National Financial Literacy Month

 Did you know that April is
National Financial Literacy Month?

In 2011 President Obama proclaimed the whole month of April as National Financial Literacy Month.  


Here are his historic words:
 
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States do hereby proclaim April 2011 as National Financial Literacy Month. I call upon all Americans to observe this month with programs and activities to improve their understanding of financial principles and practices.
 
                   From: The White House – Office of the Press Secretary

Sadly, I feel like Santa Clause came, but didn’t leave any presents. Not that I think it is our President’s job to teach us personal finance.  Not at all. I highly commend President Obama for so boldly promoting Financial Literacy.   Maybe the winter has been too long in Michigan or maybe it is because the economy here is still quite sluggish – I’m not sure what accounts for my dismay.  As I search the Internet for fun, interactive personal finance lessons they are few and far between.  The President set the party date, but it seems like people just aren’t showing up to celebrate.  Where are all of the programs and activities to improve our children’s financial literacy? Are you finding much about it in the news?  I’m not.

My goal, before I started writing this afternoon, was to load this page with links to great financial literacy assignments.  But I really couldn’t find any. What I found was the usual: learn how to budget, save your money, learn the difference between wants and needs - boring, boring, boring.
 
I am looking for a lesson where students learn what it is really like to be broke with big responsibilities.  Not just kid broke, but broke and everyone is relying on you broke.  I am looking for a lesson that when students finish it they tell me, “I really want to learn how to budget my money.” – then I have them hooked.  I am looking for wonderfully creative lessons that put feeling first and money and math second.

I often ask myself, “Why do really smart people have money problems?”  They can certainly do the math.  Let me know what you think.  What is the cause of our money problems?  What about fun, interactive financial literacy lessons, any recommendations?

And...I just couldn’t leave on a sour note so take a look at this cool video, “Thank my Piggy Bank” by the Disclosures.

Christopher Morris and Chad Helminak are musicians based out of Madison, Wisconsin. They moonlight as the music duo "The Disclosures" and write songs and perform presentations about the importance of financial literacy and social responsibility. How cool is that?






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ang huwarang pamilya

Malapit nang matapos ang Buwan ng Wikang Pambansa. At bilang paggunita sa kahalagahan ng pagmamahal sa sarili nating wika ay tatanghalin ang isang paligsahan sa eskwelahan ng aming panganay na anak. Para sa Junior Advanced Casa, ang paligsahan ay isahang pagbigkas ng tula at ang napiling tula ay:   Ang Huwarang Pamilya   Sa aming tahanan Buo ang pamilya Lubos na kasiyahan Aming nadarama Maaga pa lamang Iyong makikita Haligi ng tahanan Hayun nasa palayan Ilaw ng tahanan Laging nariyan Tunay na mapagmahal Maasikaso talaga Si kuya, si ate Maasahan din Masipag, magalang Magaling sa eskwela Itong aking pamilya Magandang huwaran Sa aking paglaki Sila ang tutularan    We have been egging TL#1 to memorize the poem. It's a bit of a struggle because we exposed him to the English language. Now, we're trying to help him learn to speak in Tagalog. He has already memorized the words but wouldn't listen and try to speak in the proper intonation. He apparently did not inherit my penchant f
Read more

a brief trip to (smelly) Manila Zoo

Image
Manila Zoo. There was a time a long time ago when the mere mention of Manila Zoo made me feel giddy with excitement. I have committed to memory a childhood picture where I was happily posing in front of a peacock pheasant. Simple joy! I hail from the province and a trip to Manila used to be so special. What I didn't realize until I had children is that I was lucky to have grown up a probinsyana  - to have the fields, vast expanse of free space and hills as my playground. To have flowers to pluck, leaves to gather, dragonflies to catch, trees to climb, free fresh fruits to eat. My kids aren't as lucky. That's why a trip close to nature is a treat for our children. We brought the kids to Manila Zoo yesterday, as reward to our pre-schooler for winning the Interbranch science quiz bee in school. He loves animals and was happy to see the elephant, the birds, the tigers and the crocodiles. He was indifferent to the smell and the dilapidated look of the zoo. I don't know if Ma
Read more

status update (and complaints) on our compliance with Kasambahay Law

Image
We have successfully registered as household employers in all government agencies - SSS, Philhealth and HDMF or Pag-ibig, our household helpers now have their SSS, Philhealth and HDMF numbers and we have paid our contributions for the months of July and August. We are just lucky that the husband had time to line up in SSS and Philhealth and I asked a favor from someone who was going to HDMF. The husband told me the queue in HDMF was the worst. Someone said it was because payment of contributions are also coursed through the HDMF office and not through banks or other payment centers. The government imposed an additional burden on us who employ household helpers. The least they can do is to make compliance less burdensome for us working class who don't have the luxury to take weekdays off. I think I have earned the right to complain. We hire helpers because we don't have the luxury of time. Every precious minute counts. It is the hard truth for parents like us whose days are fill
Read more