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Teacher and Community Resources

Teaching personal money management skills is becoming more important in today's increasingly complex economy. Skills like drafting and following a spending plan; saving for the future; managing personal credit; and understanding basic investment practices are important to building a financial foundation that supports the lives of individuals and families. The items listed on this page are meant to provide information to educators seeking financial education resources; speakers for community groups looking for qualified individuals to address their organizations; and a network of financial literacy resources for anyone trying to identify classes and materials that will further financial education in Vermont.

Resource Links for Educators

There's a wide variety of materials available on-line for educators. Visit these links for more details.

Vermont Treasury Cup Challenge

Trophy CupThis annual academic competition for high school students gives educators a great opportunity to motivate students to learn more about personal finance and economics. Prizes include $500 college savings accounts and gift cards--all motivating prizes for students. The first place team also wins the right to display the large traveling gold cup for one year as the state champion. Are your students ready to accept the challenge?  

Reading is an Investment

Take advantage of four years of curriculum aimed at teaching elementary school children about money. Every year, approximately 135 Vermont schools utilize Reading is an Investment. The program is designed to highlight the importance of reading and teaching children basic personal financial concepts. At this link you can find lesson plans and other teaching resources for your students. 

Family Economics and Financial Education (FEFE)

FEFE provides more than 25,000 educators nationwide with free, ready-to-teach classroom materials, teacher training, newsletters, grants, online resources, and other tools to enable them to incorporate lessons related to money management into their 7th through 12th grade classrooms.

Federal Reserve Teacher Education Resources

Highlights from this resource link include lesson plans for grades K-12 on personal finance, monetary policy, money, economics, banking, and the Federal Reserve. You can also access online games and simulations that teach economic principles.

Financial Football

Ready to give your brain a workout? Visa and the National Football League have teamed up to help teach financial concepts with Financial Football, a fast-paced, interactive game that engages students while teaching them money management skills. Teams compete by answering finance questions to earn yardage and score touchdowns.

Financial Soccer

Put your financial skills to the test with Visa's fast-paced, multiple-choice question game. The updated game, which features improved graphics and additional questions, tests players' money management skills as they advance down the field and try to score. Educators can use the study modules to help students get ready for gameplay. 

Kahn Academy

Microeconomics and Macroeconomics - The Kahn Academy offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard that empowers learners to study at their own pace in and outside of the classroom.

National Council on Economic Education

NCEE is a nationwide network that promotes economic literacy with students and their teachers. The council charges for some of its educational products, but also offers some resources to teachers for free. At this resource link, view more than 500 free lesson plans for students mainly in grades 6-12. There are also a few lessons plan for students grade 3-5.

National Endowment for Financial Education 

Carefully designed exercises and activities move the student step-by-step toward each of the six core competencies that the NEFE High School Financial Program teaches. The core competencies are: money management, borrowing, earning power, investing, financial services, and insurance.

NEFE High School Financial Planning Program

The seven-unit curriculum provides educators with a 120-page student workbook, step-by-step teaching plan, materials list and dynamic PowerPoint presentation visuals. The recently updated material is interactive and written and designed for teens. The program is provided to schools and organizations at no cost.

Next Gen Personal Finance

Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF) is a free high-school personal finance curriculum and professional development partner helping teachers deliver essential money understanding in an easy-to-grasp, engaging way. NGPF offer a complete course of up-to-date, customizable lessons and activities designed to spark participation and make ideas memorable.

Stock Market Game

Starting with a virtual cash account of $100,000, students work in teams to strive to create the best-performing portfolio using a live trading simulation. SMG is the only market simulation that is endorsed by the New York Stock Exchange and is correlated to voluntary national and state standards in math, economics, business education, English, language arts, family and consumer sciences, technology and social studies. It is run by a non-profit foundation that does not accept advertising products in delivering this program. Vermont teachers and students may participate in the game for free.

The Investor's Clearinghouse

The Alliance for Investor Education is dedicated to facilitating greater understanding of investing, investments and the financial markets among current and prospective investors of all ages. 

Investopedia

Investopedia provides a wealth of information for beginner, experienced and active traders. A simulated stock trading account can be set up where you can experience stock trading without the risk. The dictionary function on this site is especially helpful for students to quickly find brief descrptions of ecnomic and financial terms. 

U.S. Mint

A variety of classroom activities for students K-12. Highlighted materials include games for very young students on coins and related math skills; math problem-solving activities for older elementary-age children; and lesson plans for teens on currency and the monetary system.

Vermont Jump$tart Coalition

Jump$tart offers a variety of resources to teachers. At this resource link you may obtain a teacher's guide, PowerPoint presentation, and 16-page student guide on "The ABC's of Credit Card Finance" by the Center for Student Credit Card Education. Also, note the clearinghouse tab at the top of the page to search for additional resources.

REAL Youth Entrepreneurship

REAL - Rural Entrepreneurship Through Action Learning - is an experiential learning curriculum that develops entrepreneurial knowledge and skills, and guides participants through the process of planning, creating, and operating small businesses of their own design.

How to Raise a Money Smart Child Guide

The Money Smart Child initiative aims to support parents in teaching their children about money. Check out the link above to view a guide with helpful tips on teaching kids about money. A free parent workshop is also available to interested schools, public libraries and community groups. The 90-minute workshop examines personal finance topics parents should cover with their children, explores "teachable moments" parents can use to communicate financial information, and introduces parents to hands-on activities they can do with their children.