My students need a cash register, math counters, money games, finance-themed books for kids, and pencils for teaching them the importance of being financially savvy beginning at a young age!
I teach a class of 28 amazing kindergartners who are eager to learn, yet they have limited opportunities and resources at home and school. Many students come from low-income backgrounds and are limited in their experiences and knowledge, yet they are such eager learners who love new, engaging opportunities to learn and expand their knowledge.
I have a very diverse population at my school and in my classroom, with at least 50% learning English as their second language, and I teach at the most diverse school in the nation!
They come from very diverse backgrounds and bring a wealth of knowledge and experiences to our classroom. The children delight in activities that engage their minds and bodies, and they look forward to what each day of the exciting kindergarten world brings them! It is my job to inspire and motivate them in a variety of ways in which I reach the whole child.
My Project
Financial literacy must begin at a young age and I believe it is a critical component in education. Not only should children learn the value of money but also how to be responsible and smart with money in real life. Experiences in kindergarten with games like Monopoly, The Game of Life, Payday, and using a cash register would provide memorable and motivational experiences with money. These games would also teach life skills such as the importance of saving money, spending wisely, making important financial decisions, and much more. The books teach important lessons about money that help start discussions about earning, saving, and wise spending!
The math counters would help reinforce the skills of counting, adding, subtracting, and comparing quantities, which are all critical math skills for financial literacy.
I would also use the counters for the children to purchase with their earned class cash. They would serve as rewards and the children would be able to make decisions about how much they can spend, whether they want to save their money for larger purchases, how much more is needed to purchase their items of choice. The pencils would help the children with adding and subtracting their money on the paper "bank account" logs I will provide each student to keep a positive balance. They would also be able to compute what they can afford from our classroom store of the math counters including dinosaurs, ocean animals, wild animals, and more! This would all be so motivating and fun for the children. I believe the financial lessons they will learn will stay with them for a lifetime.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. R. Bains and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
{"pmaHash":"","schoolCity":"Sacramento","showProjectRecommendations":true,"teachersOnPage":[1717641],"isTeacherViewingTheirOwnProject":false,"hideTeacherDetails":false,"schoolState":"CA","teacherPossessivePronoun":"her","PMsManager":null,"schoolGradeType":{"id":1,"name":"Early Education"},"TeacherPMForms":{},"proposalId":3270449,"proposalMessageFormModel":null,"numActiveProjects":7,"completingDonationAmount":0,"teacherHasClassroomPhoto":true,"proposalURL":"https://www.donorschoose.org/project/money-smart-early-start/3270449/","verifyShowPhotos":"","eligibleToBeCopied":false,"mayHaveReplacements":true,"numStudents":28,"teacherScreenName":"Ms. R. Bains","isEquityFocus":true,"authorIds":{"1717641":{"owner":"Ms. R. Bains","donationSalutations":{}}},"displayedPercentFunded":1.0,"proposalsOnPage":[3270449],"proposalHash":"-529332872","isApplePayMobileOnly":true,"progressBarPercentage":100.00,"pmaId":"","teacherProfilePhotoURL":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp1717641_orig.jpg?crop=430,430,x44,y16&width=136&height=136&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1573500308367","teacherHasProfilePhoto":true,"currentWorkflowStatusCode":21,"teacherChallengeId":295790,"photosPublished":true,"queryString":"","DonorPMForm":null,"isApplePayEnabled":true,"fundedByTarget":false,"activeProject":{"completingDonationAmount":69,"proposalURL":"project/motivating-students-to-write-with-cool-p/8310450/","matchingFund":{"name":"Center for Disaster Philanthropy","type":"AUTO_DONATION_MATCH","multipleForDisplay":"2X","donorSalutation":"Center for Disaster Philanthropy","ownerRegion":null,"matchImpactMultiple":2.0,"matchingKey":"24Center","amount":0.00},"proposalTitle":"Motivating Students to Write With Cool Pens!","proposalId":8310450},"donorIdsForImpactPhotoCheck":["MTcxNzY0MQ==","NTI4MjI5OQ=="],"teacherId":1717641,"schoolCounty":"Sacramento","fullyFunded":true,"isStudentLed":false,"isExpired":true,"schoolStateObj":{"code":"CA","name":"California"}}
