Following the COVID-19 pandemic, raising financially aware children has become more important than ever. The pandemic weakened financial stability and security across the globe. Millions of people lost their jobs, which resulted in familial financial strain for months and years.
While parents struggled, children also watched their families navigate the precarious financial landscape. The pandemic sparked an important debate: why aren’t students being taught how to become financially informed?
Financial knowledge helps students become financially responsible citizens who can manage their money well and be self-sufficient in the future. Students aren’t ill-equipped for the future; instead, they grow up with the tools they need to achieve financial awareness, make better decisions, build good credit, pay off debt (should they find themselves in such a situation), make smart investment choices, and enjoy a financially stable and secure life.
In this blog, we’ll discuss the importance of financial awareness for students and highlight five ways to help students become financially informed and mature in 2023.
1. Teach a Finance-Centric Curriculum
STEAM education helps students become creative, critical, and collaborative thinkers who excel in different areas of their life. While STEAM education is important, it’s not enough. The STEAM model should be further supplemented with financial and entrepreneurial knowledge.
A finance-centric curriculum can benefit students in numerous ways. When children learn the fundamentals of money management, their perception of money changes. Instead of perceiving it as a tool that can be easily borrowed from their parents, they perceive it as a resource they must work hard for.
Teaching budgeting, saving, investing, debt, and smart spending to students is a great way to lay the groundwork for financial judiciousness. Children grow up to become financially organized and responsible, not reckless and carefree. Financial acumen also helps students avoid financial mistakes resulting in long-term financial difficulties.
A finance-centric curriculum touches upon critical areas of finance and accounting principles. Children become financially mature and wise. They understand that wealth generation must be followed with wealth management.
2. Plan Activities That Build Strong Financial Skills
Hands-on learning is critical. Instead of simply discussing financial concepts and practices, educators must also plan activities that help students implement their knowledge.
Start by helping students understand the importance of tracking their spending. They should understand that recording their expenses will help them enjoy a wider set of financial benefits and maximize savings. Once you’ve instilled the importance of financial tracking in students, plan an activity that helps them practice this skill. Towards the end of the month, evaluate their expenditure and provide insight.
Encourage students to be mindful of where their money is going and how quickly they can achieve their savings goals when they adopt better spending habits. Plan quizzes, group activities, and presentations to help students practice financial skills without getting bored.
3. Encourage Students to Earn Their Allowance
When students start working for their money, they become more mindful of the hard work required to earn. As a result, they spend their money more carefully. Students understand that money is a finite resource that shouldn’t be spent recklessly.
Students learn how to budget well when given a weekly allowance. However, this approach shouldn’t be overused. Students should also be encouraged to generate their own allowance.
This is a great way to establish a connection between income and personal hard work. As students grow up, they realize that money can only be acquired when a person works diligently, consistently, and assiduously. They stop treating money as an object at their disposal. Instead, they’re more careful with money as it’s something that must be earned, not something that can be asked for whenever they want.
This subtle difference goes a long way in helping students become financially prudent. Students can earn cash by walking their neighbor’s dog, setting up a lemonade stand, mowing lawns, and so on. Younger children can earn an allowance by performing small chores around the house.
The goal is to help students understand that money is earned. Once this connection is established, students become a lot more financially informed from a young age.
4. Break Difficult Concepts Into Bite-Sized Pieces
Financial education doesn’t have to be difficult and draining. Many educators and parents make the mistake of starting with complex concepts that make students feel overwhelmed and frustrated.
Start off slow and easy. Cover the fundamentals slowly to help students absorb, digest, and retain financial knowledge, not regurgitate it. When difficult concepts are broken down into bite-sized pieces, students understand them better and apply the knowledge in everyday life.
Plan monthly quizzes to test their knowledge and provide individualized guidance and feedback based on their performance.
5. Incorporate Financial Knowledge Into Entrepreneurship Building
Students develop a deeper interest in topics related to their main interests. In 2023, more and more students are interested in entrepreneurship. As you cover entrepreneurial topics, tie them with financial knowledge.
Students should understand that finance and entrepreneurship go hand-in-hand. Explore real-world scenarios to teach students how to do business and make smart financial decisions along the way. Young children can also benefit from this knowledge. However, it should be presented in a more appealing and engaging manner.
Make use of audio-visual technology to make the lessons more exciting and compelling. The goal is to help students become ambitious, innovative, and financially smart learners. Be patient and let them make mistakes. They’ll learn from every tumble and make smarter decisions. Self-learning goes a long way in helping students make good financial choices independently without any intervention, guidance, or assistance.
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At COMPUCHILD, we have a strong focus on helping students become financially independent, develop an entrepreneurial spirit, and enjoy strong collaborative, communicative, and critical thinking skills.
As an entrepreneurial STEAM-focused children’s education franchise, we aid children’s growth and development through finance, technology, business, ethics, and communication. Our advanced curricula, specific teaching guidelines, tailored business solutions, and actionable marketing guidelines help franchisees yield a high financial return and maximum personal satisfaction.
If you want to use an education model that focuses on financial independence for students, COMPUCHILD should be your first stop. Find a location and become a franchise owner today. If you have further questions about our STEAM franchise opportunities, contact our team today. We’re always happy to help.
