Confession: for years and years I was the worst at balancing my checkbook.
I thought something might have been wrong with me that inevitably, month after month, I’d find myself in error.
Checks would bounce and payments would be late; it was often a mess.
A hot mess.
It was partly because I’d be lazy, or I’d forget, or I’d lose receipts.
Maybe it was because I started managing money too late–as a college freshman!–or maybe it was because math isn’t my thing. Either way, things are fine now but truly due in part to the fact that I married a man who moves much more slowly when it comes to money.
Thank goodness.
I made a promise to myself, though, that my kids would be better with money management than I. So we will start earlier. We will work together. And hopefully, they will move into their adult years as more financially savvy, more money-confident.
(Yes–this is my for real check book from when I first graduated from college. It isn’t pretty.)
When I was contacted by my friends from We Are Teachers to work with the great people of H&R Block to share word of the H & R Block Budget Challenge, I was more than game.
The more families who support the H&R Block Budget Challenge and the more teachers who use the resources in their classrooms, the better. Truly.
Here’s the skinny. . .
Budget Challenge for Students: Real-Life Money Management and Big $ for Classrooms and Students:
It may sound a little complicated or (for some of you) scary. But hang in there. Keep on reading, my friend.
The H&R Block Budget Challenge is new to me, I’ll admit it. But it seems awesome. Awesome.
The challenge encourages kids to learn about personal finance in fun, authentic, and real ways.
And along the way there are prizes, scholarship money, and big-time classroom grants to be won.
The H&R Block Budged Challenge has three components you need to know about:
They’ve got tons of parent resources. They’ve got tons of classroom resources. And they’ve got lots and lots of money to give to students and teachers.
Make your way to the site and then click on the tab that you need:
1. tons of awesome parent resources: any parent can use them for their own kids–check them out!
- videos, facts and statistics
- parent education resources
- personal consumer resources for parents
- career and college resources for parents
- parents cannot do the challenge for
2. super-cool teacher and classroom resources: lesson plans and ideas that teachers will love, love, love.
Check it out:
Look at the info below!
It’s awesome.
And as a gal who pored through college scholarship books (no joke–anyone who did the same thing knows how HUGE those books were and how laborious that process was!), this challenge–and the prizes it offers–are really remarkable.
The coolest thing? Even though it sounds corny, everyone who enters is a winner. The skills that students will walk away with after this challenge are invaluable.
For real.
Now what?
- Check out the resources.
- Give the classroom resources to teachers.
- Forward to your child’s school.
- Share with the PTA.
- Hand the link to your neighbors.
- Forward to your nieces and nephews.
- Use it. Try it. And let us know what you think!
Follow the WeAreTeachers / H&R Block Teaching About Money pinterest board:
fyi: This post was written as part of a collaboration with WeAreTeachers.com and H&R Block. As always, all opinions are my own, influenced only by my experience as a parent and educator.
