This text is part of the Teachers’ Week special booklet
Introduce the youngest to money matters in order to better prepare them for managing their personal finances when they grow up. This is what motivated Francis Vigneux-Blais, teacher at Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption elementary school, not far from Sherbrooke in the Eastern Townships, to offer a range of financial activities in his class.
It is a video published on December 6 on the social network TikTok, and viewed more than 177,000 times, which really shed light on the teacher’s educational project in which a class of 22 3rd and 4th graders participates, 8 to 9 years old. He gave a foretaste of how his financial education project works. “I’m used to doing all kinds of projects in my classes, but the interest aroused for this one took me by surprise”, admits the teacher who also administers the page Francis’s class, both on TikTok and on Instagram.
The idea of talking about personal finances with his students germinated following discussions with a young intern passing through his school. “He had good knowledge of finance and the stock market. He bought his shares himself. It impressed me and I decided to read more on the subject. The 34-year-old teacher realizes that he would have liked to have been taught the basics of personal finance early in his school career. “In the time allocated to me within the school program, I wondered how I could make a difference with my group. And this project was born. »
Buy or save?
The teacher at Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption school then obtained an educational set of silver notes, similar to the official notes in circulation, and set up his system at the start of the school year. His way of proceeding is simple: students earn money by working well and doing their schoolwork. But there is a cost for certain things, starting with their desk that they have to rent like accommodation, which encourages them to budget well. “They can also make money by doing good deeds, cleaning up the classroom, for example. »
The students have also drawn up a list of privileges to which they are entitled with their donation, such as listening to music in class or taking the teacher’s chair for a period. “I applied the filter of real life. The students earn money and they can choose to buy things or save by depositing in the bank — me — their savings, which will earn interest. It is ultra-concrete for them. This is our emulation system. It is also a way to accelerate my transitions or improve participation in various activities. »
Taxes, games of chance and other compound interest
Francis Vigneux-Blais specifies that throughout the year he integrated new financial notions. “It remains very vulgarized and elementary. His class will soon be looking at the notion of taxes. “We will have a big jar in which we will add the portion of taxes that will be added to the purchase of a privilege. And collectively, we are going to buy something. Instead of health care, it might be a book. On the days of the Montreal Canadiens games, the professor created a lottery system to determine the loser or the winner. “The idea is to show them that games of chance are still random, and that depending on the game, the chances of winning are very slim. »
The teacher, who already has more than ten years of experience, says that the students have responded very positively to this project. “They went all out. It must be said that they are used to it, because I regularly suggest all kinds of projects to them. But it’s true that as soon as they can buy privileges, they are very happy. »
As in real life, the teacher noticed some disparities in the management of his students’ money. While most of them are quite thrifty, there are two or three who have saved almost all their money. “These can practically already live off their interests. They understood the magic of compound interest. He says he also received strong support from management. “I’m lucky to have a boss who almost gives me carte blanche for all of my activities. This project has also succeeded in promoting our school. “Same reaction on the side of the parents of students. “It’s a small community and some have let me know that they would have liked, at the same age, to receive this kind of initiation to develop their financial literacy. »
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the Duty, relating to marketing. The drafting of Duty did not take part.