Starting this week our class is beginning a unit on financial economy, which includes information about resumes, seeking employment, running your own small business, budgeting, and daily living. Our economy unit is different than Mr. Parkinson's unit, but has many of the same features. Students are currently working on a "bizkids guide to writing a business plan" and will be asked to either fictionally, or formally, run a small business in class two days a week.
Students are not required to spend any actual money to set up their business, but some students have chosen to do things like have a baking sale, make art and stickers to sell, run a casino, provide a service etc. for "Classroom money". Everyone has equal opportunity, so if your child would really like to bake cupcakes and this is a financial burden, please send me a note. Due to Food Safe regulations, we just ask that an adult supervises any baking to make sure that it is safe to eat. Healthy School rules also dictate that candy cannot be the central theme of the class, so although I will allow students to sell some candy, portions must be tightly controlled and like stores, we have a limit of "one per customer per day." Again, we remind students that selling a bag of candy does not make sense, as it has a financial cost and students are trading in for fake money.
Each day, students draw a random "Chance Card" that as a class they brainstormed, and life events happen to them. Sometimes they get money because they sell kittens, other times they have to pay their electricity bill. It is pretty random, although I notice there seems to be a trend of "lotto winners" every year!
Students are paid 1/10th of minimum wage to come to school, based on a 5.5 hour day (not paid for lunch) and then rounded to $9.00 a day. Students are paid everyday they are at school. As per BC rules, students are allowed 5 paid sick days. After that, each day is unpaid. Students are allowed 2 weeks vacation, even though they have not been working for 1 year. This is paid out at 4% of their pay at the end of the unit. If your child has very sporadic attendance due to a medical issue, we can brainstorm a workaround if requested.
Homework is considered "Overtime Pay" and sometimes it is non-negotiable, and other homework is optional. In the planner * homework is a must do. Both receive overtime pay, at 2 times regular pay per hour.
Besides working at school and running a business, students can also apply for jobs and will go through a group interview process. Jobs like the Secret Agent, Police, and Banker, all require either a parent note in their planner, or if you are super keen, a reference letter.
Positive rewards. In general, this unit is based on positive rewards and less on fines. Police and Secret agents are writing positive tickets that they give out for the students to cash in at the bank the next day. Police and Secret agents are not commenting on poor behaviour. All adults in the building can give your child classroom money as a reward.
There is so much to this unit, I can't explain it all here, but please know all of this unit is kid focused, and is a great way to make the curriculum of health and career, and financial math as fun as possible! Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
-Ms. M
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