For Educators

 

Save the Date... Tuesday, December 6th

Preparation has already begun for the December teacher conference, "Taking Ownership in Personal Finance Education."  The conference will be held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Detroit Branch. 

TESTIMONIAL:  "Having attended a number of Jumpstart Conferences in the past, I can say that this conference is one that offers a variety of speakers, experts and passionate people in the field of personal finance. The information that is received is information that can be implemented immediately into the classroom setting. The conference is always professional and organized and is supported by a strong group of organizations and individuals who believe in educating students and young adults in real life financial situation."   Amy Broekhuizen, FCS educator.  East Kentwood High School.   Kentwood MI.    Registration is closed.

 

GEN I Revolution

The GEN I Revolution consists of fifteen interactive missions in which students complete a variety of activities to help them learn important personal finance concepts. With each mission, students are introduced to a character who is facing a particular financial crisis. As part of the Gen I Revolution, the student learns about the crisis, strategically selects “Operatives,” and then completes activities with the ultimate goal of solving the mission.

The Gen I Revolution game (free) is part of the Learning, Earning and Investing educational program (fee based). This is a multifaceted, comprehensive education program for students in grades 4 through 12.

                   Ref. Council for Economic  Education website www.genirevolution.org

 

Consumer Jungle

The ConsumerJungle.org website has been transformed into a youth-oriented website.  It was designed to provide young adults with financial resources and ways to share stories and interact with their peers. This website has also been designed to be a resource for your classroom! Check out the top 10 ways to use Consumer Jungle in your classroom at http://fefe.arizona.edu/sites/ fefe.arizona.edu/files/CJ_handout_2.pdf. This new website hosts many different content articles, student-created articles from our Student Editors, interactive financial literacy games, many different contest opportunities, and much more! Your students can become involved in Consumer Jungle by becoming a Student Editor, commenting on different articles and games, and participating in contests (either individually or within your class).   

If you have any questions regarding the Consumer Jungle website transition, please check out our Frequently Asked Questions page at http://fefe.arizona.edu/consumer-jungle/questionsor contact us directly at consumerjungle@cals.arizona.edu.

 

National Financial Capability Challenge Runs from March 12 to April 13, 2012

On March 12, 2012 the Financial Capability Challenge kicks off, and will run until April 13, 2012. The Challenge, which is conducted by the Department of the Treasury in partnership with the Department of Education, offers high school students all over the country the opportunity to test their financial smarts. Last spring, over 84,000 high school students from over 1,600 schools participated in the Challenge. Let’s work together to increase the number of teachers and students participating in the Challenge and to improve the number of perfect scores! The 2011 Challenge saw 563 students receive perfect scores, with a national average score of 69%.
 
Financial knowledge is increasingly critical for young people, because a strong foundation of knowledge is important to good financial decision-making throughout their life. We hope that the Challenge encourages teachers to incorporate financial education into their classrooms, and will engage students in learning about personal finance. As high school students prepare to tackle the process of financing a college education or an automobile purchase, or even paying rent for their first apartment, they are often encountering concepts like interest rates on loans for the first time and the importance of good credit scores. By participating in the Challenge, students encounter and test their knowledge of these concepts before they face these decisions. The transition from high school to college is a teachable moment for personal finance, as topics take on real life relevancy. For example, two million enrolled college students eligible for Pell Grants did not apply for Federal aid, leaving money on the table[1] and two-thirds of students taking private loans did not exhaust more affordable, flexible Federal aid first[2].
 
As in previous years, an easy to use educator toolkit is available, with lesson plans focusing on the core concepts of spending, saving, borrowing, and protecting against risk. We hope educators will be able to use this toolkit to create a curriculum that best suits the needs of their students. The classroom offers an excellent opportunity to expose students to financial education as a practical application of the concepts they cover in classes such as math or social studies. High school teachers in any subject area are encouraged to participate to help prepare their students for future financial independence.
 
[1] U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2008).The Condition of Education 2008. http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2008/2008031.pdf
 
[2]The Institute for College Access and Success.“Statement on College Board’s Trend Report.” (2009). http://www.ticas.org/files/pub/CB_statement_2009.pdf
 

 

NextGen3

Introducing an exciting new version of "Next Generation," a multi-award winning teaching program
NextGen3: Traveling at the Speed of Life.

Based on compelling real-life stories of actual teens, this DVD and web-based program is designed to help educators teach middle and high-school students about the importance of insurance and financial planning. Sponsored by the nonprofit LIFE Foundation, program components cover five critical areas teens will need to address when planning for the future: introduction to risk and insurance, life insurance, health insurance, disability insurance and financial planning basics.
 

 

 

The FED

 
The Federal Reserve Bank is in the news almost every day! Why? How does the FRB impact the lives of your students and their families? What do they do?
 
The What We Do Lesson Plan Kit has been produced by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago especially for middle and high school classes in business/economics, social studies, FACS or history. It aims to help you teach about the role of the nation's central bank. Included are a DVD that outlines the role and responsibilities of the Fed, a game that helps students understand the concept of inflation, and a take-home assignment that requires the students to reflect on what they have learned.
Click here to learn more and to order
 

 

Money Smart Longitudinal Study Research Project  [Announced Sept. 2, 2011]

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) will be conducting a study to evaluate how the Money Smart for Young Adults curriculum impacts how participants handle money.  We are currently recruiting sites that plan to use this curriculum over the next several months with students ages 14 to 18.  Selected sites will be asked to provide information about their use of the curriculum, and to have their students take pre- and post-training surveys through which we will measure their financial knowledge and behavior.
 
All selected sites will receive a stipend in appreciation for their willingness to help with this important research effort. The results of the study will inform any future changes to the curriculum, and will also be disseminated to the financial education community nationwide.  Click here for details.
 

Stay Connected 

Kathleen Straus, former President, Michigan State Board of Education, realizes the importance of personal finance education for our students. "Students have to know about personal finance. All children must understand the difference between needs and wants, and should be taught now to set realistic goals and to learn the skills of budgeting. They will need to understand the use of credit and mortgages. The younger we start to integrate personal finance education into K-12 courses, the more money savvy our next generation will become."

The National Jump$tart Coalition’s Clearinghouse connects teachers with the resources and tools they need to develop a financial literacy program for their classroom.

Our annual educators conferences provide you with a wealth of valuable information and resources for teaching personal finance to all grade levels.

Michigan Jump$tart publishes a newsletter six times a year to help educators promote financial literacy among youth. This is a great way to stay informed of all our events and what’s happening in the financial literacy world.

 

Curriculum

  • Michigan Department of Education Model Programs for Youth Financial Education
    A list of financial literacy programs available to you selected as meeting the two criteria established.  The programs included show alignment to Michigan Department of Education’s benchmarks and standards and alignment with one or more of the State Board of Education’s initiatives.

     
  • National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) High School Financial Planning Program The HSFPP consists of a seven unit student manual, instructor’s guide, and a dynamic suite of Web pages that offer a large, continually growing collection of resources, articles, and financial tools for teachers, students, and parents.  Curriculum, teacher guide and student workbooks are provided free to educators.  Free training sessions for high school teachers and financial educational professionals will be offered beginning this April (2011).
     
  • Family Economics & Financial Education (FEFE)
    Our mission is to provide educators with no-cost curriculum materials and the skills and confidence to effectively teach family economics and finance to their students.  FEFE offers ready-to-teach lesson plans, based on the theories of active learning and multiple intelligences that are straightforward and require minimal educator preparation.

     
  • National Jump$tart Coalition Clearinghouse contains a wealth of resources and lesson plans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top