Hello – my name is Pam and I teach “Personal Living Skills” here at St. Joseph’s Indian School.
Have you ever heard someone say,
“My checkbook won’t balance?”
This is a frustrating and time-consuming experience for not only adults but for St. Joseph’s students as well! Eighth graders have been busy keeping a checkbook in their Personal Living Skills class. Students are learning the responsibility of managing money through a checking account. Students keep a record of every check written to make sure that they don’t spend more money than they have!
They use a debit card for purchases, do balance transfers online, ATM transfers and withdrawals, and pay by phone/internet banking, too. Once they have opened up their checking account, the bank sends them an account statement showing their bank balance and outstanding checks.
It is never fun when the bank statement doesn’t match your own check register. This is when our eighth graders go and search for outstanding checks … They have to balance their account to the penny before moving on to the next month. At the end of the unit, students will purchase a car and have to make the loan payment to the bank on the first of every month.
This Personal Living Skills unit will give students a better understanding of the more important aspects of a checking account and responsible economic practice in the real world.
what a great course.. all students should be exposed to these skill…Good luck
I loved that course when I was in the 9th grade as well. The class served me well all my life and I never feared the check book again, balanced it every month to the penny. I always felt so proud that I had mastered the money! My advice when using the ATM and checking online balances is to save receipts and check the account activity frequently between debits. This will keep any unwanted surprises from happening and keep more money. I really don’t like giving the bank 25 or 35 dollars of money that I could have used for food or shopping by my carelessness.
Keep up the good work on those skills,