Keys to Financial Success — Lessons and Curricula

A Sample Lesson

Each lesson in the Keys to Financial Success Teacher’s Manual has a number of key features, which help teachers carry out effective instruction to achieve student-specific learning objectives. This sample lesson gives you an overview of those components.

Keys to Financial Success Lessons

Theme 1: Goals and Decision-Making	Theme 2: Careers and Planning
How to Become a Millionaire The Economic Way of Thinking Decision-Making How to Set Goals	What Do You Mean I Have to Earn an Income? Making Your Own Job Why Some Jobs Pay More Than Others What Else Is Out There, and How Would I Find It? Dreams and Plans
Theme 3: Budgeting	Theme 4: Saving and Investing
Why Should I Have a Budget? Funding My Goals Uncle Sam Takes a Bite: Forms, Forms, Forms Managing Your Money Preparing My Own Budget	What's the Cost of Spending and Saving? How Do I Decide Whether to Save, Invest, or Both? There Is No Free Lunch in Investing Financial Investing Finding Financial Information Online Researching Companies How to Buy and Sell Stocks and Bonds
Theme 5: Banking Services	Theme 6: Credit
Financial Institutions Checking Accounts	Credit — The Most Important Grade You’ll Ever Earn What Is Credit? Cash or Credit? Making Credit Choices Credit Reports and Credit Scores All About Interest Shopping for a Credit Card
Theme 7: Postsecondary Education	Theme 8: Risk Protection
Choosing a Postsecondary School Sticker Price vs. Net Price Paying for Postsecondary Education Understanding the Financial Aid Process Alternatives to Four-Year Colleges	Let the Buyer Beware Consumer Credit Protection Don’t Be Scammed Managing Risk The Basics of Life Insurance Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Automobile Insurance Why Renter’s Insurance?
Theme 9: Transportation Issues	Theme 10: Housing Issues
What Do I Want and What Can I Afford? Car Ownership — What Does it Cost?	Moving Into My Own Place How Comfortable Will My Place Be? Tired of Renting — Should I Buy My Own House?

Sources of Curricula

Each Keys to Financial Success teacher receives online access to the Keys to Financial Success curriculum in its entirety via the Bank’s course management system. This online access provides the teacher with the complete 47-lesson Keys to Financial Success curriculum free of charge from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The curriculum directs teachers to additional resources in the following curriculum materials, all of which are provided free of charge to those teachers who attend the Keys to Financial Success teacher-training program offered each summer. Teachers who choose not to participate in the teacher-training program may purchase these resources directly from their publishers.

Financial Fitness for Life — Teacher Guide, Third Edition, Grades 9–12
Financial Fitness for Life — Teacher Guide, Grades 6–8
Financial Fitness for Life — Student Workbook, Grades 6–8
Learning, Earning and Investing for a New Generation

Keys Pacing Guide

Theme	Hours	Weeks
1. Goals and Decision-Making	7.5	1.5
2. Careers and Planning	7.5	1.5
3. Budgeting	7.5	1.5
4. Saving and Investing	7.5	1.5
5. Banking Services	5	1
6. Credit	15	3
7. Postsecondary Education	10	2
8. Risk Protection	10	2
9. Transportation Issues	5	1
10. Housing Issues	5	1

Authors and Project Directors

Scott Bacon is the assistant director at the Center for Economic Education & Entrepreneurship at the University of Delaware. He taught social studies for 15 years in Delaware’s public schools and earned his master of arts in economics and entrepreneurship for educators from the University of Delaware in 2011. Scott is currently pursuing his Ed.D. in educational leadership at the University of Delaware.

Rebecca Chambers is the economic education advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Prior to joining the Fed, Rebecca was on the faculty in the Department of Economics at Michigan State University. Rebecca earned a Ph.D. in economic education and an M.A. in economics from the University of Delaware and a B.A. in economics from Wells College.

Gail Colbert is the personal finance program coordinator for the Center for Economic Education & Entrepreneurship (CEEE) at the University of Delaware. She was a high school teacher in Delaware before joining the CEEE staff in 1985 as the Stock Market Game coordinator and then in 1994 as the program coordinator. In 1997, she received her master of arts in economics for educators from the University of Delaware.

Barbara Emery was the program coordinator at the University of Delaware Center for Economic Education & Entrepreneurship. Prior to joining the center in 2001, Barbara taught social studies for more than 31 years at Christiana High School in the Christina School District, Newark, DE. She has a master of instruction degree in economic education and a bachelor’s degree in history, both from the University of Delaware.

Andrew Hill is the assistant vice president, economic education at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and an adjunct professor of economics at Temple University. Prior to joining the Reserve Bank in 2002, Andrew was a visiting assistant professor of economics at Washington College in Chestertown, MD. He has a Ph.D., an M.A., and a B.S. in economics from the University of Delaware.

Bonnie Meszaros is the associate director of the Center for Economic Education & Entrepreneurship and an assistant professor of economics at the University of Delaware. Prior to joining the center in 1974, Bonnie was a middle school teacher in Ohio and Delaware. She has a Ph.D. and an M.Ed. from the University of Delaware and a B.A. from Ohio Wesleyan University.

Todd Zartman is the economic education manager at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Prior to joining the Reserve Bank in 2004, Todd taught business and technology at Palisades High School in Kintnersville, PA. He previously taught at Liberty High School in Bethlehem, PA. He has an M.A. in economic education and entrepreneurship from the University of Delaware, a B.A. in speech communications from the University of Richmond, and a B.S. in education from Delaware Valley College.