Teacher Talk Tuesday

Let's talk about money!

My school adopted a new math curriculum this year called Everyday Mathematics. This is a widely known, and used, program and is wonderful. I can't believe the things my first graders are learning, in fact yesterday we learned about prisms and pyramids (had to reach back into my geometry days which, if you ask my mom, was so not my thing!). This program has brought about many changes in the classroom including... understanding coins and money. (Our last curriculum did not have a money component for first grade.)

In this digital age of debit cards, e-banking, and even e-transfers it is a bit difficult to even think of counting coins, but guess what... your school ager is doing it at school!

The main skill my students are practicing is exchanging smaller coins for larger ones. This begins in Kindergarten where students are exchanging pennies for nickels. This expands in first grade to exchanging pennies and nickels for dimes. In second grade they are expected to understand pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. Although this may sound like a very simple task, the concept behind making coin exchanges depends on the understanding that larger coins represent, essentially, a group of numbers (this is very tricky for some young learners). There are some songs out there that help reinforce the value of coins, you can look into those here.

Here are some fun ways to incorporate counting coins at home:

You can purchase fake money almost anywhere. I have a set from Walmart and the coins look just like the coins that came with our curriculum this year. Just look in the arts and craft section of your favorite store.

1. Allow your child to pick out their own piggy bank. They can earn coins by helping out at home. I know there are some parenting books and philosphies that go against giving money for helping out at home but I'm talking pennies and nickels here, not 10's and 20's. Every once in a while, open the piggy bank to count the money. Your child can make exchanges as they earn more money.

2. Play store!! I hope most kids still play with kitchen sets (it was one of my favs as a little kid) so pull out that plastic food and play grocery store! Put a value on foods and have your child be the cashier (or you can be the cashier to challenge your child by saying things like, "We're only accepting nickels today!"), you can 'even make that beeping sound as the food is scanned in! You get creative with the type of store too, my friends and I used to play book store when we were younger which was great because we could add the totals from the back of the books together... we even included tax!

Be creative and your child won't even realize they are learning!

On a side note, as your child gets older and starts making their own money, have them put a set percentage aside. My parents made me put 40% of whatever I made into the bank. I didn't always like it, but man I am good at figuring out tips when we eat out because I learned to figure percentages so well!