Teaching Functional Money Math Skills
Understanding money and its use is essential for everyone, including special education students. This is why this skill is almost always a part of a SPED curriculum.
In this article, we’ll learn why teaching functional money skills to special education students is so important. I’ll also share some useful tips and activities to help you teach these skills effectively!
Why is Teaching Money
Skills Important?
We use money in our daily lives – when buying groceries, budgeting, or paying bills. Because of this, understanding money is clearly important.
Most of us pick up money skills from school, personal experiences, or by watching others. However, many Neurodivergent students will need extra help to learn money skills.
That’s why it’s important to make time for practicing money skills alongside more general math lessons. These skills are not just about recognizing the different types of money and their values or budgeting. Also, developing the practical and safety skills for handling money effectively ensures excellence in teaching!
Basic Money Math Scope and Sequence
There are SO many skills involved when it comes to teaching money. Don’t fall into the trap of teaching skills randomly!
A financial literacy scope and sequence is essential to guide WHAT you teach (and in what order). The order is important, because you need to teach the prerequisite skills before you can advance to skills that build upon the foundation.
You can use this FREE Special Ed Financial Literacy Scope & Sequence to guide you.
How to Teach Functional
Money Math Skills Effectively
Struggling with where to begin? Once you’ve looked over the scope & sequence, you’ll have a good idea of how to get going.
But keep in mind that each student with a disability is different, with unique strengths and challenges. That said, you can adjust these ideas depending on the needs and abilities of your students.
Tip #1: Get a Baseline
Do you know what you should ALWAYS do before starting to teach (in any content area)?
Find out what your students already know.
Use this self-grading set of Google Forms to assess your students in each of the areas covered in the free scope & sequence. You can return to this anytime after teaching the students, to see how they have progressed. Plus -it’s great data to keep on hand for future progress reports and assessments.
Tip #2: Start with the Basics
The best way to begin your money math instruction is by introducing your students to the different types of coins and bills. Before you can use money to make purchases, it’s important to understand the basics – like how a penny is different from a quarter, what a dollar bill looks like, and even money slang like “a hundred bucks.” I like to hang these money posters up and use them as a references as needed.
The easiest strategy for teaching these foundational skills is by showing real coins and bills to your students. Then, you can use worksheets, digital flashcards or task cards so they can practice identifying coins and bills.
Tip #3: Teach Simple Money Math Operations
Next, teach your special education students basic money math operations.
Start with teaching how to add and subtract with coins. For addition, show them how to combine coins with the same value. For subtraction, demonstrate how to make change. You can also practice skip counting with similar coins and bills, and as your students progress, you can then proceed to add different coins and bills!
Tip #4: Use Real-Life Examples
Have you ever taught money math using cut-out colored paper with written amounts on it? Well, that may look cute, but it’s actually not the best way to teach money skills. Using real-life examples with pretend (but real-looking) money makes learning more engaging and practical for your students.
First off, real money and real-life situations provide a concrete way for students to understand the concept of money. When they can see and touch the actual coins and bills, it becomes easier for them to grasp the value and purpose of money.
Next, by using real-life situations as your examples, you’re preparing your students for real-world situations like shopping, budgeting, and making change. They can take what they’ve learned from the classroom and apply it in the real world.
- Grocery Shopping
- You can start by doing a simulated grocery shopping inside the classroom. Have your students create a shopping list and budget for those items. Or if you have funds, take an actual grocery shopping trip. Head to a local grocery store with your students. This hands-on experience helps them understand the value of money in a real shopping scenario.
- Budgeting Projects
Introduce the concept of budgeting to your students. Explain how people have limited money to spend and need to make choices. Create budgets for different scenarios, like planning a weekly meal, a birthday party, or a community field trip. Help them understand how to allocate their money wisely.
- Role-Playing
- Create a pretend store in the classroom. Use play money that looks like real money. Use also a real-looking cash register if you can find one. Have the students take turns playing the roles of both shoppers and cashiers. And if you teach older students, why not bring this activity to the next level by hosting a student business? Student businesses are great for practicing money skills.
Tip #5: Use Effective Activities
Using different activities like worksheets, task cards, or digital activities can be very helpful when teaching money math skills. However, you have to make sure that these activities are effective.
An Effective Money Math Activity…
- Is engaging and interactive
- Is aligned with learning objectives
- Uses real-life scenarios and examples
- Monitors progress through assessments
- Has multiple levels and differentiated instructions
Worksheets provide structured practice, allowing your students to apply what they’ve learned independently. These worksheets can also be made into digital versions which are interactive and visually appealing. You can even add an audio for students who have a hard time reading!
My personal favorite is task cards. They offer versatile, bite-sized challenges for the students because they can focus on one question at a time.
Empower Your Students
with Money Math Skills
Teaching money math skills to special education students can be a rewarding experience.
By giving your students a strong start with the basics, throwing in relatable real-life examples, and getting them involved in fun activities, you’re not just teaching money math. You’re also helping them feel more in control of their own decisions, which is essential for their future.
As they get the hang of handling money, it’s not just about doing well in class – it’s setting them up for a happier, more secure transition to adulthood.
Exploring what to teach your transition students, and overwhelmed by the endless ideas?
Remember that your units of focus will depend on your students’ needs; you can build your own curriculum map for the year by using this guide in conjunction with your students’ IEP goals.
You can get the Transition Roadmap Scope & Sequence here!
