Question: What is worth more than money? Answer: A child’s education.
Children depend on their parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, teachers, friends, role models and mentors to teach to them what is most important to prepare them for successful adult life. Children learn all different types of subjects in theory and in practice. However, one of them most important educational areas so desperately needing focus is financial literacy. Financial literacy classes teach children money management skills, financial industry terms and functions, entrepreneurial skills, and most importantly how to develop good financial habits like saving and being a smart consumer. A national study by the National Endowment for Financial Education study reported that just 10 hours of personal finance education can positively affect students spending and saving habits for a lifetime.
Bragg Mutual Federal Credit Union offered free financial literacy classes to 5th grade class students at Long Hill Elementary School in June 2010. The number of 5th graders that attended the sessions ranged from 42 to 56 students. The program design and most of the learning materials (including game software CDs given to each student) were sponsored by Junior Achievement (JA) out of the Raleigh, NC office by Chip Reed. BMFCU is making a conscious effort to improve our community’s financial knowledge. The More Than Money program is a six-session financial literacy program lasting approximately an hour each session. JA More Than Money teaches students about earning, spending, sharing and saving money. They are taught about businesses they can start or jobs they can perform to earn money during the summer and year-round.
The key learning objectives are listed below and presented in the following order:
Session 1: Money In The Bank – Students learn to manage a bank account. They play a board game to reinforce their money-management skills and to better understand the role and importance of money in their lives.
Session 2: A Sense Of Worth – Students identify businesses they can start or jobs they can perform to earn money. Activities focus on developing a positive work ethic and why a positive work ethic is so important to being successful.
Session 3: Balancing Act – Students identify personal skills and interests and are assisted to help them connect these personal skills and interests with possible short-term and long-term money making / business opportunities and lifetime goals. The children are also reminded that their age does not limit their capabilities and creativeness.
Session 4: Building A Business – Students further explore their job skills and the types of business in which they are interested. They identify the basic steps for starting and operating a small business. Using this information they are introduced to the task of developing a small scale business plan.
Session 5: Get SMART – Students continue to practice saving and spending as business teams. The concept of making SMART consumer decisions is introduced through role-playing. They begin to learn to apply the problem solving steps needed to own and operate a small business. The students design their prospective business logos and fliers. The students are instructed about personal safety when conducting their businesses.
Session 6: What’s The Catch – During the final session, students learn to recognize deceptive advertising and the importance of ethical business practices. Students learn to go the extra mile in gaining and retaining their customers and always take pride in doing their best.
The financial literacy program was a huge success! Three quarters of the students enthusiastically participated in the activities. A child’s education is worth more than money especially when the lessons are about the responsibility of earning, spending and saving money. Financial literacy classes can be taught from 5th through 12th grade. There are several programs to choose from depending on age group and school curriculum preference.
For more information on how Bragg Mutual Federal Credit Union may be able to help your child’s school with a financial literacy program, you can contact Jacqie L. Alvarez, Business Development and Marketing Specialist, at Bragg Mutual Federal Credit Union at 910-488-3515 ext. 248.