HuckleBerry
Center for Creative Learning
Consumer Math
Ages 6-9 years
Teacher: Cynthia Kimura
Homework: Yes, but just a little!
Prerequisites: Ability to add and subtract two numbers and count up to 100.
This hands-on class is designed to make kids smart with their decisions with money! Should I buy it now or delay? What’s a budget, and can I make a fabulous meal within that budget? How much does it really cost to eat out? These are the kinds of questions we’ll be asking, and then doing the consumer math to find out! And ultimately, make smart decisions.
We’ll start off with a history of money while we play a bartering game. Who has something that someone else wants? How do you get what you want based on what you have? We’ll move into coin identification and we’ll be spending a lot of time adding coins, subtracting coins (making change) and playing lots of money games with a banker! Once we feel confident with our coin skills, we’ll set up a play store and buy different items with our class-cash! Before we end the trimester for Thanksgiving, we’ll come up with our shopping list for a fabulous dinner, all on a budget of $25!
When we come back in the Winter, we’ll be practicing Saving For Something by making a collage of the “somethings” we want to save up for, and making our own Piggy Banks! We’ll be watching short movies from the Seven Habits series to help anchor our lessons around themes like “Start with the End In Mind”. We’ll learn about savings accounts and interest - free money! We’ll learn about Producers and Consumers, and decide if we want to be a Producer to become a Consumer! What could we produce? We’ll end our Winter session with a fun lesson on Eating Out vs Staying In! How much does fast food really cost, and how much would we save if we ate at home? We’ll have to factor in a little nutrition into this lesson, but we think the kids will really enjoy it!
In our Spring session we’ll be budgeting and planning a party, and also becoming Producers to become part of our Giving Back Team! Somebody has more than me. Somebody has less than me. Do I want to save or fundraise for somebody that has less than me? Kids will make something to sell and support their favorite charity!