Carney Second Graders Monkey Around With Money

Students at Carney Elementary School took some time out last week for a visit from a special guest and an opportunity to learn a little something about money and budgeting.

Holly Klarman, of Point Breeze Credit Union, and "Joe the Monkey" visited each second grade classroom on Friday to teach students about how to spend money wisely, according to second grade teacher Michelle Wolfe.

"Mrs. Klarman read a book to the students that taught them about wants and needs and how to make decisions about how to spend money," Wolfe wrote in an email. "This went perfectly with the money unit we've been studying and will compliment the social studies economics unit we teach in the second term."

Wolfe explained that the story Klarman read to the students focused on the character, Joe the Monkey—he wanted to buy a bike but had to learn to save his money.

After the story, Wolfe wrote, students sorted pictures of items into piles based on whether they were "wants" or "needs".

"Some of the items were tricky," Wolfe wrote. "Depending on who wanted or needed them, they could have gone in both piles. For instance, a salesman needs a cell phone to do his job, but a second grader doesn't need a phone."
 
Do you think it's important to start teaching kids about budgeting and spending money early on? Tell us in the comments. If you know of something cool going on in your local school, don't hesitate to send an email to editor Nick Gestido (nick.gestido@patch.com) or just start a blog about it!