Game of Life: Financial Reality Fair is an interactive financial literacy curriculum that gives junior high senior high school students the opportunity to experience some of the financial challenges they will face with independent living. The Financial Reality Fair is flexible enough in work in any school setting, homeschool communities and cooperatives or traditional school.
My heart is so full after organizing this event for our local homeschool community! We had FIFTY Junior and Senior High students, including my sons, take part in this fair. Both my boys have already asked if we can do it again so they pick another job and see how they can budget with a different income!
What makes this curriculum different?
I remember doing a fair similar to this in my public school junior high, and when I couldn't find one that had all the components I needed/wanted, I decided to make my own!
- Homeschool Oriented Many of the other examples I found were built for public schools, with the pre-work all done in a traditional classroom. The toolkit I made includes homeschool registration forms, pre-fair student packet that can be done at home, and tips on how recruit volunteers that are not teachers in the building.
- No Personal Loans Almost every Financial Reality Fair I found as an example directed students to get a personal loan at the end of the month if they went over their budget. This fair instead directs student to revisit tables to change their spending to fit into their income. If they have money left over at the end of the month, they are directed to go back to the savings/investment table to save it for a specific goal.
- Student Pick their Job based on Self Reflection Many of the fairs also assign the student their job. I remember in 8th grade being very frustrated at injustice of being assigned a mechanic that made minimum wage and the class pot head was assigned a doctor! and I wanted my teens to take some personal surveys that could help them identify how their strengths would translate into a career. Links to surveys are included in the kit.
- Entry Level Salaries All Salaries are entry level, none over $75,000. Too many times we tell students their chosen profession's top salary, instead of preparing them to start at the bottom and work their way up.
The toolkit is available for purchase in my Teacher Pay Teachers store for only $9, and provides you with all the information and planning resources needed to host in any homeschool community!
Buy Planning Toolkit |
The Financial Reality Fair consists of two parts:
1. In Classroom/At Home Career Survey
- Choosing their Job
In class or at home, students take personal inventories that aid them in deciding which job option would best fit their strengths and interests. All positions are entry level salaries. Their job options also include information regarding the education level needed to obtain that position and if health benefits are provided, which is information they will need as they visit the booths.
- Calculating Take Home Pay After Taxes
- Identify how personal strengths and interests determine career choice
- Identify how career choice, education, skills, entrepreneurship, and unexpected life events affect income
- Identify tax bracket, gross versus net income, and employee health benefits
- Calculating single and multi digit fractions, along with addition/subtraction needed in monthly budgeting
- Responsibility for personal financial decisions with the use of a Monthly Budget
- Identify the relationship between spending practices and achieving financial goals.
- Planning Timeline & Materials List
- Learning Objectives
- Pre-Fair Student Packet, including personal-inventories and job 60+ job options
- Reality Fair Student Packet, including Income Planning and Monthly Budgeting forms
- Booth Signs
- Booth Volunteer Directions
- Booth Information Sheets
- Sample Registration Forms
- Homeschool Parent Letters
- Student Evaluation Form
Buy Planning Toolkit |
No comments:
Post a Comment