Financial Education Resources for Elementary School Educators

Financial Education
Scroll down this site to find a variety of resources that help build your students’ financial iQs.

Financial Skills to Last a Lifetime
Resources at this site teach students financial literacy and economic understanding.

Financial Literacy Programs
These lesson plans provide real-world financial lessons.

Practical Money Skills
To help students of all ages learn the essentials of personal finance, Visa® has partnered with leading consumer advocates, educator, and financial institutions to create the Practical Money Skills program.

Money Math: Lessons for Life
Let’s face it—kids like money. So, what better way to help young people embrace math than by teaching them about money…and what better reason can we give them for learning math? Through Money Math: Lessons for Life, 4th through 8th grade students apply math skills to some of life’s costly challenges, learning important personal finance concepts along the way.

U.S. Mint Pocket Change
The United States Mint H.I.P. Pocket Change website is all about coins! Taking a close look at coins can help a youngster begin to grow into a fiscally responsible adult. Check out some of this site's fun activities and lesson plans that promote basic economic understanding.

Hands on Banking
The Hands On Banking program teaches your students about basic money tools and skills. The downloadable Instructor Guides provide everything you need to guide your students through real-life scenarios, group discussions, and valuable activities.

Money and Stuff
Savings. Credit reports. Investments. What do these words really mean? This site makes it easy for you to teach financial concepts to your students, regardless of age.

Thirteen Ed Online Financial Education
Thirteen Ed Online Master Teachers developed these original lesson plans. Starting with tried-and-true lessons that work in the classroom, the teachers built Web-based activities that use the rich resources of Thirteen/WNET New York and the Internet.

Penny Wise
The American Institute of CPAs Foundation provides the Penny Wise DVD and lesson plans to assist teachers in introducing financial topics and concepts to elementary and middle school students. The Penny Wise lesson plans include exercises on preparing a budget, making price comparisons, reconciling bank statements, and calculating interest. The video segments on the DVD discuss the history of money, ATM machines, savings and checking accounts, personal budgeting, and more.

Be Smarter Consumers
In this virtual mall, your 5th through 8th graders play games, design ads, chat with customers and store owners, and much more. You teach key consumer concepts and how the marketplace of today works. Fact sheets, lesson plans and classroom activities complement the site.

More Than Just Numbers Program
Teach your 4th grade students the mechanics of opening up a "Cookie Store," and watch them learn about pricing products, computing sales tax and determining profit or loss.

Budget Buzz: Be Smart About Saving
To provide basics of financial literacy to 4th grade students and their teachers, the AICPA has teamed with Weekly Reader to create a free educational program entitled Budget Buzz: Be Smart About Saving.