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I work in a Transition Program for 18-21 year olds with disabilities. Through the guidance of IEPs, we are preparing students/young adults to function as independently as possible in the "real world." We work to increase academics with a strong focus on applying those skills in the areas of living, learning and working. Financial literacy is the piece that ties together each of these areas. Students must work to earn money, which will then be used to make purchases of their lifelong wants and needs.
We work to make this abstract concept more concrete by having students work with real money from home. They develop monthly budgets to purchase both wants and needs. They are given weekly opportunities to make purchases at restaurants, learning that they have to limit how much they are used to eating (or what they are eating) when they have a fixed "income".
When working on cooking skills, we compare prices with ads to determine the best place to purchase ingredients. We often have to limit what we are cooking based on our budget (ex. one student wanted to cook steak and lobster). We use unit pricing when shopping and compare pros and cons of fresh vs frozen or canned items.
I would like to widen the scope of our budgeting to help students recognize their living budget as a whole (not just portions, like "restaurants" or "grocery"). I would like to begin including an understanding of other needs, such as rent and utilities.
I would also like to help students get a better understanding of savings, debit and credit. These concepts are a challenge for my students. Debit and credit are abstract, in that they see the money and don't recognize that it is finite.
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