We're answering the question how to teach kids about money by creating a grant-funded, Everest money simulation program that will blow Personal Finance worksheets off the South Col.
At the heart of why I created Money Prodigy was to offer an innovative solution to the question: how to teach kids about money?
It's a question that we, as a nation, have failed at answering.
How do I know that? Well, results from things like The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development's 2012 Financial Literacy Test show our kids falling behind countries like Estonia, Poland, and China in their personal finance comprehension.
That's just not good enough!
And it's no wonder they are.
Only 23 states have personal finance requirements in schools, and 60% of teachers confess they do not feel qualified to be teaching personal finance anyway.
I created Money Prodigy with the sole mission of closing this money education gap, one kid at a time through my Compound Impact Mission.
And on March 1st, I got much closer to doing just that.
Announcing Grant Funding
Earlier this year, I applied to The PLUTUS Foundation's grant program in order to fund the creation of the first Money Prodigy money simulation program: The Mt. Everest Money Simulation.
On March 1st, I was thrilled to learn that my grant proposal was chosen! I'm now heavily in creation phase of bringing this program to life.
Why Mt. Everest?
You might be wondering why on earth I've chosen a fictitious Mt. Everest Summit bid to teach personal finance to kids.
Let me give you a little background on that.
Money Prodigy was founded in 2016 to turn kids into Money Prodigies by the time they get their hands that first paycheck from a real job. The five achievements to becoming one are:
- Money-Growth Oriented: Understands how to make money grow, and pairs this with a good work ethic for making money.
- Money Goal-Trendsetter: Capable of setting savings goals and knows how to reach them.
- Debt-Cycle Resistant: Stays out of the debt cycle, or at least does not enter it blindly.
- Money Fluent: Has a healthy, easeful relationship with money and knows how to use it for the tool that it is.
- Entrepreneurial-Spirited: Is an independent, creative thinker who can work for themselves if they choose because they understand the monetary risks and possible rewards of doing so.
While this simulation will touch on several of the five characteristics above, specifically it is to help with unlocking Money Prodigy's Money Goal-Trendsetter achievement.
This means equipping kids with the skills they need to make them capable of not only setting their own savings goals throughout life, but knowing how to actually reach them from a financial standpoint (despite money setbacks, problems that seem to snowball out of control, and basically, everyday reality all adults face).
And using printable worksheets or boring lectures for how to teach kids about money? Well, they're just not going to do it. This money simulation program offers way more than that.
Mt. Everest Money Simulation Sneak Peek
The Mt. Everest Money Simulation Program plunges students aged 8-13 years old into a simulated financial goal of one man, Erik, who dreams of summiting Mt. Everest. Kids become Erik's Everest Ground Support Team, helping him make several important financial decisions with potential consequences as he attempts to summit Everest.
Everest is an almost insurmountable mountain to summit. That's why only 4,469 people have ever done it. Even if the average person had the strength and endurance to do so, the money that it costs − $65,000 is a typical estimate − puts it far out of reach for almost everyone.
Everyone, except for those who know the secret to financially realizing their biggest dreams: craft a realistic savings plan, and have the gusto to see it through.
Through a classroom simulation where students are engaged in financial decisions plus dealing with any outcomes from those decisions, I intend to show students from a young age that anything − including summiting Everest − is possible with the right money knowledge.
And on top of all that? Well, there's yaks. Who doesn't love a good yak?
Amanda L. Grossman
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