Scaffolded Consumer Math Curriculum for building financial literacy

How do I file a tax return? What is a credit score? How much of my paycheck will be withheld for taxes? How much rent can I afford?

I got A TON of questions just like these while teaching high school consumer math. Many of the questions were about things I had assumed my students would already know. But how would they know? My students were seniors and worried about life after high school. Understandable!

When I taught consumer math there was no curriculum, and I spent a lot of time piecing the course together from materials found online. My students were all seniors with IEPs for mild to moderate disabilities in math/reading, so I needed to find accessible materials that were also age-appropriate and interesting. I wanted my students to enjoy building their personal financial literacy. In spring 2022, I decided to start building the consumer math curriculum I wished I had back then, and I'm happy to say that it is now available on my website. 

This new, printable consumer math curriculum is an approachable guide to building financial literacy for teens. It includes warm-ups, a student book, accompanying student notebook sheets, a teacher's book, PowerPoint projector notes, editable quizzes and all answer keys. The curriculum will answer all of your students' personal finance questions and more. 

"Hands-down, this is the best consumer math curriculum. Easy to use even if you don’t have the greatest understanding of certain concepts. Warms-ups for access to extra practice problems as well as walkthrough power-points and much more. So thankful I got it! My students enjoyed learning each concept and were able to work through excellent real-world math problems making it relatable!” -Teacher Jodi Staggers

Here's a short video overview of the student book and student notebook sheets. Please note that a car insurance unit has since been added:

Units: 

• Wants vs. needs
• Checks and registers
• Wages and salary
• Bank accounts
• Budgets
• Electronic banking and credit cards
• Credit score
• Discounts and coupons
• Sales tax and tip
• Percent change
• Unit price
• Income taxes*
• Car loans
• Mortgages
• Student loans
• Investing
• Car insurance
• Health insurance

*The income taxes unit will be updated every year. Redownloads to get updates and additions are always free.

"This Consumer Math curriculum is amazing. It is so well organized! I also used the activity bundle and this made a super year long course! I would highly recommend it!" - Teacher Amy Field

 

Files included: 

• Student book (199 pages) 
• Teacher’s book (203 pages) 
• Student notebook sheets (122 half sheets)
• PowerPoint projector notes 
• Editable quizzes for each unit (18 quizzes) 
• Warm-ups for each unit
• All answer keys 

Details: 

The student book is a reference that includes vocabulary, examples and questions for students to answer. You can choose to print the entire student book at once, or each unit at a time for student packets or their binders. Both formats are included.

The student notebook sheets are half-sheets designed for an interactive notebook. The sheets provide space for students to answer the questions posed in the book, and also include additional analysis questions. Students paste these notebook sheets into a composition notebook, which then becomes their own personal finance reference.

The teacher’s book and student notebook sheets answer key include all answers to all questions presented in the student book and the extra analysis questions on the student notebook sheets.

The projector notes match the student notebook sheets so that you can complete notes along with your students on the board.

The quizzes are completely editable. Quiz answer keys are included for all quizzes and are also editable.

The warm-ups for every unit are formatted for student notebooks.

FAQs: 

Who is this curriculum for? 

I wrote this consumer math curriculum for high school students who may have mild to moderate disabilities in math and/or reading. These are the students I taught when teaching consumer math and who I feel will benefit most from this curriculum. 

Can it work for younger students? 

If your students have already been introduced to percents, this consumer math curriculum may work for them. However, I feel that high school students will be more invested in learning the material as it answers the questions they currently have about their personal finances. 

Do you have a printout that I can give to my admin for approval? 

Yes, you can find a printout here for your administrator.

Will the curriculum be sent in the mail?

No, this curriculum is a set of PDF and PowerPoint files. Nothing will be sent in the mail.

How many licenses do I need? 

The curriculum is licensed for 1 single teacher to use with his or her students year after year.

I homeschool. Will this work for me? 

Yes, homeschooling families are using this curriculum. The curriculum works well in both a classroom setting and in a homeschool setting.

Is it available on TPT? 

No, this curriculum is not available on TPT.

Do you have a list of standards? 

This curriculum covers the following National Standards for Personal Financial Education: 

Earning Income: wages and salary, gross pay, exact net pay, approximating net pay, pay schedules, tips, earning interest, retirement savings, 401(K) employer matching, filing income taxes, tax deductions, wage theft, insurance 

Spending: budgeting, keeping a register, comparing unit prices, sales tax, discounts, coupons 

Saving: savings, checking, money market accounts, CDs, simple interest, compound interest, pre- and post-tax retirement accounts 

Investing: risk vs. reward, stock market, bonds, retirement accounts, diversifying

Credit: credit card interest, credit card choices, credit score, credit report, minimum payments, APRs, down payments, car loans, mortgages, amortization schedules, student loan interest, student loan choices, deferment, forbearance, capitalizing interest 

Will the curriculum be updated?

Yes, the income taxes unit will be kept current each year. Additional units and supplemental projects or other materials may also be added. Redownloads to get updates and additions are free.

Do you accept school purchase orders?

Yes, purchase order information can be found here.

With everything you need in one place, this consumer math curriculum will make teaching the course easy for you and enjoyable for your students. Consumer math is such an important and fun course to teach, and I hope that your students thoroughly enjoy building their financial literacy with you! 

Please send me an email to shana@scaffoldedmath.com if you have any questions. There is also a Consumer Math Facebook group for teachers here.

The Scaffolded Consumer Math Curriculum is available for download here.

consumer math curriculum