Providing virtual financial education for families and educators

As families and educators are adjusting to school closures and using virtual education amid the COVID-19 pandemic, many parents have started to provide financial education to kids. As the mother of 9-year-old twins Aiden and Addison, Wilson, who works full time for the State of North Carolina, has needed to take two days off a week to help her children with their schoolwork now that their education is being provided virtually.

Wilson recently learned about Hands on Banking, Wells Fargo’s free, noncommercial online learning program, and said it helps in times like this. “It’s very convenient that these resources and lessons are online,” Wilson said. “You don’t have to go anywhere and can do it on your kids’ schedule. For a working parent, that’s convenient. We can do it at eight o’clock at night if we want.”Families and educators can access the interactive website, which does not include any endorsements or advertising, from any type of device, in both English and Spanish.

Families can explore resources to learn together and start important money conversations helping to build positive financial habits. Educators looking for distance-learning activities can access resources and toolkits that align with educational standards for English language arts and mathematics for kindergarten through 12th grade.

With schools closed due to COVID-19, Brenda Wilson found new resources to teach her kids, Addison and Aiden, at their home in Tuckasegee, North Carolina. “Parents are currently in a unique position where they’re educating their kids and want to know what tools exist, and teachers are looking for virtual resources for their students and parents,” said Darlene Goins, head of Financial Health Philanthropy for Wells Fargo.

“As everyone is adjusting to a ‘new norm,’ we think it’s great time for parents to talk to their kids about money — and for educators and students to use these resources. What’s unique about the toolkit is we have two activities per lesson and multiple lessons per age group, so there’s a lot of interactivity.”

Under the three sections — students, educators, and families — resources are then organized by age group. For example, for fourth and fifth graders, there are videos, interactive exercises, and worksheets prompting parents to talk with their kids about their first job and how to give back, and for high school students, there are lessons on topics like insurance and budgeting.

Resources for families

Wilson’s children help with chores on the family farm to earn money, and when they had earned $50, they were ready to spend it. Wilson told them another option would be to open a savings account and use the money saved to have some extra spending money for a family vacation to Hawaii.

“The biggest thing I want them to learn about is savings, especially in a pandemic,” Wilson said. “I’m trying to set them up so they’re never living paycheck to paycheck, so savings is my focus — and letting them make choices. All of us have made terrible financial choices by buying things you want and don’t necessarily need. I would rather them learn about that at 9 with small purchases.”

At a recent trip to a local branch in Sylva, North Carolina, with their mother, Aiden and Addison decided to open savings accounts. While there, teller Leesha Rollar showed the children how to write a deposit slip and use a check register, and Branch Manager Lena Wolfe printed out Hands on Banking lessons for their age group about budgeting and savings, as well as certificates for when they complete the lessons. She also showed them how to find the resources online.