Money makes the world go round: Resources for teaching personal finance
When do children discover that shiny coins are not just pretend treasure, that
they have real value? While for adults financial transactions have never
been more convenient, in the child's world piggy banks have been replaced
by trust funds and the penny in a baker's shop is a debit card in the
supermarket. With fewer real life opportunities to handle and exchange money,
young children rely on classroom cash to learn counting and calculation. And
now that financial education is a cornerstone of PSHE, older pupils are
learning to calculate everything from their parents' utility bills to the
compound interest their savings have earned in the bank.
School is now the focus for tackling financial education through mathematics, PSHE and citizenship. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) have conducted research into what young children need to know about money to prevent exclusion and how schools can best deliver it. Many new resources have been created to introduce this subject into lessons at all levels and this article is a guide to finding them on the internet.
Pfeg is a one-stop help for teaching personal finance
The personal finance education group is a charity created with the FSA whose mission is to make sure that all young people leaving school have the confidence, skills and knowledge in financial matters to take part fully in society. It supports UK teachers working with children and young people aged 4 to 19. The website includes:
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free case studies and lesson plans to download
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details of quality assured teaching resources
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links to the English and Scottish curricula
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signposting to relevant sites
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a teachers' forum
Three key areas three of financial capability are outlined in the pfeg framework:
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Financial Understanding — what money is, where it comes from and the exchange of money.
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Financial Competence — looking after money, spending money and budgeting, and basic concepts of risk and return.
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Financial Responsibility — making personal life choices and understanding the wider implications of finance.
Key Stages 1 and 2
Counting, shopping and spending
Coin recognition, simple shopping, counting and learning financial vocabulary are the first steps to understanding money for younger children. Structured activities to teach these skills, like Mega Money, Money Counts and Money Week, can all be found at pfeg primary resources. Building on first financial principles, Budgeting for Beginners and Colossal Cards introduce pupils to responsibility and different forms of payment. Another useful site, askcedric, outlines classroom discussions about spending, saving and counting as well as UK school case studies for guidance.
Interactive money games
Many materials online involve virtual money which is counted and spent in the form of a game. The multimedia element of information technology means that the activities are adaptable for cross-curricular use.
DirectGov Kids Big Blue Office
This is an interactive website for pupils, teachers and parents with
downloadable fact and work sheets. For 4 to 11-year-olds, it is aimed at
developing an understanding of the place of tax in society and the basics of
how taxes are collected and spent. The office contains:
- an animation about the way that government gets its money and the services that taxes pay for.
- a comic strip about Jack and Grace who rescue a magical bird who grants them three wishes. They get a shock when they wish for a town without taxes.
- an interactive game, 'Fair Shares', which puts you in charge of the DirectgovKids town for twelve months.
Key Stage 3
Banks and business
At secondary level children move on to address the more complex areas of money management and debt. Banks, building societies and business have created teaching resources to promote financial capability.
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ifs School of Finance, founded in 1879 as the Institute of Bankers, has developed comprehensive financial capability packages for 14— to 19-year-olds to help them manage their personal finances effectively.
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Face 2 Face With Finance is the NatWest financial education programme offering curriculum-linked modules for classroom use.
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Young Enterprise aims to inspire young people to learn and succeed through enterprise and has developed a number of in-curriculum programmes like Learn to Earn and Personal Economics to equip them with the requisite personal budgeting skills.
Connexions Direct and Aimhigher
Two sites provide young people with the chance to get to grips with financial questions themselves. Connexions Direct has information and advice about debt, savings and the minimum wage as well as case studies and FAQs. The area devoted to work addresses money-related matters such as employees rights, taxes and business start-up loans. Aimhigher encourages pupils to consider higher education and offers information and assurance about financial support and advice.
You may also like to read the TeacherNet article Teaching young people about money.
Last updated: 16 December 2009
