Financial education is a compulsory course in life.
– Educator Merck
The cultivation of children’s financial literacy has become as important as IQ and EQ. Helping children establish a sound ‘money consciousness’ and concept of consumption has become a common concern.
Improving children’s financial literacy starts with Maths courses.
The financial literacy activity for first graders, of course, was the simplest.
They experienced the “Shopping Street Game,” which involved understanding and correctly using ‘Xiehe money’ and RMB.
Through the simple task of using ‘Xiehe money’ and RMB, they got a preliminary understanding of the basic concept and value of money, laying the groundwork for more in-depth financial education in the future.
In addition to the shopping game, they also participated in the “Tangram Competition”, a game designed by teachers to guide students in developing an intuitive grasp of geometry and skills in shape manipulation.
This game not only cultivated their intuitive understanding of geometry in the field of mathematics, but also stimulated their spirit of exploration and creativity.
The shopping game and tangram competition were two activities that provided first graders with a rich learning experience, promoting comprehensive development in mathematics and cognition.
Grade 2: “The Art of Wealth” + “Ultimate Sudoku, The Peak of Thinking”
The task for the second graders combined the logical reasoning of magic squares with discovering various methods to solve Sudoku puzzles.
Expanding from textbook content to extracurricular research, teachers and children together explored the developmental story of the Sudoku game.
Children also actively participated in 1-on-1 PK mini-games, going through multiple levels to reach the pinnacle of the game.
The joy of exploration lies not only in the process of challenge and decryption but also in uncovering the hidden wonders of mathematics. Children also set rules for earning financial literacy coins based on task completion and difficulty levels of challenges, experiencing the process of acquiring wealth through their own efforts, and determining the “Class Financial Monopoly” based on the group cooperation points earned. They truly experienced that “a gentleman loves money and manages it in a proper way.”
Grade 3: “My Xiehe Money Management” + “Decrypting Huarong Dao, Wisdom and Numbers Hand in Hand”
Fourth-grade students have just been introduced to the concept of decimals. Accordingly, teachers creatively incorporated decimal knowledge into the curriculum.
Each student received a passbook for recording their income and expenses:
They were asked to plan their own shopping budget based on a preset list, which may include food, study supplies, and other everyday items.
They needed to compare the prices of different products, learning to make the best choices within a limited budget and perform calculations for giving change:
This helped them utilize decimal knowledge in practical operations, while also cultivating their financial literacy and decision-making skills.
At the closing ceremony, fourth graders showcased their talents in the exciting challenge of the game ‘24 Points’.
’24 Points’ requires strong mathematical computation and logical reasoning skills, as well as the ability to think quickly under pressure and cooperate with peers. It’s only ‘in the moment’, at the event itself, that everyone can feel the high of solving a problem together.
Grade 5: “Wealth and Entrepreneurship” + “Stimulate Wisdom, Hone Thinking, A Decisive Duel, A Clash of Wits!”
The financial literacy activities for fifth graders were particularly challenging, as students needed to combine the concepts of positive and negative numbers with profit and loss to understand earnings and deficits, cultivating concepts like “budget management” and “financial planning.”
The students, working in groups, simulated creating a small business by planning initial investment costs and projected income, and discussed how to represent costs, income, and profits with positive and negative numbers.
In their retrospective discussions, they learned to assess risks and seize opportunities. It was an incredibly rare chance to learn about entrepreneurship without spending their own money.
This activity also allowed the children to apply the knowledge they’ve acquired to real-life scenarios, such as planning their own family budgets and managing their financial situations.
Therefore, the most challenging task, applying mathematical knowledge to real-world situations to deeply understand and practice financial literacy (i.e., business management, financial planning, risk assessment) – was left to the Grade 5 students.