Ms. Rodgers is the Project Director of the RUTGERS UNIVERSITY PROJECT ON ECONOMICS AND CHILDREN, and has spent the past several years heading up this project with her coauthor.  Listen as she explains the origins of her project and the depth of the study she’s gone through to bring us one of the most user-friendly and useful resources for children’s financial literacy on the web.

RUTGERS UNIVERSITY PROJECT ON ECONOMICS AND CHILDREN

MISSION:
The website for the Rugters project provides teachers, parents, and volunteers with ideas for using children’s literature to introduce economics to children.  We review new books from leading publishers and makes selections for “Book of the Month” and “Top Five” categories.

Unlike many of the existing websites on economics education, EconKids focuses on younger students in elementary school.  Its user-friendly design can help to generate quick teaching ideas that are based on current research in economics and education.

WEBSITE FEATURES:

Top 5 Books By Concept. Instructors can click on an economics concept to get a list of our “Top Five” choices for acclaimed children’s books that use enjoyable stories to teach an economics lesson. The selection of all books is based on objective research criteria and on direct experience in teaching with the books.

Book of the Month. Some of these books are not to be missed.  Check our current and previous picks for “Book of the Month” when looking for excellent book ideas in devising reading strategies and social studies lesson plans.

New Books. Stay up to date with this link to high-quality, newly-published children’s books with valuable economics lessons.  Our original reviews  focus on how economics concepts are woven into each book.

Research. Interested readers can download working papers on economics education directly from the EconKids website.  The research papers focus on pedagogical strategies, economics content standards, assessment tools in economics education, and how children learn economics.

Content Standards. This page contains links to all the states’ content standards in economics.

Text-to-World Connections. These books can be used to explore “text-to-world” connections in which students relate the ideas from their books to the economic world around them.  Examples include the 2006 Nobel Prize winners for Peace and for Economics.

Helpful Links. Here you will find a short list of organizations with the most useful resources for promoting economic and financial literacy among students of all age.

(Taken with Respect from the EconKids website)

The project’s website,” EconKids”: http://econkids.rutgers.edu/

Research by Yana and colleagues about teaching Economics/Financial Literacy through Literature: http://econkids.rutgers.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=33&id=91&Itemid=193

Dandi Daley Mackalls “Rudy Rides the Rails” book and resources.

A professional writer for over 20 years, Dandi Daley Mackall has written dozens of articles for popular magazines and published around 400 books for children and adults alike, with sales of over 4 million. A frequent guest on radio and television talk shows, she lives in rural Ohio with her husband, three children, horses, dogs, & cats.

- Review of Rudy Rides the Rails: http://econkids.rutgers.edu/component/content/article/117-unemployment/810-rudy-rides-the-rails-a-depression-era-story

• Dandi’s website: http://www.dandibooks.com/
• A) http://www.socstrp.org/issues/PDF/4.2.11.pdf
• B) http://www.dandibooks.com/Teachers_guides/Rudy%20Teacher’s%20Guide.pdfTeachers Guide/Curriculum to implement with Rudy Rides the Rails

Continuing the global conversation about personal

financial literacy for educators on

Talking Financial Literacy Podcast

Facebook page for Financial Literacy:

Welcome to the Talking Financial Literacy Community @ Facebook. We hope folks will join us to share links, photos, comments and discussion. But the discussion board will especially be a space to share resources, plans for integrating financial literacy in classes and support as all of us pose new ideas. Who will be first and second to share who

they are, their basic interests in this area and any needs or resources?

Invitation for Listeners to Participate in the Show

Listen to the details in episode 31 and then email Mark and Kathy about what you have to share. Email us at podcast ( at) talkingfinlit.org

ON THE ROAD

• Dr. Kathy King spoke at Westmoreland Community College in Youngwood, PA 8/16/10

Upcoming

• AAACE Clearwater, FL – Oct. 2010
  • - Dr. Kathy King presentations (several on technology)
• TSEA Conference- Austin TX – Jan 27, 2011- Dr. Kathy King
• FETC Orlando, FL -
  • Dr. Kathy King featured presenter Feb 3, 2011-

Leave a comment here on the blog/site

• emailing us at podcast@talkingfinlit.org

• (C) Talking Financial Literacy is copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2008 – 2010. All rights reserved.

See TransformationEd.com for full details of speaking engagements and opportunities to meet Dr King and Mark. We enjoy meeting our podcast community!

