Financial Literacy Month – Resources for Life 

Financial literacy is closely connected to math skills, which include the ability to work with numbers and apply them to real-life situations. Most people learn math skills in school or from their family. If you'd like to explore the math skills taught at different grade levels, a great place to start is the website of the Ministry of Education in your province or territory. 

For example, here is the website of the Ministry of Education of Ontario. From the homepage, navigate to the menu and select Education and Training. There, you'll find a wealth of information related to elementary and secondary schools, skills training, financial aid, and a host of other valuable resources.

Financial literacy is a key part of numeracy because the main way that most of us use math in real life is through money and finance. “Financial Literacy is the ability to understand and effectively use financial skills” (Fernando, 2021). Having strong financial literacy is important for a person’s financial, physical, and mental health, as well as their security, housing, and personal relationships.  

Read United for Literacy President and CEO, Mélanie Valcin's Letter to the Editor in Investment Executive magazine. In it, she discusses the importance of Financial Literacy and the need for education tailored to the person.

Essential Components of Financial Literacy

Financial Literacy includes: 

- Budgeting 
- Investing 
- Borrowing 
- Taxation 
- Personal Financial Management 

Empowering Through Education: United for Literacy Resources 

How can United for Literacy help you increase your financial literacy skills? Here are a few resources that you can find on the United for Literacy website: https://www.unitedforliteracy.ca/Resources. Although they are written for specific grades, they can be used by anyone–children, youth, adults, and seniors. It’s never too early or too late to better understand how money works. We all need to build our financial literacy skills and here are some fun ways to help you do that (click on the grade to see all the resources at that level):  

• Grade 4: Where is My Money?
• Grade 5: Managing Your Money: Weekly Budget 
• Grade 6: Creating Financial Goals 
• Grade 7: The Financing of Adulting 
• Monthly Budget Planner 
• Yearly Financial Planner 
• Grade 8: Customer Incentives
• Grade 9: Adjusting budget – for an individual, household, or business 
• Grade 10: One-year Financial Plan 
• Grade 11: The Business Cycle and You! Financial Planning 
• Grade 12: Choose a Job, Choose a Savings Goal 

Here's what one Grade 4 teacher said about our Financial Literacy resources:

"United for Literacy did a great job teaching my students about where their money can go. My students learned about saving, spending, donating and investing in a way that they understood and could relate to."

Financial literacy skills are used by everyone from all backgrounds and cultures. We all make financial decisions, whether big or small, every day, and these skills apply to everyone. However, the way we approach finances and spending habits often reflect our personal priorities. These priorities may be affected by where we live, who we hang out with, and the stage of life we are at. If you are teaching others about money and finances in any setting, it is important to take the time to understand your students’ lived experiences and the factors that influence their decisions to spend, save, or invest. 

Tips for Promoting Financial Literacy Within Your Community

Here are a few tips on how you can talk about financial literacy within your family or community:  

1. When you are getting ready to go shopping, compare prices at different stores by looking online or in flyers.  
2. Talk with others about what you spend money on each week.  
3. Talk about decisions or choices you are currently making or have made in the past.  
4. Talk about the importance of saving and how, by saving a bit each week or month, your money can grow.  
5. Talk about budgeting–discuss what you need and what you want. 
6. After talking about budgeting, discuss how you decide the amount of money to spend on what you want.  
7. Talk about where you can borrow money from and how interest rates affect how much you need to pay back. For example, compare borrowing $1,000 from a bank or using a credit card.  
8. Talk about different ways of investing money, the varying levels of risk, and what works best for people in different situations. For example, younger people tend to make more risky investments than older people who are close to retirement or are retired.

United for Literacy's Financial Literacy Resources were developed by: 

Ellie Chan, OCT, M.Ed. - Resource Development Advisor - Financial Literacy, [email protected]
Ellie taught middle and high school math in Canada and the U.S.A., where she worked with students facing high barriers to learning. She was also a social worker for youth who were precariously housed, supporting them through financial literacy education. Ellie holds a Master of Education from UCLA, where she developed as a social justice educator who is passionate about culturally responsive teaching and growth mindset.

Kris Knutson, OCT, Ph.D.  - Resource Development Advisor - Financial Literacy
Kris has nearly 20 years of teaching experience in Canada, Mexico, and Asia. His PhD research focused on financial literacy in classrooms. He received his bachelor’s degree in linguistics and economics from McGill University. Kris wrote investment articles for financial publications including the Motley Fool Canada. He is passionate about financial literacy education instruction in schools.

Written by: Maureen Anglin, Regional Director, Ontario