Students Make Money Matters MatterKaren Swartz

Trilby Elementary SchoolToledo, Ohio 43623

"Dad, I’ve outgrown my football cletes again this year and here is apair that costs only $15.99. If you don’t have the money with you, youcan write a check or charge it!" This statement is a typical example ofhow a child perceives the concept of money. How many children of to-day, who will be consumers of tomorrow, are thoughtfully educated inthe use and management of money? The utilization of community re-sources�banks and parent volunteers�assisted our sixth and seventhgrade students in gaining a practical understanding of banking andmoney management. Presenting real-life situations to our studentshelped them discover that learning effective money management can befun!The following topics served as a basis for instruction in the unit of

study:

1. Banks and Their Servicesa. Classroom visitations by bank personnelb. Banking vocabulary bookletc. Tours of a full-service bank and a savings and loan association

2. The Family Budgeta. Payroll checksb. Saving and spending

3. Savings Accountsa. Rationaleb. Deposits and withdrawalsc. Interest compoundedd. Savings Account Day

4. Loansa. Circumstances which require loansb. Computing percent of interest

5. Checking Accountsa. Writing a checkb. Endorsing a checkc. Deposit slips and register sheetsd. Balancing a checkbook

6. Credit Cardsa. What is credit?b. Purpose and use

7. Careers in Banking8. Public Relations

a. School Newslettersb. Local newspaper interviews

A description of the activities and skills associated with the unit follows.As you implement instruction of this unit in your classroom, watch forthe student’s creativity and curiosity in a world where money matters!

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BANKS AND THEIR SERVICES

Our students were introduced to the study of banking by the assistantmanager of a full-service bank who visited our classroom. During his in-formative slide presentation, the various services provided by a bankwere cited and explained. He distributed several brochures to the stu-dents and answered many of their questions.The students then began a Banking Vocabulary Booklet in which they

entered and defined the following terms: FDIC, safe-deposit box, loan,savings bonds, payroll, net income, gross income, deductions, deposit,withdrawal, interest, passbook, check, endorsed check, drawer, payee,register sheet, balance, and credit.

Following our study of careers in banking, field trips to the threebanks within our school community were arranged for the students. Thechildren were given the opportunity to have specific questions answeredby bank personnel. These tours afforded our students the experience ofhaving gone "behind the scenes" to see the vaults and safe-depositboxes. The field trips also gave the students a true perspective of how abank actually serves its customers.

THE FAMILY BUDGET

A banking bulletin board display served as a springboard to our classdiscussion. The distinction between gross and net income was made. Anenlarged payroll check and chart listing various payroll deductions (city,state, and federal tax, health insurance, and retirement) served as a ref-erence in the following activity.Each student was presented with a list of items which he or she as a

family member needed and/or wanted during one month. Imagining thatincome was $500, the students selected those goods and services whichthey felt w^re most important to the well-being of each family member.The students gained an awareness of the necessary planning involved

by families and individuals in the use of money. During our class discus-sion, value insights could be gained as individuals explained the means bywhich their spending decisions were made. This particular activity pre-sented a real-life situation which was made relevant to the student’s ownexperience. Money placed into savings was not included as an alterna-tive. This provided a new topic for discussion. The vocabulary words en-tered into the students* booklets included: payroll, net income, gross in-come, and deductions.

SAVINGS ACCOUNTS

The importance of having money set aside for special purchases andemergencies was the underlying concept of this activity. Inquiry led tothe discovery that less than 35% of our students had savings accounts of

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their own. This group of students helped explain the various reasons forplacing money into a savings account rather than keeping this money athome. The importance of safety, protection, and interest were includedin the class discussion.

