How to Set Up Financial Literacy Courses in High School
Today many concerned individuals feel impassioned to set up financial literacy courses in high school. If you’re one of them, you’ve reached one of the best spots to help you get started. This page offers guidelines for choosing topic areas and developing financial literacy programs for youth success that counteract the influences on kids to fall into negative financial habits.
Selecting the Most Valuable Topic Options
When reviewing a financial literacy course description, high school students will be looking for subjects that are likely to capture and maintain their interest. Choosing topics that are relatable to real-life decisions will be essential to the program’s success.
Preparing youth for independent living is the first such topic. A “living on your own” workshop should cover such themes as how to budget, how to set personal finance goals, how to rent/buy a place, what property owners look for in a tenant, developing a credit history, and how to list out and plan for all the expenses they’ll have to pay.
Coaching young adults in how to purchase transportation is the next relevant topic. At some point in their early lives, most high school students will be interested to buy a car. The “car buying” high school financial planning program workshop needs to include such information as how to budget for car ownership, including all the extra expenses of insurance, gas, parking fees, and upkeep; and all the steps to follow when approaching the purchase.
Higher education financial preparation is the third topic to which kids can relate. This personal finance class for high school workshop will be best if it covers how to choose a school and plan a career direction based on return on investment; plus options to pay for trade school, university, or college such as working part-time, applying for scholarships, or qualifying for grants and other financial aid.
The Financial Literacy Course High School Students Most Need
The financial literacy course description high school students are most likely to resonate with will be one that assists them to meet the true-life financial realities they’re going to come across. That means addressing the following five features related to finances: birth situation, behaviors, sentiment, educational level, and organizational systems. Youth.gov summarizes the facts about youth financial capabilities and offers resources.
From birth, each child enters into a unique family situation that affects his or her future finances. The fortune of a person’s parentage makes a big difference in that person’s capability to manage money along the pathway of life. While it is possible to break free from any inherited negative influences, it can be quite difficult.
The financial behaviors that arise even in childhood can be just as difficult to modify. If kids have embedded habits that fail to move them toward a positive financial outlook, it’s probably because they’ve developed a financial sentiment – that is, emotional relationship with money – that is less than optimal. Financial literacy courses in high school should address these issues.
It’s also vital to present the best quality of financial education at the high school level. In today’s age, kids are more and more likely to receive credit card offers, which can cause them serious trouble later if they aren’t educated in how to use credit wisely. Yet few parents or schools are teaching finance to youth in high school so they get these valuable skills. One of the most important things a financial literacy course high school students will be interested to take should offer is training in how to organize one’s finances using the proper checking, savings, and retirement account structure.
