Financial Literacy is theability to use knowledge and skills to manage financial resources effectively for a lifetime of financial well-being. I think this is one of the most important skills we need to teach our teens!
Money can be an exciting and overwhelming thing for a teen to learn to handle.As their lives change rapidly as they get older, they will seestart to see that they need to be cautiousabout how they handle money. I am so glad we gave our son a solid foundation for budgeting and being frugal. In just 18 months, he landed his first job, purchased his first car in cash, graduated our homeschool, bought a new laptop from graduation gifts, and he even has some money in savings! I think that’s a great place to start into adulthood.
I am so thankful for the opportunity to homeschool him, and teach him solid life skills, like being financially literate.Being able to handle money responsibly is a great skill to have. There are many ways we did this in our homeschool. We spent lots of time discussing being debt free, shopping for deals, budgeting your money, tithing and saving. There are also a ton of free resources available to help you. You can even create a unit on finances, and incorporate it into an economics course as an elective!
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Check out all these FREE Printables to help your teens to be financially literate:
The Checkbook Project is a free downloadable lesson plan and worksheets that teach your students how to balance a checkbook. This is geared for middle school age.
A Budget Game for Teens from Design Mom – this gametakes about an hour to play. Your teen will go through 12 months of budget, and each month they have new challenges thrown their way that they have to figure out how to handle their money!
Printable Savings and Spending Worksheets from Self Sufficient Kids– these worksheets will help your children to see what they are spending their money on and see their savings build up. There are also some great ideas on how to keep a budget binder.
National Financial Educators Council has 5 free online workshops on financial literacy, as well as printable lesson plans HERE.
H&R Block Dollars and Sensehas free workshops for teens called“Mind On My Money”. These workshops enable teens to teach their friends about personal finance, while learning a thing or two themselves. Topics include budgeting, credit cards and student loans. The hands-on workshops last 30 minutes each. Simply download the workshopsHERE to get started.
The H&R Block Budget Challenge helps teens get real-world ready from the safety of the classroom. Students pay bills, manage expenses, save money, invest in retirement and pay taxes. 
There are also more lesson plans and student activities on budgeting, reading a paycheck, understanding taxes, savings, credit scores, loans and much more! You can download them all for free HERE.
College in Coloradohas an entire page of tools and calculators for your teen or young adult to use. There are so many of them. A few examples are: budget worksheets, pros and cons of credit, income worksheets, self discipline worksheets, cost of debt calculators, paycheck calculators, loan calculators, rent or buying a home calculators and much more!
The US Minthas a page devoted to Financial Literacy for Kids. There are activities, lesson plans for grades K-12, and more educational resources and links.
FREE Training Tutorial has lots of free financial printables and lesson plans:
Creating a Budget
Spending Wisely
Earning Money
Needs vs. Wants
Saving Money
Avoiding Frauds and Scams
Financial Terms Simply Explained
Finance in the Classroomhas free printable lesson plans for teachers. There are over 100 different activities, lesson plans and printables on finances for elementary up through high school ages!
Highschool Financial Planning Program is a free turnkey financial literacy program specifically focused on basic personal finance skills that are relevant to the lives of teens in Grades 8-12. You can sign up for a free accountto immediately download the curriculum or place an order for printed materials. The components for this program include:
- Six student guide booklets
- Teacher lesson plans and PowerPoint presentations
- Activities, handouts and performance-based assessments
- Online student practice quizzes, polls and more!
Teach Banzaiis a free online financial literary software which exposes teens to real-life adult financial dilemmas, from taming a budget and paying auto insurance to navigating taxes. There are different difficulty levels from upper elementary, junior-high to highschool.
Free Financial Literacy Lessons for Highschoolers from In Charge Debt Solutions. The teaching curriculum consists of fourteen lesson plans designed to augment a semester course in life skills, consumer awareness, and financial management. There is also a free Teacher’s Guide that outlines the curriculum.
If you have a teen that loves reading books to learn, here are some great books to go along with any Financial Literacy course:
