Aspen Academy Empowers PK-8 Students with Real-world Personal Finance Skills
Aspen Academy takes a comprehensive approach to helping their students develop real-world life skills that empower them toward successful and rewarding futures. In collaboration with the National Financial Educators Council (NFEC), the Academy expanded its leadership, character development, and entrepreneurship training to include comprehensive financial literacy programming.
The NFEC created 200 hours of custom personal finance curriculum for Aspen Academy, representing 20 hours per year of instruction for each of grades PK through 8. The Academy’s goal was to “help our children make sound financial decisions for a promising future.” The final result of this development effort is one of the most extensive financial education curricula available for children today.
As a starting point, the NFEC drew upon its Framework and Content Standards for kids’ financial literacy. The organization conducted a comprehensive review of existing standards, finding that expansion would be necessary in order to give the curriculum development team clear instructions toward achieving Aspen Academy’s desired outcomes.
Program expansion was accomplished through collaboration with Dr. Heidi Jacob’s Curriculum 21 consultant team. This partnership brought about the development of the National Financial Literacy Framework & Standards. The NFEC also selected Dr. Ann Johnson, Director of Professional Development for Curriculum 21, as advisor to the effort due to her strong background in curriculum design and mapping. With the expertise of these professional consultants, the NFEC created performance-based assessments and curriculum maps aligned and integrated with Common Core Standards.
Today all Aspen Academy students start their school day mornings with the LiFE block of coursework, part of which involves gaining insights into personal finances, understanding economics, managing resources effectively, and cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset.
