Financial Literacy Projects for Middle School Will Change Your Mind About Financial Education

This is an example of how one person made a difference through a financial literacy project middle school program.

Andy, a middle school math teacher wanted to fill a gap in his school’s curriculum by teaching financial literacy to his students. He was clearly aware of the impact of financial literacy from his personal experience of trying to pay off his student loans. Talking to his colleagues, he realized that the school’s politics presented resistance in developing such a program.  Nonetheless, he was committed to make it happen for the sake of his students.

Surveying his students revealed a need and an interest. A little online research turned up the NFEC and with their experience in developing financial literacy project middle school programs, he was off to the races.

In middle school, kids are starting to become aware of money and it is a critical time for them to learn the basics of sound personal money management. He wanted his financial education projects to instill within his students an understanding of the skills and concepts of the basics of personal finance. The financial literacy program for youth at his school would include earning, saving, budgeting and debt. He hoped to get them to a level of critical thinking, but if the school curriculum allowed only enough time to teach the skills and concepts, that would be ok too.

Delivering Financial Literacy Projects for Middle School Students

Andy next considered how he was going to deliver the financial literacy project middle school course material. Live instruction in the classroom setting was obvious. The existing middle school curriculum offered a perfect structure for a timeline-based course.

Andy next thought about what subjects of personal finance to focus on. Middle school pre-teens who were just starting to think about money needed a strong foundation of earning, saving, budgeting and debt. He wanted to provide more than financial literacy terms and have them memorize definitions; his goal was to help them develop positive financial behaviors. The given school year would offer plenty of time to reach the intended level of knowledge in all these areas.

Requirements of a Financial Literacy Project Middle School Curriculum

Andy knew his financial literacy projects for middle school would have to meet core educational standards. He also wanted activities that pertained to the real-world and offered interactive, engaging activities. It needed scaffolding for middle school students and principles of learning that were based on evidence. Much of this would be dictated by the school’s existing curriculum and he was fine with that.

In preparation for his financial literacy project middle school course, Andy had recently become an NFEC Certified Financial Education Instructor (CFEI) so he could effectively lead engaging personal finance activities, but he still wanted experienced guidance. He created a program where he would teach the course 4 days a week and a local CFEI with experience teaching middle school kids about personal finance projects.

Results of Andy’s Financial Literacy Project Middle School Course

At completion of the course, Andy was pleasantly surprised at the students’ success and desire to continue. Not only did the pre- and post-testing show that the students had achieved the intended level of knowledge and Andy saw a noticeable increase in the students’ self-esteem. They carried themselves differently with their new financial knowledge.

Andy compiled the results and created a report showing off the middle school program’s success. The school board would be very interested to inspect the program’s impact. Hopefully the undeniable results would compel them to act.