(DES MOINES) – Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds last week announced the launch of a new online financial literacy program, offered through the Iowa College Student Aid Commission (Iowa College Aid). The interactive program, Vault™, will help Iowa 4th through 6th graders establish smart habits and attitudes about handling money. The program is available free to Iowa elementary and middle schools.
“By instilling the principles of sound budgeting within our youth, it is our hope to bring financial stability to families throughout Iowa,” said Reynolds. “Reaching students at a younger age and helping them form responsible attitudes about money in their formative years, paves the road for financial stability for our citizens.”
Iowa College Aid has a mission of providing services to support Iowa students and families as they explore and finance educational opportunities beyond high school. In 2011, Iowa College Aid launched the Iowa Financial Literacy Program in partnership with the Iowa Bankers Association to teach high school students core topics of personal finance.
“Financial literacy is a key initiative for our agency,” said Karen Misjak, executive director of Iowa College Aid. “Currently, the Iowa Financial Literacy Program is being used in over 150 high schools across the state,” explained Misjak. “Now with Vault™, we can expand the reach of teachers by providing younger students with instant access to an engaging program that speaks to today’s tech-savvy generation.”
Vault™ was developed by EverFi, Inc., the company that developed the Iowa Financial Literacy Program. This new financial literacy platform, geared towards students in the 4th through 6th grades, empowers youth to start building good financial habits early. The course features interactive lessons, games, and story-based activities that challenge students to make choices in real-life scenarios. The 2.5-hour curriculum aligns with both state and national standards.
Educators can use Vault™ in a co-curricular or standalone manner in a wide variety of subjects and class levels. Each learning group contains between two and five brief activities and two games that are unlocked by students upon completing activities. Assessments that measure student knowledge gains are incorporated in the program. Upon successful completion of the program, students are certified as having a solid financial knowledge base.
For more information on Vault™ and other college and career readiness programs, please contact Iowa College Aid at1-877-272-4456 or visit Iowa College Aid’s website at www.IowaCollegeAid.gov.
I find it ridiculous that they now need a “program” for what used to be routinely taught. No wonder some kids come out of school so useless nowadays.
Oh ya, like you’re the poster child for successful education! lol
Tell me where I’ve failed.
@Katie-I agree with you on this. I made somewhat the same comment about alternative schools. It used to be routine to teach those kids in regular class, now they have to have a whole separate program. Maybe not apples to apples, but close.
What’s the matter with you guys? It certainly can’t hurt to teach these things. And, for those of you who think this needs to be taught at home, do you realize that some kids don’t even have enough food to eat? Who in the hell is going to teach them about money? Parents who have $50,000 in credit card debt? Yeh, ri-i-i-i–ight.
JMO: I can’t believe these things aren’t being taught and I think that’s the consensus here. When did they stop teaching these skills and why? That’s what I mean about why do we need a special program for this when it should have always been a part of what kids are being taught! And the program will probably teach them how to do all this with calculators instead of pen and paper. I have had employees who are so dependent on calculators that they don’t even have a clue when their answers are so far off they are ridiculous. They can’t figure out ANYthing in their heads and look at me like an alien when I announce an answer while they are tapping away on a calculator. It’s pathetic, really, because they can’t mentally check their own work. 2 x 200 = 4000. OK. Sounds reasonable. Grrrrrrr.
Okay. Totally agree this should always be taught. But, maybe it is and a large percentage of kids aren’t paying attention? They’ve already learned from their parents that all they have to do is sign up and the money will keep rolling in. They can even get a place to live for little or nothing if they know all the tricks. How can we expect kids in school to even care about this when they already know the easy way out?
About Time! In the stone age in school we were taught how to write and balance a check book, how to make out a budget, about loans, interest rates and how much a loan really cost. Nice to see someone is getting concerned. Maybe this governing body in D.C. needs to take this course. But as usual “do as I say not as I do”.
Shouldn’t the parents be teaching this?