Second Graders and the Stock Market

Do you know any second graders who have knowledge about the stock market? Probably not. Why? Because the stock market is not generally covered in the elementary curriculum, and if it's not in the curriculum, chances are that it won't be taught. One might argue that parents can teach their kids about the stock market, but my counter is that teachers and schools are just as capable. So what else is not typically in the second grade curriculum? Since the list is a mile long, I will just name a few:
-  how to build a robot
-  how to make a movie
-  how to code
-  how to make ice-cream
-  favorite sports team (NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB, WNBA, MLS, etc.)
-  favorite video games
-  favorite candy
-  favorite animation movie
-  fashion (clothes, shoes, hats, accessories)
-  roller coasters (a mode of transportation)
-  social media (that's right, I said social media for second graders because it's a reality, not a myth)
-  learning about different colleges (locally and globally)
-  learning about different careers (not just career day, but an entire unit on various careers)
-  learning about famous painters, dancers, and musicians (past and present)
-  learning about celebrities (especially child celebrities)

• The things I listed have real-world application and most are topics of interest for second graders anyway. Actually, the topics would be of interest to K-12 students in any school. What disappoints me is that most of these topics are not explored in further detail in classrooms. Do you realize that students can go deeper for conceptual knowledge around any topic, regardless of their age? How, you might ask? They can conduct research, create models, go on field trips, design a presentation (digital or non-digital), make a game, collaborate with other students, classrooms, or schools, create collages, engage in debates, and/or do a classroom project with their teacher. My point is that students will learn what we teach them. If we limit teaching to only what's in the curriculum, we perpetuate missed opportunities to explore relevant and interesting topics in our environment and around the world. And where there is interest, there is learning. I suggest that we disrupt the status quo, which clearly is not working when we consider test scores and student motivation, by cultivating curiosity and including more real-world topics in our classrooms. 


• My contention is that educators have an obligation to expose students to what's in the curriculum and what's not in the curriculum. Don't fall into the trap of pacing guides or coverage for coverage sake. Trust me, students will remember what is meaningful and relevant to them. There is a quote that says, "Ceilings are for rooms, not students." The sky is the limit in our classrooms. A second grader can learn about the stock market, including vocabulary such as shares, trade, finances, options, investments, currencies, trends, and how to read a chart. Why not teach students about financial planning and management early on? There are several online stock market games where students can practice. We might have to simplify complex topics, but exposure to topics that significantly impact our way of life is better than no exposure at all. This is why I am strong proponent of project-based learning. Students are given opportunities to study topics that are not generally represented in the curriculum. They walk away smarter because they participate in managing their own acquisition of learning and they develop a sense of pride in their discoveries. This affect is priceless. Click on the image below to see a sample presentation on the stock market. Click here for other sample presentations. Feel free to share your comments below. Let's start a conversation about integrating more concepts with real-world application into the curriculum, and not limiting students to only "grade level content."         ​