months = $15,000 and that doesnt even include interest charges.

Its awesome that they're giving you the chance to teach this class. I taught math before, and this is the one thing that I think should be included in every math curriculum. If school is to prepare kids for the future and adulthood, they're going to use stuff like this every day vs stuff like trig probably never (unless they're going to be a rocket scientist or something).

Excellent ideas, and you hit on the some of my own ideas here, too. You're right that their math skills leave a lot to be desired. I've already booked some great sites through the Department of Labor that list salaries by profession, education, and geographic area -- fascinating stuff. I was definitely thinking that the culminating unit would be something along the lines of a "real-world" project: creating a portfolio with a resume, a sample job application, a budget, investment plans, etc.


I agree that this is the sort of thing schoold SHOULD teach. Every time someone raises their eyebrows at me and asks why *I*, and English teacher, would want to take this on, I tell them that I've always thought that English is the MOST important subject -- you'll always need to be able to write well -- and that this is the second most important. Plus, I'm not such a mathematical hot-shot, so if I can do it, they can too.

[phathui5]

Here's Dave Ramsey's school curriculum:

http://www.daveramsey.com/school/

[AngelBee]

Will you teach me too?

[kanga1622]

In high school I took an Accounting class with projects after each unit that really helped drive the points home. Basically, they gave starting information and then provided transactions that happened every day, week, month, etc. and we had to keep the books. We'd get little packets with fake checks for us to write but also fake checks that people gave us.

Could you do something similar with assigning (or letting them realistically choose) a job and income and then throwing life at them and having them figure out how to pay the bills, keep the checkbook register, fill out deposit slips, etc.? They would all get regular expenses like utilities, rent/mortgage, car payment, insurance, etc. but then they'd also get different expenses pop up like car repairs, doctor bills, vet bills, home repair, etc.

I think making it very money focused but going slowly would be a great service to these kids. I know lots of the new undergrad students I meet have no idea how to do a budget or how credit cards really work.

[WNB]

Originally Posted by msjd123

That said, I want this to be a practical learning experience with lots of of hands-on, high-interest kinds of stuff. So far, I'm thinking I'll divide the semester into 3 units: Earning Money (getting a job, why college matters, interviewing skills, etc.), Spending and Saving Money (budgeting, cash vs. credit, etc.) and Investing.

That's pretty much all I have sorted out so far, though, so I'm open to ideas and feedback. If your 12-14 year old were enrolled in a class like this at school, what do you think s/he would be interested in learning about? What would YOU want him or her to learn?

how about framing your class around the concept of opportunity cost?

It seems like a natural theme underlying all 3 of your less-abstract topics.

and I can not think of a better time to learn about it than when your whole life is opening up in front of you.

Middle-schoolers face a lot of choices that can have life-altering effects. Choosing one path may cut off another- that is opportunity cost in a nutshell. applies to finance, applies to everything.