Do I need to set aside something so the lights stay on?
What happens if a check "bounces?" How can I prevent that?
Why am I getting a "penalty" for this overdue bill?
Should I get a credit card or is it better to use a debit card?
What is a simulation?
It is a way to learn something that is complex by practicing skills in a safe way. Fighter pilots use a simulation to learn to fly safely. We're using a simulation to learn how to manage money safely. This simulation will teach us a lot of life skills.
Part of the simulation is earning income. We will get a wage, and we can earn bonus income for excellent work. We might even get a promotion or a raise. We can also do extra work for extra income, just like in adult life. Hard work pays off. We will deposit our income into our checking account.
Another part of this simulation is expenses. We will have to pay rent, utilities, and even taxes. We will pay income taxes every month. We will also need to spend our hard-earned money on other expenses. For example, if we are late for class or we don't "tap in", we have to pay a late fee. If we forget our pencil, we can rent one. If we bring unauthorized food into the classroom, we have to pay a Food Penalty. We will pay for our expenses by writing checks.
Expenses can be for fun things, too. After we take care of the bills, we will be able to "purchase" some really fun privileges. For example, we can rent the teacher's chair for a period. Or ,we can purchase the privilege of listening to our personal music during independent work. We can even purchase a pizza party or a treat for the entire class. These give us incentive to work hard and earn enough income so we can have enough for fun even after we pay our bills.
We can also make investments. Investments are big expenses but they "pay off" in the future. Some of our investments will be "tuition" and some will be special events that help us in the long term. We can purchase some more expensive things with a "loan" and pay it back in installments with interest.
You can download the handbook we got today. It tells the details. It lists all the skills we are going to learn. It tells the things we will need to pay for and the things we can purchase with our income if we want to.
In our opinion, this is a little bit complicated. But, it is a simulation. A simulation lets us figure it out without a lot of real problems. It sounds like it will be complicated when we are adults anyway.
We think it will probably be fun to learn this way instead of just from a book or with worksheets. We'll learn a lot and have some fun at the same time! What do you think?
