[mandy79]

I teach in a special education life skills class with two autistic students that are in the 8th grade. They have not had much exposure to the real world such as shopping, they also get anything they want at home, they have no allowance/chores or anything. Consequently, these kids think money completely grows on trees and it has no real value to them. I want to try to set something up in my classroom where the kids can actually get "paid" but I'm not sure how to do it. They already get "money" for completing assignments that they can redeem for certain items but I'm at a loss for what else I can incorporate. I teach in a very rural community with a corner market that we do visit but that's still not their money they're spending. Any suggestions would be wonderful!

[speeder1]

I teach a life skills class with MR students from 4th grade up to 10th grade. I have 2 different activities for the kids to learn about money.

#1 I made a Lifeolopy game. I used money from an old monopoly game and made my own playing board. I have things on there like, need school supplies, found a new dog must buy supplies for it, it is your birthday collect money, etc. I made it to go along with the things that take your money. I laminated it and the game pieces are aout of colored construction paper. We play it on Fridays and each student has an envelope to keep their money inside. When they land on a space they have to tell me how much money they are to receive or how much to give me. If they dont have the right change then they have to give me the right amount of money and also tell me how much change they are to get back. In a short time they are starting to count back change (bills only).

#2 We have about 20 minutes set aside at the end of the day for money. I started out paying my students $100. in fake money and then they had to pay me $40. for rent and $20 for utilities. Failure to pay meant the loss of a locker, chair, desk, lights, and airconditioner. This gave them $40. to have for the rest of the week. The second week when they got paid, I had cut out different types of vehicles (from neons to corvets) and laminated the pictures. They paid so much money a month based on what the actual price of the car was (ex a $30,000 vehicle would cost them $300 at $30 a week for 10 weeks). Everyone had to have a vehicle, since it is almost impossible to function without one in the real world. This brings down their extra cash quite a bit. I also will give them a $5 fine for bad behavior. I also tempt them in spending their money by having things they can purchase to keep. I get a lot of free stuff from the computer or I pick up things at Wal-Mart real cheap, I also use computer time, homework exemption, leader for the week, etc. for a hefty price. The things I listed range from $100 to $200 each. I try to get smaller toys (ex happy meal toys) for a lower price so every child can get something once in a while. Also If we have a reward day, I make my students pay for it. This day costs $20. per student. When every child has the money for a reward day we have one. So far we have had one and the next is no where in sight due to unwise money choices. Most of all I want my students to know that just because you have money, you cant go and blow it. You have responsibilities and obligations that must come first and if you make unwise money choices then you may loose something you have worked and payed for. Yes, I have re-poed some items. To help them understand unwise choices that can be made, I pick out one student and we list the money they have, list their obligations, list any fines, then any wants, and then see if there is any money left over to save. We also discuss how and where we could had made better choices.

I plan on turning this activity into teaching them how to write checks and keeping a check register, next 9 weeks.

I hope this was not to confusing. I know it does sound like a lot and at times it is, but I have a small class of 8 students.