Contact Us

You may contact Mark and Kathy by

Podcast Feed:

Our podcast feed is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/talkingfinlit

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You will find many money-saving and powerful suggestions for how to prepare for mortgages as adults and pose it for young people to understand the need to prepare now, for instance: building a credit history, savings and banking literacy!

Mark and Kathy also discuss the details of how to use mortgages and this life need as a vibrant classroom learning focus. Resources, lesson ideas and discussion abound.

Join us as we bring an expert on board to provide complete information in a form for all to understand.

 Elizabeth (Lisa) Zelasko contact information:

Countrywide Bank, FSB
Home Loan Consultant
Office: 201-556-4724
Fax: 866-433-2940
Email: Elizabeth_Zelasko@Countrywide.com

 WEB: http://countrywidelocal.com/elizabethzelasko

 Resources for this Episode

• Countrywide Bank, FSB Resources
  •  http://my.countrywide.com/

• Lisa’ Countrywide Bank site with calculators and articles
  • http://countrywidelocal.com/elizabethzelasko
  • Current rates for various mortgages
  • Payment calculators
  • and much more

Mortgage Calculators

• Amortization Tables
  • Also http://calculator-loan.info/mortgage-calculator.php

• 

• Mortgage Calculator shows annual tax and insurance fee, too.
  • Annual tax and fee plus Mortgage Calculator (All Fees)

•  Credit Worthiness Calculator
  • At Bankrate.com

• Calculator: “Calculate Your Debt-to-Income Ratio”
  Comparing your earnings against your spending , also known as a debt-to-income ratio, is one of the most popular approaches for evaluating if you have too much debt. Lenders, for years, have looked at debt-to-income ratios to get a better grasp on a person’s current financial picture to determine credit-worthiness.
  • Debt-to-income ratio calculator

Other Resources

•  Informational Website
  • “ Understand Your Debt-to-Income Ratio or Creditworthiness”

•  How to Calculate Your Debt Utilization Ratio
  • Debt Utilization Ratio Calculator

Contact Us

You may contact Mark and Kathy by

• leaving a comment here on the blog/site
• emailing us at podcast@talkingfinlit.org

Podcast Feed:

Our podcast feed is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/talkingfinlit

• (C) Talking Financial Literacy is copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2008 – 2009. All rights reserved.

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Join us as we explore how to fill this gap in personal financial literacy learning across grades and settings. Examples include p-12 through GED and higher education, a not-to-be-missed episode! Entirely relevant, needed and 21st century literacy focused, from the only podcast series with professional development and resources for educators, students and lifelong learners.

Talking Fin Lit Podcast: Continuing the global conversation about personal financial literacy for educators

Resources discussed in this episode:

Articles:

• Student-Run Bank Branch Opens in New Jersey High School
  • Article
• Regulators Shutter Silver State Bank
  • Wall Street Journal article
  • Published: September 6, 2008 9:26 p.m.
• Agency’s Head Expects Banking’s Crisis to Worsen
  •   NY Times article
  • Published: August 26, 2008
• SEC Resource
  • Tips for Teaching Students About Investments
  • Website: http://www.sec.gov/investor/students/tips.htm
• Kidsbank.com
  • Website Kidsbank.com
    
• TOY ATM Machines
  • Children’s Touchscreen ATM Bank, Hammacher Schlemmer 
  • Details at Softpedia.com
• Preschool level Toy register ( ages 3-7 yrs)
  • From Amazon.com
•  Toy Cash Register
  
  • Click this link for example

Contact Us

You may contact Mark and Kathy by

• leaving a comment here on the blog/site
• emailing us at podcast@talkingfinlit.org

Podcast Feed:

Our podcast feed is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/talkingfinlit

• (C) Talking Financial Literacy is copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2008 – 2009. All rights reserved.

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Mark and Kathy discover an undeveloped territory of urgent need in financial literacy- taxes. Of course we all know we have to come with taxes, but there are few resources available to integrate this real life need into financial literacy settings cross curriculum. Currently, the field is wide open for innovation and new developments here!

— Relevant  — Real-Life  –  Interdisciplinary —

   Lifelong Learning  — 21st Century Living

  — Motivation  – Intergenerational —

From planning for college, to tax savings via charitable giving,  and  medical flex accounts, it is amazing how much people of all ages might be missing opportunities for valuable and vital learning and savings. Join your Talking Financial Literacy co-hosts, Kathy and Mark, for another  exciting discussion as they explore the few resources which ARE available and spin the connections that need to be created.

