Description

This personal finance curriculum, designed for personal finance, financial literacy, or consumer math courses, has everything you need to teach about wages and paychecks, budgeting, income taxes, credit cards, banking and saving, insurance, and housing. It’s complete with Google Slides, guided notes, fun activities, independent student investigations, projects, quizzes, and more!

This semester-long curriculum will provide students with a foundational understanding of personal finance while emphasizing the math skills they’ll need to navigate their finances in the real world.

The lessons and activities were written with high school students in mind and should be accessible to the majority of students, including students with disabilities who attend the majority of their classes in a general education setting.

In addition to lessons that include Google Slides and guided notes for students, each unit contains a wide variety of fun and engaging practice activities, including stations, scavenger hunts, games, and projects!

Multiple independent research assignments are also included, through which students will learn the actual costs of buying groceries, renting an apartment in your city, having a baby, and more!

Numerous opportunities are provided for students to gain practice experience with documents they’ll use as adults, including realistic pay stubs, tax forms, bank and credit card statements, account disclosures, and more.

Units and Resources Included in this Curriculum:

• Wages & Paychecks Unit
  • Understanding Wages Lesson and Practice – Hourly wages & Overtime
  • Understanding Wages Lesson and Practice – Salaries, Commissions, & Tips
  • Calculating Wages Bingo
  • Comparing Wages Scenario Tasks
  • Understanding Your Pay Stub Lesson and Practice
  • Pay Stub Scavenger Hunt
  • Wages & Paychecks Study Guide
  • Wages & Paychecks Unit Quiz

• Budgeting Unit
  • Intro to Budgeting Lesson and Station Activities
  • Comparing Budgeting Strategies
  • Managing Your Spending Lesson and Activity – Using a Spending Log, Writing Checks, and Paying Bills
  • Grocery Shopping on a Budget Activity
  • Creating a Budget Unit Project
  • Budgeting Study Guide
  • Budgeting Unit Quiz

• Filing Federal Income Taxes Unit
  • Understanding the Form W-2
  • Itemizing vs The Standard Deduction
  • Reading Tax Tables
  • Completing the Form 1040
  • Federal Income Taxes Scavenger Hunt
  • Filing Federal Income Taxes Study Guide
  • Filing Federal Income Taxes Unit Quiz

• Banking & Saving Unit
  • Intro to Banks
  • Understanding Savings Accounts Lesson and Practice
  • Understanding Checking Accounts Lesson and Practice
  • Checking and Savings Accounts Activity Stations
  • Understanding Bank Interest Lesson, Practice and Bingo Game – Simple Interest, APY, and Compound Interest
  • Setting Savings Goals Lesson and Practice
  • Choosing a Bank Activity
  • Banking & Saving Study Guide
  • Banking & Saving Unit Quiz

• Credit Card Unit
  • Intro to Credit Cards Lesson and Station Activities
  • Understanding Your Credit Card Statement Lesson and Scavenger Hunt
  • Making the Minimum Payment Activity
  • Credit Card Comparison Activity
  • Credit Card Study Guide
  • Credit Card Unit Quiz

• Insurance Unit
  • Insurance Exploration Activity
  • Intro to Insurance Lesson and Scenario Task Card Activity
  • Understanding Health Insurance Lesson and Practice
  • Understanding Auto Insurance Lesson and Scavenger Hunt
  • Choosing an Auto Insurance Company Activity
  • Insurance Study Guide
  • Insurance Unit Quiz

• Housing Unit
  • Renting vs Owning
  • Buying a House Lesson and Activity
  • Finding an Apartment Activity
  • Housing Study Guide
  • Housing Unit Quiz

• Bonus Activities — The following activities are not part of any unit but can be completed at a convenient time during the year (such as before a break).
  • Buying A Car – An independent research activity where students will learn the actual costs of monthly car payments, interest, and fees.
  • Cost of Having a Baby Project – A fun, eye-opening project where students will research the costs of essential baby supplies, calculate the number of diapers needed, and more!
  • Planning a Dream Vacation on a Budget Activity – This activity works well before a school break.  Students will plan a vacation while sticking to a budget.
• Cumulative Semester Study Guide
• Cumulative Semester Final Exam (Paper Version and Digital Version on Google Forms both included.)

What’s Included in Each Unit:

• A Unit Pacing Guide
• A student packet containing all the handouts needed for the unit (Handouts can also be printed individually for each lesson.)
• A teacher packet that contains resources and answer keys for the unit.
• Google Slides Presentations
• Guided Notes for students that pair with each Google Slide presentation
• Practice Activities and/or Projects – Each unit has a unique set of practice activities or projects. Examples of practice activities include stations, scavenger hunts, task card activities, self-checking worksheets, bingo games, and more.
• A Unit Study Guide
• Unit Quiz – Unit quizzes are provided both as a PDF and as a Google Form.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Do you accept purchase orders? Yes, you can email me at cathy@ckmath.net to request a quote or submit a purchase order.

Are updates included? Yes, updates are included as needed. The federal income tax unit is also updated yearly when new tax forms are released, usually in January.

Can students complete this curriculum independently? Not entirely. This curriculum contains a variety of lessons and activities. There is a mix of teacher-led lessons combined with activities that students will complete independently for practice or exploration.

Does this curriculum include homework assignments? No, this curriculum does not include any homework. All lessons and activities are designed for students to complete in class, though you may choose to have students finish activities at home that they could not finish in class.

Will this curriculum work for middle school students? 8th-grade students should have the math skills needed for this curriculum, but they may lack the life experience needed to contribute fully to discussions and get the most from the lessons and activities.

I’m purchasing this curriculum for my school – how many licenses do I need? One license will be needed for each teacher using the curriculum. Additional licenses for multiple teachers can be purchased at a discount. Please contact me at cathy@ckmath.net with questions.

What supplies will I need to use this curriculum? At a minimum, you’ll need access to a copy machine to make student copies, as well as calculators for student use. You’ll need a Google account (a basic free account is fine) and a projector to display the Google Slides. Some activities also require students to have Google Accounts and devices with access to the internet.

Are the files in this curriculum editable? The majority of the files in this curriculum are not editable. The text on the Google Slides is not editable, however slides may be added or removed.  Editable versions of the study guides and quizzes are included using PowerPoint files.

Have more questions about whether this curriculum is right for you? Please email me at cathy@ckmath.net with questions!

The information provided in this curriculum does not, and is not intended to, constitute tax or financial advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available are for general informational purposes only. Information in this resource may not constitute the most up-to-date tax or other information.
This resource may contain information regarding third parties. Such information is only for the convenience of the reader. CKMath does not recommend or endorse any third party, and CKMath is not affiliated with, nor sponsored by, the United States Internal Revenue Services.