Money Matters Become Elementary for These Students

To the fourth-graders at Crestmore School in San Bernardino County, the pantomime game their teacher devised is nothing more than a diversion before lunch.

But to the creators of an economic literacy program for grade-schoolers, the game is an integral piece of a larger national effort to ensure a generation of money-savvy citizens and consumers.

It’s called Choices and Changes, the only program of its kind in the Inland Empire. It brings schools, financial institutions and nonprofit educational groups together to teach children as young as 7 their value as consumers, producers and workers.

“We’re teaching them about economic decision-making and about how the choices they make today affect them tomorrow,” said R.J. Charkins, executive director of the California Council on Economic Education. “You know, most adults don’t know about finances. We’re saying let’s get to them early and teach them that earning is only half the battle.”

The program, funded through a three-year $100,000 grant from Merrill Lynch, is implemented by the California Council on Economic Education in 17 of the second- to fourth-grade classrooms at Crestmore School in Bloomington.

Now in its second year, Choices and Changes teaches general economic principles, not specific money matters. It’s intended to serve as a foundation for the financial planning lessons that organizers hope students will learn later.

“We distinguish between economic literacy and financial literacy,” said William F. Coffin, chairman of the California Council on Economic Education. “It’s almost like learning how to read. You have to learn how to read before you take a literature class. It sets the stage for a better understanding of not just their money, but about their lives.”

Throughout the country, financial institutions have learned not to leave money matters solely to the schools.

“If you look at the state of our economy, there’s never been a time when it’s been more needed for companies with financial expertise to step up,” said Pamela Erwin, a former teacher who now serves as senior vice president of the Wells Fargo Foundation. “Unfortunately, resources in school vary by neighborhood, but the one thing that we can give every child are life skills.”

The foundation recently announced a partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District, which will incorporate its program, Hands on Banking, into many of its after-school programs.

Girls Inc. of Orange County runs two programs to enhance girls’ knowledge of basic money management and investment, and the Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance runs a financial program for children in low-income households. Both are funded through grants from Merrill Lynch. Another program, which introduces students to capital markets, is funded by Roth Capital Partners, an independent securities firm in Orange County.

On a recent day at Crestmore School, about 30 fourth-graders played “Jobs.” After reading them a short story that illustrated various occupations, teacher Doug Nasluchacz split the class into two lines, facing each other. He had a stack of index cards, each with the name of an occupation. He went down one line of students, showing each an index card. They mimed the various careers, from chef to principal, as the other side tried to guess.

Today’s lesson dealt with work, school and human capital, or the skills and learned abilities that raise a person’s economic potential. Education and training are considered the most important investments in this potential.

The game introduced students to the nature and characteristics of goods and services and work and workers, Nasluchacz said. They should learn to think of themselves as bundles of potential and that school success is an investment in their future, program creators say.

“At this level we’re teaching them that everything is about choices, and at this point, the best choice they can make is to be here at school so that in the future you’ll have a job you want, not one you have to settle for,” Nasluchacz said.