Resources discussed in this episode:

The Money Instructor

• http://www.moneyinstructor.com/wsp/taxw2.asp

Canadian Example of curriculum

• http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tchtx/menu-eng.html

Calculators and Widgets from HR Block   

• http://www.hrblock.com/taxes/tax_calculators/index.html

Teaching Your Child About Income Taxes

• http://life.familyeducation.com/taxation/money-and-kids/47969.html

Federal Bank of New York

• http://www.newyorkfed.org/education/taxes_teach.html

• (Also – see our interview with Dir. of Education with federal bank of NY!
• Talking Fin Lit  Episode 2 )

Turbotax

• Tutorials and Tools Abound
• http://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/

Digits- Tips and Podcast  

• H&R Block
• http://www.digits.hrblock.com/tipsandpodcasts/

About.com

• http://taxes.about.com/od/taxsoftware/tp/tax_calculators.htm

Additional Resources for this Episode

•  IRS – Understanding Taxes
  •   http://www.irs.gov/app/understandingTaxes/index.jsp

 If you go into the teachers part there is an excellent series of lessons on taxes that include why pay taxes, the history of taxes and the nuts and bolts of how to pay taxes.  Check out the stuff on the bottom of the following url  http://www.irs.gov/app/understandingTaxes/teacher/whys.jsp

 Submitted by listener and teacher

John Kalnberg,  teacher, Sage Day School, Rochelle Park, NJ.

You may contact Mark and Kathy by

• leaving a comment here on the blog/site
• emailing us at podcast@talkingfinlit.org

Podcast Feed:

Our podcast feed is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/talkingfinlit

• (C) Talking Financial Literacy is copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2008-2009. All rights reserved.

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Talking Fin Lit Podcast: Continuing the global conversation about personal financial literacy for educators

Resources discussed in this episode:
Theme: A Nation @ Financial Risk -

The State of Fin Lit in Our Nation’s Schools… Parallel to A Nation at Risk 

Education Week’s special coverage marks the 25th anniversary of the landmark report A Nation at Risk, which urged schools to add more learning time to children’s lives. Read about initiatives under way to lengthen the school day or year, and about the latest research on the effects of extra time on learning.

Education Week Special Report_ Several Related Articles

A Related Commentary 

by former U.S. Secretary of Education, Riley

• EdWeek Article

 Financial literacy should be a standard requirement in public education
Why isn’t the teaching of personal finance basics considered more important than trigonometry, which few of us will ever use again, asks financial-literacy expert Braun Mincher. A solid grounding in financial basics would help young people make better fiscal decisions, Mincher writes. The Christian Science Monitor (9/23)

Financial-education course aims to better prepare teens for future
A financial-literacy course developed by the National Endowment for Financial Education offers high-schoolers unversed in tending to their own finances an introduction to the fundamentals of money management. Education Week (premium article access compliments of Edweek.org)/Associated Press (8/4)

Report: Many Indiana students poorly prepared to manage money
Six of ten Indiana high-school students failed a national money-management survey, and about the same number say they learned everything they know about the topic at home, according to a new Indiana Youth Institute report. Schools would do well to instruct students on money management, helping them to distinguish between wants and needs and the proper use of debit cards, said Lena Yarian, president of Junior Achievement of Northern Indiana. The Journal Gazette (Fort Wayne, Ind.) (6/2)

Financial Literacy Education (FLE) in Indiana’s Schools
http://www.doe.in.gov/octe/facs/IndianaFinLitEd-FrontPage.html

Contact Us

You may contact Mark and Kathy by

• leaving a comment here on the blog/site
• emailing us at podcast@talkingfinlit.org

Podcast Feed:

Our podcast feed is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/talkingfinlit

• (C) Talking Financial Literacy is copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2008. All rights reserved.

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This is an action packed episode which highlights a one-stop shop for many resources which 

cover new dimensions of financial learning! 

From practical money skills to charity as part of the big picture.

Join Kathy and Mark for an exciting exploration of the financial literacy resources at HotChalk. The financial literacy materials we unearth will be sure to enhance any classroom and make the work of educators easier! From childhood to middle school, high school, and even adults, there are valuable lesson plans, activities, instructional articles, and games from which to choose.

