"Personal finance might not have the same cachet as sex ed, but schools are now trying to fill in some of the gaps we have in financial literacy—the idea being that if you tackle it early, you can instill in students a lifetime of knowledge." Click to tweet
Source: Financial Post
Personal finance can be a delicate topic for many, but the fact is that it is a life skill. It's been debated for decades, but many educators believe that our children could benefit greatly from having financial literacy basics in the curriculums as early on as possible. According to this great Financial Post article from Garry Marr, progress is slowly being made.
Financial literacy wasn't something that was ever taught when I was going through school. The curriculum was four-core with some options for senior grades, and that's it. At that time the expectation was that financial affairs were learned someplace else. Money matters stayed in the home—simple as that.
Slowly but surely, the topic is making its way into our school agendas. With that change comes a need for a suitable approach to teaching and learning financial literacy.
A Balanced Approach to Financial Literacy
What Garry is wisely suggesting here is that the pursuit of financial literacy has a balance in responsibility between both parents and school. In other words, working together achieves better. He cites many advocates of this idea in his article, and their suggestions are thought-provoking and proactive.
It's a philosophy I'm happy to get behind. Right up to today, I truly wish financial literacy was something I had been taught early on in my childhood. Financial responsibility falls under the blanket of Personal Responsibility, one of the 5 tenets of Global Digital Citizenship.
Besides Garry's article, here are some other financial literacy resources to check out:
- Financial Educator's Counci
- Edutopia: Resources and Downloads for Financial Literacy
- My Money Coach: Free Teacher Resources
- Lesson Plans: Practical Money Skills
