When teaching the students about earning, spending and saving money this year, I decided to give them a real-life experience. After going over a simplified concept of living within your means, each student chose a house and a car ranging in price from $1-$4 a day. Students earned $1/subject each day, so they had the chance to earn $5 a day if they were doing their job as students.
If students chose wisely, they could save money and have both a house and a car with no problem.
Some students chose a modest house and splurged on the car.
Unfortunately, a few students chose the mansion and sports car, both valued at $4/day.
When it came time to pay bills, students realized that just because they 'bought' the nice house and car didn't mean they could actually afford it.
(One little boy interrupted me as students paid their bills and we discussed why some of the financial decisions were poor choices. He said, "But how do people learn this stuff if their teacher doesn't teach it to them?")
After paying bills, the money that students still had was money to spend at the Kindergarten Market. Students had the option of bringing in real goods to set up a store, but they could also earn money by working at the market: making signs, manning the games or greeting customers.
It was fun to sit down with the students who brought goods as they came up with prices for their items. Na'Kayla brought really good cookies and priced them low -- she was the first to sell out, but she made great money because she had a steady flow of customers.
I was so pleased by the number of students who bought book raffle tickets! That's a class of good, excited readers!
The kids had a great time and learned a lot about exchanging money for goods and services.
When asked a second time which house and car they'd like, everyone made a more reasonable choice.
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