We caught up with Brian Allen, 4th grade teacher at Wallin Elementary School, to talk about how Andson’s Openvest Financial Literacy Curriculum has made a difference in his classroom.
Openvest is Andson’s original Financial Literacy curriculum used to make personal finance fun in the classroom. We asked Mr. Allen what his students enjoyed most about Openvest and he said, “The kids like the planning of their own lives, like creating budgets.” He went on to comment that his students enjoy getting to, “plan out a world in their head that is their own, and they really get excited about those activities.”
When his class started discussing budgeting, Mr. Allen said his students went on to have insightful conversations about time and money, noting that, “Time is really the highest commodity.” Naturally some students had smaller budgets than others, and not every one had to budget for the same things. Transportation, for example, became a topic of their budgets, and the class went on to explore how the amount of time one has to budget for travel can greatly affect one’s quality of life and economic position.
Another particular lesson that made an impact in Mr. Allen’s classroom was the section on investments. Mr. Allen took a unique approach to the Openvest lesson plan by having his students create their own product that they would then have to convince others to invest in. He modeled the lesson like the TV show Shark Tank, and had students present and “sell” their products to potential investors (their classmates).
Mr. Allen encourages teachers using Andson’s Openvest curriculum to, “take ownership of the curriculum,” and “make it their own.” His best advice, approach the lessons with, “an open heart and open mind.”
Watch the video below for the full interview: