We have been having an amazing time with our money unit in school. Of course, students are LOVING their paycheques and shopping at the store, but they are also really enjoying the discussion and activities we have been doing around earning, saving, and spending. This week, we have been focusing on spending habits. It's very interesting to watch the students different reactions after they have been paid. Some spend their paycheques as soon as the money is in their hands. Some, spend a little and save the rest. Very few save their entire paycheques. On Tuesday, we discussed the idea of spending habits and the term "living paycheque to paycheque". We put up this scale and had the students self-identify where they felt they fell on the scale. Then we had a great discussion about wants vs. needs and how adults need to balance their wants and needs in the real-world. Student then got to practice it themselves with an art collage activity. Then today, students learned an important but not so pleasant lesson about the downside of living paycheque to paycheque. After our lesson, students were introduced to the scenario of a special event coming up in their lives; something that cost money but occurs between paycheques. They want to participate but if they have spent all their money, they won't get to participate because they can't afford it. So when the students were told that for the rest of class they could play Prodigy but only if they could pay $10 for the privilege, some students were pretty upset to find out they didn't have enough money. Some creative solutions were suggested (e.g. returning items to the store for a refund, borrowing money from a friend, etc) but ultimately, those things were not allowed because I really wanted them to understand the lesson behind this activity: living paycheque to paycheque is not always a wise thing to do. Plus, borrowing money is a dangerous habit to start. There were many disappointed faces and a few tears but I feel the message of the lesson really sank home and I have a feeling some students might be changing some of their spending habits after payday next week.
I encourage you to have a conversation about this activity with your child. What message did they take away from the lesson? What are your own spending habits like? Are they similar or different from your child? The earlier we speak to children about money and spending habits, the better. Have a great day Mrs. Vieira
2 Comments
Hugh
4/19/2018 07:46:44 pm
We had a great conversation about this. Thank you. The lesson was not lost on him & we talked about strategies he wanted to try to keep him from spending his money after he got his paycheck. It was a great self-reflective activity.
Reply
Jaime Vieira
4/19/2018 08:37:07 pm
That is wonderful to hear. I'm so glad the true heart of the lesson had an impact upon him.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
All about Mrs. VieiraI'm new to JKE and new to the school district but I've been a teacher in B.C. since 2008. I love art, animals and my family, which includes my daughter who is 1 year old. Archives
May 2018
Categories |