Thanks to Courtney (Winooski High School in Vermont) and Elena and Jeanette (Mather High School in Illinois) for sharing their insights on the challenges and the rewards of teaching money skills to ELL students. Enjoy! 

Details: 

• 0:00~1:52 Introduction
• 1:52~6:42 Educators’ backgrounds and the schools they teach at
• 6:42~9:45 Passion for personal finance
• 9:45~16:22 Biggest challenges 
• 16:22~20:57 Nuances when teaching ELL students
• 20:57~28:10 Students teaching parents
• 28:10~31:15 First day of class activity idea
• 31:15~35:52 Student business ideas
• 35:52~39:09 Favorite resources
• 39:09~44:46 Explaining credit scores
• 44:46~46:31 Conclusion

Resources:

• NGPF's Spanish & ELL Directory
• The Most Important Class You Never Had Documentary
• INVESTIGATE: Million Dollar Janitor
• PROJECT: 5 Stocks on Your Birthday
• INTERACTIVE: Invest with STAX!
• INTERACTIVE: FICO Credit Scores
• CALCULATE: Impact of Credit Scores
• CREATE: A Salary-Based Budget

Quotes:

• "We have to teach these kids about bank accounts, debit cards, and the dangers of signing up for credit cards in every place and that your credit score can even keep you from getting a job."

About the Authors

Ren Makino

Ren started interning at NGPF in 2014, and worked part-time through high school and college. With his knowledge growing alongside NGPF, he joined the team to work full-time after graduating from college in 2020. He is also the producer of the NGPF podcast. During his free time, he likes to try out coffees from different roasters across the world.

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.