Personal Finance Activities for Middle School Students has High Impact
If you want to fill the gap in financial activities for middle school students, you’re in the right place. We offer a wide variety of financial literacy resources for kids, adults, individuals and groups. Dig into our products and we’ll even help you customize your own program.
At the NFEC, financial literacy education is our core focus. We are an independent organization. Our educational material doesn’t have any ads and we don’t allow ourselves to be influenced by outside forces who might have ulterior motives. Our Curriculum Advisory Board develops customizable lessons that suit any situation.
Developing a Program of Personal Finance Activities
Tina volunteered at her local middle school and was struck by the absence of financial education. She appointed herself to fill that gap. She didn’t know what it would take to create a program of personal finance activities for middle school students and started by asking the middle school teachers she worked with. Her colleagues told her about the NFEC and she was thrilled to find all the guidance and resources she would need.
The hardest part might be getting it past the school board. She approached a few of the board members with the idea and was relieved to find them open to the idea, as long as it didn’t bite too deeply into their limited budget.
Learning Goals for Financial Literacy Activities for Middle School Students
The school board wanted Tina’s program to provide students with the skills and concepts to prepare them for critical thinking about personal finance. The school year offered enough time to attain this level of understanding, so with the board’s support, Tine pressed on with development.
Format of Delivering Personal Finance for Middle Schools
It was easy to decide on how the program would be delivered because the middle school had everything necessary for a formal education. It would be taught in a classroom with a live instructor and based on a timeline, just like all middle school programs. Tina was not out to reinvent the wheel and was very glad that these things were already in place.
Subjects to Include in Financial Literacy Activities for Middle School Students
The school board also helped Tina decide what subjects would be covered in these personal finance activities for middle school students. They needed a solid understanding of the basics of earning, spending and budgeting. They also wanted to include the concepts and pitfalls of debt before the students had a chance to become trapped within them.
Designing a Curriculum for Middle School Financial Literacy Activities
Tina knew what the curriculum needed in order to be accepted by the school board. The personal finance activities had to meet existing standards for core curriculum. It also had to offer fun, engaging activities that were applicable to the real-world. The appropriate scaffolding would be required to ensure that the students were led along a structured path toward deeper understanding. The activities had to be based on learning principles that were derived from evidence.
A Board-Approved Financial Presenter for Middle School Students
To keep the school board happy, Tina knew she would have to find a qualified presenter to deliver her personal finance lesson plans for middle school students materials. Even though it would take time, she talked the middle school math teacher into becoming a Certified Financial Education Instructor (CFEI) through the NFEC. She also acquired the commitment of a CFEI with plenty of middle school experience to lend backup support and even teach a few classes.
Results of Offering Financial Literacy Activities to Middle School Students
When all was said and done, Tina, the students, the parents and the entire school board were pleased with the results the of the personal finance tests. Parents lauded the effort as the type of progressive action schools needed in order to remain ahead of the curve.
Tina helped the teachers compile the results and put them into a report highlighting the positive results. She had plans to use this information to encourage other school districts to implement personal finance activities for middle school students into their curriculum.
Going Beyond Personal Finance Activities for Middle School Students
Tina had big plans. She intended to take the positive results to other school districts and push for them to begin the same type of program in their middle schools. She also wanted to establish continuing support for students who had just completed the program so she provided a list of personal finance classes new them. Implementing more advanced subjects and deeper learning into high schools would ensure that teenagers would solidify the financial knowledge they had gained as pre-teens.