Fictitious savings passbooks w^ere distributed to each of the students.The format and information necessary for completing the deposit andwithdrawal slips and a register sheet was then explained on several over-head transparencies. The distinction between cash (currency) and a checkwas made in this activity. Given a set of ten story problems, the studentscompleted their deposit and withdrawal slips, computing the balanceafter recording each transaction on their register sheet. As each studentcompleted this activity, he or she wrote additional story problems whichinvolved the four basic operation (+ , - , x , and -).The term "interest" was then introduced and sample problems in com-

puting interest at 5’/2% were then completed. This activity guided stu-dents in recognizing the value of placing their earnings into a savings ac-count.

"Savings Account Day" in our school was initiated at the end of thefirst week of instruction. The manager and tellers from another commu-nity bank visited our "account office" at the end of the hallway outsideour classrooms. Those students who wished to open a savings accountcompleted the necessary information and made their deposits. With thehelp of several parent volunteers, who collected deposits, slips, and pass-books, the actual deposits were made and passbooks and receipts of de-posit were returned to each student later the same day. "Savings AccountDay" continued to be held once each week throughout the school year,with a minimum deposit of one dollar.As a result of our school savings program, students began to realize

the importance of managing their money. Many students commentedabout the money they had saved for Christmas and birthday gifts forothers as well as items they wished to purchase for themselves. It was dis-covered, however, that as students witnessed the interest compound intheir savings, they withdrew little or no money from their accounts dur-ing the course of the school year.

Vocabulary words entered into the students’ booklets included: de-posit, withdrawal, interest, and passbook.

LOANS

A class discussion helped the students become aware of situationswhich arise when even our life’s savings are not enough to pay for emer-gencies or larger items we need and want. This discussion led students tothe realization that emergencies, such as medical bills and home improve-ment bills, often require the need for a loan. The manager of the savings

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and loan bank in our school community visited our classroom to furtherexplain the purpose and procedures of obtaining a bank loan. Many ofthe students had questions about loans in general, all of which were an-swered by our guest speaker.Each student brought the want-ads section from the local newspaper

to school the following day. The students then searched for any item theywished to purchase whose price was listed as exceeding $2000. The itemsmost commonly selected were cars, motorcycles, boats, and houses. Thestudents then computed the percent of interest charged for a two-yearloan. After adding the interest rate to the full cost of the item, many stu-dents were surprised to find how costly it becomes to borrow money.

CHECKING ACCOUNTS

What is a check? When does it become necessary to use a check? Thesetwo questions were discussed in reading the booklet, "The Story ofChecks" published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.Each student was then given one fictitious blank check to examine its

parts. Given a sample story problem involving a payment to be made,each student then assumed the role of the "drawer11 completing thenecessary written information on the check. The role of each studentthen became that of the "payee", as he or she imagined that a check hadbeen given to them for a certain amount of money. The process of en-dorsing and cashing a check was then explained and completed by eachstudent.A fictitious checkbook containing fifteen blank checks, five checking

account deposit slips, and a register sheet were distributed to each stu-dent. The format of the check was reviewed and the information neces-sary to complete the deposit slips and register sheet was explained onindividual overhead transparencies. Each student was then given a set oftwenty story problems, in the first of which a deposit of $50 was placedinto their checking account. This balance was then entered on the registersheet. In this activity, problems ^5, f/W, and ^15 required the placementof a deposit into the checking account.As the students completed problem ^14, however, they discovered the

existing balance was less than the amount of the check. This situationprovided the opportunity to discuss the importance of depositing moneyinto a checking account on a regular basis in order to avoid such an inci-dent. It also provided an excellent example of circumstances which pre-vent the writing of a check. The following words in this activity whichwere included in the vocabulary booklet included: check, endorsedcheck, drawer, payee, register sheet, and balance.

