DALTON, Ga. — As a little girl in Mexico, Laura Rojas dutifully placed her pesos in her Winnie the Pooh piggy bank. At 18, she has written a children’s book that explains, “A savings account is a place where the bank keeps your money.”
As part of Teach Children to Save Day, three Dalton High School students visited Westwood Elementary on Tuesday.
They each read to kindergarten classes their own children’s books about personal finance. The 5- and 6-year-olds quietly listened to the stories and then wrote sentences starting with “When I grow up, I want to save money for ...”
One teacher, Kerry Adams, said teaching these kindergarten students about personal finance is nothing new. Georgia’s education standards require the youngsters to learn the difference between wants and needs, Ms. Adams said.
To view personal saving rates in recent years, visit
www.bea.gov/briefrm/saving.htm.
Georgia also requires kindergartners to learn the concept of income, according to the state Department of Education Web site.
But Luis Pacheco, 17, taught a more complicated concept: bank loans.
In his story, “The Pig With the Money,” the Big Bad Wolf blows the pig’s house down and leaves him homeless. So, the pig goes to the bank for a mortgage.
Mr. Pacheco’s story also explained savings accounts. “You can earn ... money called interest,” he told the children.
After the book readings, a few of the students bragged about how much money they’ve already saved.
“My grandma gave me a lot of dollars,” said Titus Underwood, 5, counting to $16 on his hands. He said he’s saving for a skateboard.
This lesson on saving comes at a time when the personal savings rate in the United States is relatively low. The latest figures from the U.S. Department of Commerce show that Americans are saving less than 1 percent of their disposable income.
That is a decline fromthe personal savings rate of more than 3 percent of disposable income in mid-2001.
Dalton High School teacher Hailey Brock — who brought the three student/teachers to Westwood from her banking and investing class — said the experience helped her students learn something about saving, too.
“There’s no better way to learn,” she said, “than to teach.”
