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The Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy has declared April Financial Literacy for Youth Month. According to the coalition, "the average student who graduates from high school lacks basic skills in the management of personal financial affairs. Many are unable to balance a checkbook and most have no insight into the basic survival principles involved with earning, spending, saving and investing." The finance sites below will help you provide your students with the training in personal finance basics that so many of them lack. Included: More than 30 financial literacy sites for students of all ages.

It's never too early to begin to learn how to manage money, and the sites below offer students of all ages opportunities to explore important financial concepts. These engaging online resources provide lesson plans and workbooks for teachers, as well as a wide variety of interactive activities that reflect real world experiences -- on topics ranging from making change to making a budget to investing in the stock market.

Fleet Kids
FleetKids provides engaging educational activities that allow students to practice both their math and financial skills. Those real-world activities include making change, setting up a business, and investing in the stock market. Also included at the site are a Teacher's Lounge, which offers a printable activity book, lesson plans, game explanations, and calculators and other tools, and a Parent Lounge, which provides articles on financial education, information on budgeting for a family vacation, an allowance estimator, and more.

Kids Bank
Kids Bank teaches young children the basics about money, saving, checking, interest, and other financial concepts through the personal stories of such characters as Penny, Dollar Bill, Mr. EFT, and Interest Ray. The Professor stands by in each section as well, always ready to provide older students with a more in-depth look at the concepts. The Sovereign Bank site also offers financial games and quizzes, and tools for calculating the savings needed to buy a car or take a vacation.

The Mint
Develop primarily to help families deal with the subject of handling money wisely, this highly interactive site includes extensive resources that will also prove extremely helpful for educators. Those resources include detailed definitions of financial terms, specific instructions on skills such as check writing and keeping a money diary, such practical tools as a compounding interest calculator, and much, much more. The sections for teachers and parents also include lesson plans, quizzes, and links to related sites.

Sense and Dollars
At Sense and Dollars, a site maintained by Maryland Public Television, students in middle and high school learn about earning, spending, saving, and investing money, and then apply their newly found knowledge and skills by going on a virtual shopping spree, handling a checkbook, or planning a dream prom. Click Help to access the teacher's guide and parent's guide.

ALSO WORTH A LOOK

• BizWorld
• Common Sense Economic Ed
• Consumer Reports
• Consumer Reports for Kids
• EconEdLink
• Economics for Tomorrow
• The Economics of Pro Team Sports
• FDIC Learning Bank
• FED 101
• Fedville
• Gazillionaire
• How Much Is It Worth Today?
• LifeSmarts
• Look Who's Footing the Bill
• Making $ense of Money
• Money Central Station
• National Council of Economic Education
• Planet Orange
• Practical Money Skills for Life
• Reality Check
• Savings Calculator
• The Secrets of Making Money
• Tom's Inflation Calendar
• U.S. Treasury for Kids
• Vineland Challenge
• Young Investor Web Site

Visit Education World's Site Reviews Archives for even more great online resources for students and educators.

Article by Hazel Jobe
Education World®
Copyright © 2004 Education World

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