When it comes to money, how much is enough? And when does it pay—or cost you too much—to be generous?
This weekend’s Weekend Reading book recommendations for Financial Literacy Month build on the previous lessons from FUTURES: Financially Literate Kids for a Financially Literate Society™ about personal finance and economics. Even if you’ve not been following the blog in an in-depth manner, this activity still works like a charm to inspire young and middle-school aged readers to “get” the economics and personal finance concepts of money management, planning, sharing, and coping in a real world.
Especially appropriate for younger students, It’s Not Fair!: A Book About Having Enough by Caryn Rivadeneira, explores a young girl’s experience with money management and sharing. After much saving and planning, Roxy has finally saved enough money to buy a chemistry set, and heads off to the store to make her big purchase. On her way to the store Roxy encounters a series of friends in trouble who need her help. Each time that Roxy decides instead to dip into her savings to help her friends, she continues to wonder if she will have enough money left over to buy the chemistry set she so badly wants. To see what happens, read this compelling and memorable story.
The book encourages kids to think about money and personal finance while exploring themes of friendship, generosity, and what it means to truly have enough.
Why not extend the conversation after finishing the story? Ask kids these questions to get them thinking about the big-picture issues the book taps into:
What does Roxy’s adventure make you think about saving money?
What do you think it mean to be generous with your money?
Do you think it is possible to ever be too generous?
What can happen when you’re not generous enough?
How do we balance our financial needs with other people’s?
What do you think it mean to have “enough” money?
Older children can examine these same topics from a nonfiction perspective with the book National Geographic Kids Everything Money: A wealth of facts, photos, and fun! by Kathy Furgang. The engaging, fact-filled book contains a ton of information and activities about money, from a timeline on how much has changed over time to “Explorer’s Corner” features on different types of money around the world. This book makes a great addition to any class or home library to showcase financial literacy facts about money.
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Tune in again tomorrow as we continue Financial Literacy Month with our weekend feature “What If…” exploration that helps kids to “see” themselves is powerful positions In this weekend’s post, kids will put themselves in a key role. What if you were in charge of the U.S. Mint? is a Weekend What-If Feature that lets kids will use their knowledge of how the Bureau of Engraving and Printing designs and makes money and culminates in kids designing their very own bill!
For more information about FUTURES: Financially Literate Kids for a Financially Literate Society™ for students in kindergarten through eighth grade or to download any of the 29 sections of the program, please click below.