Will our kids be dumb and broke part 2

Although Jump$tart and its members applaud stand-alone courses that students must pass, usually in high school, they are promoting the idea that the younger financial education starts, the better.
Jump$tart has created a set of voluntary standards that include benchmarks for elementary, middle and high school. The network's approach is to build students' financial skills from basic concepts to more-sophisticated decisions.
Here are some of its benchmarks for understanding credit that millions of Americans are clearly lacking:
By the fourth grade, students should understand that responsible borrowers pay back loans as promised.
By the eighth grade, students should understand how interest rates and loan lengths affect the cost of credit.
By the 12th grade, students should be able to define standard credit card disclosure terms and know how to fill out an application. ("Not that we are suggesting they apply for credit but they understand how to do so," Levine hastened to add.)
How kids learn about money Despite an apparent hodgepodge of laws, standards and requirements, Duvall believes educators are making progress on a clearer blueprint for giving kids financial skills they will keep for life.
That's a tall order, as most of us forget fractions the minute we're on summer vacation.
But what money has on its side, in a sense, is that financial knowledge can be made concrete for kids from Day One. Everyone, even a young child, deals with money or watches parents deal with money every day.
Even though financial requirements are all over the map right now, Duvall pointed out that every lesson counts. It's hard to know whether a 16-year-old will retain any of the high school skills she learned when she's 26 and buying her first car, but she might.
"My argument from the start is that we have a lot of work to do," Duvall said. "And it's better to have taught kids something rather than nothing."
What you can do The other advantage of financial education being rather fluid right now is that everyone can and should get involved. There may be no more important way to contribute to the world than to take one of these steps:
Contact your school board. Whether you're a parent or not, writing a basic letter of endorsement for financial education will help build momentum at the local level.
Learn what's out there. Jump$tart operates a national clearinghouse of financial literacy programs, and Levine suggested sending some to your schools because "sometimes teachers don't know where to start." Jump$tart recommends two curricula that schools can adopt: the National Council on Economic Education's Financial Fitness for Life, a comprehensive K-12 program available for purchase; and High School Financial Planning, a four-year curriculum created by the National Endowment for Financial Education. The latter is free.

Be a better role model. "You don't have to be the teacher, but just have a conversation with your children," Levine said. "Take something specific like a stimulus check or bonus or tax refund, and make a minibudget within that, so kids can see how you make financial decisions with a finite amount."
According to the National Foundation for Credit Counseling's survey, parents are among the most powerful influences on how and what kids learn about money. About half of those who closely monitor their finances reported learning those money-management skills at home.
By MP Dunleavey