Finance lessons begin in kindergarten

Finance lessons begin in kindergarten


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SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah public schools are taking an all-inclusive approach to teaching about money, from kindergarten through 12th grade.

Your fourth grader may be reading a story in class when the discussion turns to scarcity. Or your kindergartner may use coins to tally up something in math class or hear about savings in science.

Julie Felshaw, the financial and economic education specialist at the State Office of Education says Utah law now requires a K-12 approach to financial literacy within the core curriculum.

"We have shown teachers what ways that they can include financial and economic concepts, while teaching in those core areas."

Testing students' financial know-how
The website "Finance in the Classroom" includes interactive financial games for kids and teens. Click here to find that.

Felshaw helped make financeintheclassroom.org, which folds it all in to lesson plans.

"It just includes with existing standards of math, language, arts and social studies, ways for teachers to introduce concepts and have conversations with students."

Financial literacy is required to graduate high school, but a 2008 bill required financial education to go from kindergarten through 12th grade because, as Felshaw says, 17 years old is too late to suddenly start learning about money.

E-mail: mrichards@ksl.com

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