Teachers, educators, educational leaders, (and parents) will find many resources to fit age groups and different settings. Items reviewed include not only HotChalk offerings on this topic, but also Karma Tycoon and The Practical Money Skills web-site.

Talking Fin Lit Podcast:

Continuing the global conversation about personal financial literacy for educators

Resources discussed in this episode:

Hotchalk Financial Literacy Resources

• financial-literacy-for-students-list
• Being financially-savvy is crucial to making the kind of smart money decisions key to ensuring quality of life. Help your students get up to speed on this important life skill with regularly updated K-12 lessons and other resources in this special sponsored section. [from the website]

Karma Tycoon:   

•  http://www.karmatycoon.com/
• Karma Tycoon rocks the gaming world by offering you a thrilling ride through the world of social entrepreneurship as you earn Karma in virtual communities across the US.  [From the website]

Practical Money Skills from Visa -

• http://practicalmoneyskills.com/english/index.php
• In addition to providing online tools and resources via www.practicalmoneyskills.com, Visa has created free classroom material that educators can use to teach personal finance. Available online or in a binder format, the classroom curriculum is free.
• It offers a teacher’s guide, student worksheets and quizzes and interactive brain-teasers that can be played by students via the Web or from a CD-ROM.
• Additionally, Visa donates computer labs, ensuring that schools in need have access to the equipment needed to take advantage of Practical Money Skills for Life. Learn more about Visa’s outreach program.  [From the website]

Contact Us

You may contact Mark and Kathy by

• leaving a comment here on the blog/site
• emailing us at podcast@talkingfinlit.org

Podcast Feed:

Our podcast feed is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/talkingfinlit

• (C) Talking Financial Literacy is copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2008. All rights reserved.

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The Mouse rules! This episode reveals the hidden financial POWER that young people and all Internet users have today in an exciting discussion between Dr. Kathy King and Mark Gura. They explore how students, young adults and all Internet users have tremendous power charting and shaping the decisions of big business, research and development decisions, and marketing efforts across the globe. Better understanding the students we work with in k-12 and also adult learners, helps us to better address and meet their financial literacy needs. In addition, we can demonstrate to them how much financial POWER they have in each mouse click, and that their age group- whatever it is– has great power and importance to the business world. What a fantastic basis for realizing their roles and need to be critical consumers and demand what they want. Drawing upon several outstanding recent articles about digital technology and teenager habits and brain development, Kathy and Mark further synthesize the major books which have contributed to our better understanding of the impact of users and the Internet on finance through business today.

RESOURCES

ARTICLES

Scientists: Is Technology Rewiring Our Brains? 12/4/08

• eSchoolNews article link

How Digital Technology has Changed the Brain, Tapscott’s Viewpoint article

• Business Week article 11/10/08

BOOKS- BEST PICKS on this topic!

Click What Millions of People ar Doing Online and Why It Matters  by  Tancer Amazon link 

Wikinomics by Tapscott and Williams Amazon link

Grown Up Digital, How the Net is Changing Your World (2008) by Tapscott Amazon Link

• The website for Grownup Digital- (resources/videos)

As the Future Catches You, by  Enriquez  Amazon link

Contact Us

You may contact Mark and Kathy by

• leaving a comment here on the blog/site
• emailing us at podcast@talkingfinlit.org

Podcast Feed:

Our podcast feed is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/talkingfinlit

• (C) Talking Financial Literacy is copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2008. All rights reserved.

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Resources and Articles

Food Prices
• Hunger & Riots as Food Prices Soar (cover story)

• From IndyKids ( http://www.indykids.net/pages/issues )
• PDF of issue: http://www.indykids.net/issues/pdf/indykids_iss15.pdf

• “Riots, instability spread as food prices skyrocket” (article)

• From CNN.com online news
• Article with embedded video

• Why Does Food Cost More? Article North Coast Journal

• Article– click here

• Rising food prices take a bigger paycheck bite:

• Here’s what you can do about the escalating price of groceries
• Article from Wall Street Journal Digital – MarketWatch

Speculation

• “Speculation and World Food Markets”

• Report from International Food Policy Research Institute

Free Trade

• Free Trade Leaves World Food in Grip of Global Giants

• Article from Common Dreams.org

• Hoarding Nations Drive Food Costs Ever Higher

• Article for the NY Times

Bio Fuels

• AS GLOBAL FOOD COSTS RISE, ARE BIOFUELS TO BLAME?