CREDIT CARDS

"Buy now�pay later" was the theme of this class discussion. The stu-

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dents offered their interpretations of the types of credit used in a chargeaccount. The basic concept in this area was that credit merely gives theconsumer a certain amount of time in which to pay his bill. Our discus-sion further included the topics of how and where to obtain credit.One apparent advantage the students recognized in the use of a credit

card was the opportunity to purchase something wanted or needed with-out the cash necessary at that particular time. The disadvantages, how-ever, were found to be more numerous. The availability of credit causesthe temptation to overuse it. Further discussion led to the realization thatcredit can become a form of borrowing and often creates impulsive buy-ing. Many consumers temporarily forget that each time they use theircredit card, they will eventually need to write a check to pay for that pur-chase. The students then identified the risk involved of having the cardsaccidentally lost or even stolen when carried in a wallet, which could re-sult in a large, unexpected expense. The word credit was entered into thestudents’ vocabulary booklets at the conclusion of this activity.

CAREERS IN BANKING

The question "What kind of person is needed for a career in bank-ing?" initiated our discussion of this topic. It was emphasized that bank-ing is a service business, and a good banker must understand and enjoyworking with people in order to serve them well. It was also pointed outin our class discussion that the traits which a banker possesses are as im-portant as the skills he or she possesses. Personal characteristics whichare often considered in employment included the following, in a brain-storming session by the students: the ability to keep a confidence, goodjudgement, integrity, and reliability.The following list of jobs were then presented and discussed with the

class:

tellersreceptionistloan interviewerstypistssafe deposit clerksbookkeepersnew account clerkslibrariansfile clerkspunch card operatorsauditors

comptrollersprogrammerspersonnel managerscredit information clerksinvestment analystsbranch bank managersloan officerssecretarieseconomiststraining directorsbank credit card managers

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Three weeks prior to beginning our unit on Banking and Money Man-agement, a newsletter was sent home to inform our parents of the pro-gram and to request parent volunteers for our "Savings Account Day."A parent then arranged a rotating schedule for all interested volunteers.

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Our month team newsletter in November featured our banking study.The students wrote and edited several articles explaining the areas ofstudy and the activities they were completing.On one particular student savings day, a staff writer from one of our

local newspapers visited our classrooms, interviewing students abouttheir study. Several photographs of our "account office" and parentvolunteers were taken as students deposited their money into savings.The following week, the article and a photograph were featured in thenewspaper. The students’ interest and pride were quite evident duringour current event discussion that week!

SUMMARY

Balancing one’s budget is and will continue to be a part of daily living.Students today need to be aware of the basic concepts which provide forthe wise use of money. The activities helped our students identify anddeal with everyday financial encounters.The study of Banking and Money Management further aided our stu-

dents in understanding and appreciating the importance of effectivemoney management. The guidelines we used in selecting the materials in-cluded a) the ease with which the students could see its relatedness to thenon-academic world and b) the relative ease of comprehension by all stu-dents with varying ability levels.The fictitious checkbooks and savings passbooks instilled a pride of

accomplishment when displayed and discussed at our Open House and atParent-Teacher Conferences. Many parents expressed their approval andappreciation of the program for their children.

REFERENCES

Teacher

BRAUDE, MICHAEL. A Man and His Money Minneapolis: Denison and Company, Inc.,1971.

de CAMP, CATHERINE CROOK and Editors of U. S. News and World Report Books. TeachYour Child to Manage Money. Washington: U. S. News and World Report, Inc., 1974.

Faces of a Bank. Washington: The American Bankers Association. Kahn, Charles H. andHanna, J. Bradley. Using Dollars and Sense. Palo Alto: Fearon Publishers, Inc., 1963.

Mini-Course on Paper Checkbook Management. St. Cloud: Bankers Systems, Inc., 1974.REDDIN, W. J. The Money Book. New York’s Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1972.The Story of Checks. New York: Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Public Information

Department, 1975.WATKINS, ART. Dollars and Sense. New York: New York Times Book Company, 1973.

Student

DAVIS, MARY. Careers in a Bank Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Company, 1973.KANE, DR. ELMER R. How Money and Credit Help Us. Chicago. Benefic Press, 1969.SHAY, ARTHUR. What Happens When You Put Money in the Bank. Chicago: Reilly and

Lee Company, 1967.