Montgomery County is the second wealthiest county in Maryland (based on household income) and is considered one of the wealthiest counties in the United States. Yet 44% of the county’s students are eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch Programs, meaning that their families are at or near the poverty level. Personal finance education at an early age is especially important to these—and all—students so they have the knowledge and can begin building the habits that will make them good financial decision makers their entire lives.
Beginning in November, the approximately 12,000 third-graders at the county’s 137 elementary schools will learn personal finance concepts in an innovative Social Studies program developed in conjunction with, and supported by, MCEE and led by Director of Teacher Education George Toepfer.
George was the principal consultant for the Social Studies Department for Montgomery County Public Schools in developing the curriculum; he secured resources (such as books for students and materials translated into Spanish and French), facilitated the relationship with the author of the Danny Dollar book that will be the focus of the curriculum, and developed the program to support teaching practice and student learning. For example, George will lead a webinar in the Spring for teachers about vocabulary acquisition and related to Grade 3 state guidelines for content and reading instruction.
In the new curriculum, Danny Dollar Millionaire Extraordinaire: The Lemonade Escapade will introduce students to important financial literacy concepts and values associated with savings, borrowing, and investing. The engaging book encourages young readers to begin to plan their future and consider their goals, as well as recognizing the needs of others and how planning one’s future can also mean being a good citizen.
The Montgomery County curriculum encourages students to be active readers, writers, thinkers, speakers, and listeners by using Danny Dollar as a model for how to use and practice these skills. Learning activities related to the book are designed to enhance student understanding and enjoyment of learning as they explore “best practices” techniques and critical financial literacy and social studies vocabulary. The teaching modules are mapped to the Grades 3-5 Maryland College and Career Readiness Standards, Maryland Financial Literacy Standards, and the Maryland Social Studies Frameworks.
In addition, Danny Dollar author Ty Allen Jackson will be doing a virtual author visit with all Montgomery County Public Schools Grade 3 students. MCEE helped facilitate this work through the Office of Social Studies leaders and the author.
MCEE’s support of this curriculum is far-reaching and long-lasting. Curriculum is typically in place for 5-10 years so this exciting lesson module will reach 60,000 to 120,000 students.
Information about the Danny Dollar book can be found here.
