The InformED Report for May 26, 2017 covered three things schools and families were trying to teach outside the usual subjects. Financial journalist Beth Kobliner argued that money lessons can begin at age three, and a Massachusetts high school had spent nine years giving 11th graders a full day of practice with household budgets. A survey found nearly 40 percent of responding U.S. colleges seeing fewer international applications, while the United Kingdom worked to attract those students. The edition closed in San Antonio, where nature-based programs were getting young children outdoors.
In this edition
- Beth Kobliner told St. Louis Public Radio that children understand basic money ideas such as exchange and value by about age three.
- Chicopee Comprehensive High School had run a Financial Literacy Day Challenge for 11th graders every year for nine years.
- Nearly 40 percent of responding U.S. institutions in a survey of 250 schools reported a drop in international applications, especially from the Middle East.
- The UK planned student-friendly programs for international students, who were estimated to contribute £25.8 billion to its economy.
- San Antonio nature schools and play spaces were giving young children unstructured time outdoors.
Financial literacy starts at home, and at school
St. Louis Public Radio’s Kelly Moffitt reported on Beth Kobliner’s appearance on St. Louis on the Air, where she discussed her book “Make Your Kid A Money Genius (Even If You’re Not).” Kobliner said research shows that by age three children understand basic money concepts such as exchange and value, and that by three to five they can grasp needs versus wants. Her five lessons for parents were practical: do not co-sign a credit card for a child, treat allowances as optional but consistent and separate from chores, begin talking about college costs around eighth grade, keep after-school jobs to about 15 hours a week during the school year, and practise saying no at the checkout line. She argued that these conversations matter more now that so many transactions happen online.
WWLP’s Sy Becker showed a school taking up the same task with older students. For nine years, Chicopee Comprehensive High School in Massachusetts had set aside a full day for its 11th graders, called the Financial Literacy Day Challenge. Students worked through a household budget: paying a mortgage and grocery bills and, looking further ahead, the cost of day care. School administrator Kara Blanchard said she wished her own generation had had that kind of preparation.
Together, the two reports made the case for starting early and returning to the subject often. A single day in 11th grade is a modest dose, and Kobliner’s advice depends on families who have the time and confidence to follow it. Schools that pair one practical event with short, regular lessons in math or social studies give every student the basics, whatever is taught at home.
International students and the competition for them
U.S. News’ Lauren Camera reported early findings from a survey of 250 American colleges and universities. Nearly 40 percent of the institutions that responded reported a drop in applications from international students, particularly from the Middle East, and declines were also reported for students from China and India at both undergraduate and graduate levels. The figures were initial findings about applications, so they could not yet show what would happen to enrolment in the fall.
Other countries were working to attract the same students. Writing in Mathrubhumi, Dr. T. P. Sethumadhavan reported that the UK government was planning student-friendly programs for international students, and cited an Oxford Economics study for Universities UK estimating that they contributed £25.8 billion to the UK economy, with around £4.2 billion a year in tuition from students outside Europe. For American college leaders, the two stories described one market, in which applicants can choose among several countries and those countries were actively competing for them.
InformED Report spotlight: nature schools in San Antonio
The spotlight went outdoors. In the Rivard Report, Bekah McNeel started from Finland, whose high schoolers outperform even most of their Scandinavian peers on the Programme for International Student Assessment, and noted that before Finnish children study math, science and reading, they spend time doing something U.S. children do less and less: playing outside. She then described San Antonio programs built around that idea. The Cibolo Nature Center and Farm ran a nature preschool that used the centre’s ecosystems as an extension of the classroom. The San Antonio Zoo’s Zoo School visited animal habitats daily, and Government Canyon State Natural Area offered a play-and-learn area with a limestone “batcave,” stump steppers and a climbing web. The San Antonio Botanical Garden was planning a Family Adventure Garden for nature-based play as part of an expansion.
The programs aimed to build confidence and resilience. Children who learn to climb, explore and manage small risks outdoors, the educators said, become more willing to try unfamiliar things, and parents were drawn back to nature alongside their children. “If the kids don’t go home wet and muddy we didn’t do our job,” said Cibolo’s director of children’s education. These are educators’ aims and observations rather than measured outcomes, but they gave early-childhood leaders a concrete reason to look at how much of the day their youngest students spend outside.
Further reading from that week
- Forbes: Don’t Make These Mistakes When Teaching Your Kids About Money
- USA Today: College applications from international students are taking a hit
- EconoTimes: Whitsons Expands Commitment School Menus With All-Natural, Organic, and Non-GMO Ingredients
Sources
- Kelly Moffitt, “Five financial literacy lessons parents should teach their kids, from author Beth Kobliner,” St. Louis Public Radio, March 13, 2017.
- Sy Becker, “High school students taught financial literacy lessons,” WWLP, March 1, 2017.
- Lauren Camera, “Survey Finds College Applications from International Students Down,” U.S. News & World Report, March 2017.
- Dr. T. P. Sethumadhavan, “UK to Promote International Education,” Mathrubhumi, 2017.
- Bekah McNeel, “Local ‘Nature Schools’ Cultivate Life, Learning Skills,” Rivard Report, March 14, 2017.
About the InformED Report
The InformED Report is edCircuit’s short news program on education. This edition first ran on May 26, 2017. In 2026, edCircuit re-presented it with a new anchor and this full written account. Both report the stories as they stood on that date and link the original reporting, so readers can see exactly where each claim came from.
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