Financial Literacy in Middle School

Financial literacy could be an engaging topic for middle school students if it is taught with real life applications which seem to be vital to this age group to retain attention.  A lesson that focused on budgeting with online shopping where students were given a monthly salary and they had to purchase household necessities and then determine what they had left to purchase for pleasure.  The topic could be reinforced and supported when incorporated with associated history topics or books that discuss bankruptcy or other financial topics.

I teach library classes to middle school.  In that realm we learn about the billion dollar business of advertising on ".com" sites when doing research skills.  Within that topic, I teach them about how businesses that you see routinely on the computer while searching the internet, make their money.  Also, within research skills and digital literacy I explain to them the importance of going to peer reviewed free sites and journals rather than ".com" sites for the sake of security since usually a ".gov" or ".org" site would be more likely not to have  the swaying of commercialism to whether the information provided is factual or not.

Furthermore, within our setting of our library I use the terminology of financial literacy to explain that the school has a budget I am given.  I explain what a budget is.  I then explain how I choose the books to fit within the budget.  In addition, I talk to them about when the books are not returned it is in a sense stealing.  I bring that term to middle school, because I want to introduce them to the topic of borrowing vs. taking.  In a moral realm, comparing an contrasting a public library to a school library.  In a public library not bringing a book back or paying the overdue fine may result in a legal charge.  In school, it is something a parent has to pay for.