Financial Literacy Middle School through High School Programs

Financial Literacy Middle School

The current economic climate has many schools and parents worried that our kids face a grim future. Even now many Americans fall victim to credit card debt, empty savings accounts, and inadequate retirement funds. Today’s children are likely to have an even more difficult time. Parents and educators can make a difference by helping them receive important personal finance lessons. When it comes to financial literacy middle school aged kids are not too young to start learning about money.

The National Financial Educators Council (NFEC) concurs with research conducted by the National Association of State Boards of Education which finds that most workers today are not contributing sufficiently to their retirement programs. To help address this problem, the NFEC promotes financial literacy for high school students, middle school financial literacy, and money lessons for all ages.

The NFEC offers a few tips for choosing a successful youth personal finance program:

  1. Look for programs that focus on “financial success” rather than “financial literacy.” Concentrating on success and helping put kids on track to achieving their desired goals and lifestyles keeps youth motivated and eager to learn.
  2. Choose practicality over theory. Although a good program should be theory-based, rote memorization is not the best way to learn. Financial literacy for students is best taught via practical, hands-on experiential learning techniques.
  3. Entertain while they educate. The average high school graduate has sat through about ten thousand classes. Good financial literacy programs need to stand out. Choose a program that engages students by using activities, multimedia presentations, celebrities, and games as effective teaching tools.
  4. Qualified instructors. Parents and teachers may not know how to teach financial literacy for youth, but picking up the fundamentals of teaching money management skills is easy. The NFEC offers certification training that gives people the knowledge, credibility, and confidence to teach personal finance effectively.

Follow these tips, which will lead you to pick an effective youth financial literacy program that honestly gets students excited to learn.