Financial Literacy

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Barbara J. Feldman

Although there is more to learn about money than how to count coins and bills, the subject is largely ignored in most middle and high-schools. Today's six-pack of sites tackle saving, budgeting, earning, investing, and more.

A.G. Edwards: Big Money Adventure

3 stars

Big Money Adventure is actually three different adventures for different age groups. Rainbow Castle for two to six-year-olds focuses on coloring and learning to count money. Storybook Adventures is an interactive story that explains the concept of profit for six to ten-year-olds. But the best section is Star Traders, where you build a stock portfolio of five stocks, and compete against other real players for about a month. Weekly winners receive a t-shirt and have their name published on the site.

Escape from Knab

5 stars

Escape from Knab is a role-playing game from U.S. Bank that teaches financial decision-making to middle and high-school students. The setting is the fictitious planet Knab, where you are trying to save enough money for a $10,000 return ticket to Earth. Start by picking a job and filling out your W-4. Should you choose a higher-paying job with little advancement opportunity, or a lower-paying job with a company that is know to reward good workers with raises?

Moneyopolis

5 stars

At Moneyopolis (another role-playing game), you will meet Xerbie, a visitor from outer space who's stranded because he couldn't save enough money to repair his broken spaceship. You will be asked to help him get back home by answering money questions in each of the town's buildings. In addition to the game, there are downloadable activities for offline learning, a financial glossary, and a budget gadget (downloadable spreadsheet) to help you keep track of cash and meet your money goals.

Practical Money Skills for Life: Financial Football

4 stars

"Students tackle financial questions like professionals in this fast-paced, quiz-style game divides classrooms into two teams that compete by answering finance-themed questions to earn yardage and score touchdowns." Since I don't know much about football, I was a little apprehensive when I started to play Financial Football. But I was relieved when I realized that all I had to do was answer the money questions in four modules. Teachers can download related classroom materials, or order them on CDs. "What's the purpose of using a PIN for a bank account?" "What does APR stand for?"

Sovereign Bank: KidsBank.com

4 stars

KidsBank.com by Sovereign Bank is a cartoon tutorial for early elementary ages explaining the fundamentals of money, savings, interest, checking and electronic banking. During any of the lessons, older children can click on the Little Professor to learn more about a topic, such as the difference between simple and compound interest. The Game Room offers multiple choice quizzes (at two levels of difficulty) for each of the five chapters. " Interest is money that the bank gives to you for saving your money. The more money you keep in your savings account, and the longer you leave it there, the more money the bank will give you."