Economics for Children: Saving, Spending & Investing Money

Designed for grades K-4, this fast-paced program from the four-volume Economics for Children series uses solid instruction, live-action footage, animation, onscreen graphics, and age-appropriate analogies (such as trading lunches) to define and explore topics such as currency, minting, the economy, supply and demand, wants vs. needs, and solid consumer principles (such as setting spending limits). Standout segments include a look at money in ancient societies (the Aztecs used cacao beans as an early form of currency, and the Chinese were the first to attach value to paper in exchange for goods and services some 3,000 years ago), a scenario featuring a pair of ‘tweens who want to buy an art set (their differing approaches to saving and spending offer a solid lesson about income, budgeting, and debt), and a fine summary illustrating the cyclic nature of how money moves through the economy. The other titles in the series are Starting a Business, U.S. Industries & Resources, and What is Economics? Highly recommended. Aud: K, E, P. (J. Williams-Wood)