Teaching money management in a fun and interesting way is a tall order. On the whole, most teachers do not feel they have the skills, knowledge or resources to tackle personal finance education.
Can Will Jones help? Context, narrative and purpose are three essential ingredients to feed dialogue and discussion, and the Will Jones resources for primary schools mix all three in a dynamic way.
Children join Will and Ben on a rich adventure set on the wealthy planet of Ozimoth, where they can find out more about how to manage money, and realise the importance of a money system, using a fictitious currency called Rupins.
The story and play aim to get children thinking more carefully about what to do with their money and the life choices they can make. The charming narrative is well written: the story would work well as a class reader and the play could be staged as an assembly.
Both texts are supported by a slim resource pack which offers a fair degree of challenge, although the word-and-sum puzzles are quite dry. There is room for more creative thinking here. Can these resources help? In part, yes. The Rupins concept is a great place to start and children will enjoy the adventure, although teachers would benefit from more notes, guidance and ideas about how to get the best out of them.
Will Jones’ Space Adventures: The Money Formula Book. Money School. Pounds 7.95
Will Jones’ Space Adventures: The Play. Money School. pound;12.95
Will Jones’ Space Adventures: Resource Pack. Money School. pound;9.99
By Christine Thompson-Wells. Tel: 0118 926 3466. email: info@money-school.co.uk
www.money-school.co.uk
For seven to 11-year-olds