• ARTICLE – CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR

• Hardy Plant May Ease Biofuels’ Burden on Food Costs

• Article in National Geographic

Jatropha -

• Video clip 1 (Youtube)
• Video clip 2 (Youtube)

Contact Us

You may contact Mark and Kathy by

• leaving a comment here on the blog/site
• emailing us at podcast@talkingfinlit.org

Podcast Feed:

Our podcast feed is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/talkingfinlit

• (C) Talking Financial Literacy is copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2008. All rights reserved.

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In this episode, Get Your Finances Ready for Retirement, Mark and Kathy provide a bevy of resources to expand your personal financial literacy and begin to break through the fear of retirement planning. Resources include reports about the needs for diversified retirement funds, planning for retirement, and how to calculate what is needed to live well in retirement.

Most financial planners will tell you that Social Security will not be sufficient for your retirement needs.

How is your nest egg?          How will you fund your glory days?

And for teachers, this topic becomes another prime opportunity to open new patterns of communication, place math, government, health and policy issues in real-life contexts, and provide a platform for family dialogue and skill building.

Join us for the discussion about the concerns for retirement, the need and the possibilities for learning. Free online resources never made it so easy to break-through financial barriers. Resources include retirement handbooks, calculators and discussions about alternate retirement income sources.

 We emphasize to our listeners, and readers, that we are NOT financial experts; our goal in this series to introduce resources, cast a view of financial literacy as personal financial literacy, and provide free resources for educators.

These episodes are not intended to provide financial advice or counsel. Please consult a certified financial planner who specializes in retirement to assist you in understanding your situation and to plan to meet your needs.

If you take that step or encourage others to do likewise, because of this blog and podcast, we will consider ourselves immensely successful! Thank you!

Resources

PBS Special Report: Retirement

Nightly Business Report – ARCHIVE Report

Retirement Planning Calculators(s):

- AARP Retirement Calculator

- Article on these calculators with links From USA Today

- Article with somewhat opposing view Marketwatch article

Reverse Mortgage Information for Seniors

http://www.letyourhomepayyou.com/

Contact Us

You may contact Mark and Kathy by

• leaving a comment here on the blog/site
• emailing us at podcast@talkingfinlit.org

Podcast Feed:

Our podcast feed is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/talkingfinlit

• (C) Talking Financial Literacy is copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2008. All rights reserved.

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Financial insider Ms. Joan Sabella sits down with Mark Gura to discuss how people can wisely and astutely manage their money, and make financial decisions. In this essential episode about personal finance literacy, topics range from credit card choices and use, and benefits of budgets, to mutual funds and risk tolerance surveys. Ms. Sabella has managed MainStay Balanced Fund since its inception in 1989. She is a Managing Director and has been with New York Life and Management LLC since 2000. Resources in this episode include resources for empowering women in finance, risk tolerance calculators and credit card comparison sites.

We predict you may want to share this with the people you care about- warm, friendly conversation enlightening us about critical financial issues.

Ms. Sabella’s Online Financial Counseling Column
“Ask Joan” http://www.newyorklife.com/cda/0,,16592,00.html

Always filled with resources and lively discussion, The Talking Financial Literacy Podcast. Join hosts Mark Gura and Dr. Kathleen P. King (Kathy) for another episode of this series which provides professional development and resources for educators, students and lifelong learners. Financial Literacy is Mission Critical Lifelong Learning.

Resources

• Risk Tolerance Calculators
  • http://winke.com/hfpc/hfpc/crisktoler.htm
  •  http://www.kiplinger.com/tools/riskfind.html
  •  http://www.firstambank.com/509.html
  •   http://toolsformoney.com/investment_calculators.htm

• Credit Card Comparison Sites  
  •  From MSN Money.com
    •   http://moneycentral.msn.com/banking/services/creditcard.asp
  • Credit cards.com
    •   http://www.creditcards.com/
  • Next Advisor (many comparisons, including credit cards)
    • http://www.nextadvisor.com/credit_cards/index.php

• Financial Women’s Association
  • http://www.fwa.org/

• New York Life and Management LLC
  • http://www.nylim.com/

•  The Equity Investor’s Group
  • http://www.nylim.com/mainstayfunds/

Contact Us

You may contact Mark and Kathy by

• leaving a comment here on the blog/site
• emailing us at podcast@talkingfinlit.org

Podcast Feed:

Our podcast feed is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/talkingfinlit

• (C) Talking Financial Literacy is copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2008. All rights reserved.

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