Learning about finances with the Centsible Kids game

While we were in Dallas at the Ed Expo, it was fun to see how people would gravitate toward the Centsible Kids game. As we talked about it, they were excited about how important finances are to them, their children, and/or grandchildren.

In particular, people from Texas were looking for products as their state has new standards regarding financial education. Everyone we talked to stressed the importance of financial education starting in elementary school. Thanks to someone we met at the show, we were sent an easy to read list of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills Standards. They state that starting in kindergarten, children are expected to:

• Identify ways to earn income,
• differentiate between money received as income and money received as gifts, and
• distinguish between wants and needs and identify income as a source to meet one’s wants and needs

As children progress through the grades, more skills are expected, and we believe that Centsible Kids helps address all of them. 

We’ve continued to research more about the Common Core Math Standards and have found other sites out there that help teachers apply the standards in a broader way. For example, in second grade, the math standard states that children are expected to:

• Solve word problems involving dollar bills, quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies, using dollar and cent symbols appropriately.

Some sites have extrapolated this to help teachers teach financial literacy, such as delayed gratification and saving money - which Centsible Kids definitely does.

Come back next week when we will share ideas about how to modify Centsible Kids to work with children of different age and skill levels.