Age-appropriate
Activities use fictional examples, simulations, and adult-guided discussion.
Grades 6–8 · Chicagoland
Build money confidence before the choices get bigger.
A practical learning pathway where young people budget, set goals, explore careers, test business ideas, and build healthy wealth-building habits through guided, age-appropriate activities.
Hands-on practice
Family connection
Safety-first learning
Learning by doing
Every lesson ends with a choice, reflection, or next step.
Action-oriented
Students build, compare, explain, reflect, and practice—not just listen.
Safety-first
No account credentials, private household details, or real-money trading are requested.
Why this initiative
Money becomes real through everyday decisions.
Young people already encounter tradeoffs, advertising, digital purchases, goals, work, and online safety. The initiative gives those moments a practical structure before financial decisions become more complex.
From information to judgment
Students compare options, explain tradeoffs, and practice asking better questions.
From isolated lessons to a pathway
Budgeting, saving, credit, careers, entrepreneurship, and long-term habits reinforce one another.
From good intentions to small actions
Goal cards, reflection prompts, family tools, and project-based challenges make learning usable.
Eight connected modules
A complete foundation for confident choices.
Modules can stand alone for a workshop or connect into a multi-week learning sequence.
01
Budgeting & money choices
Practice planning with needs, wants, tradeoffs, and a clear purpose for every dollar.
02
Saving & goal setting
Turn a meaningful goal into manageable steps and build the habit of tracking progress.
03
Credit basics
Understand borrowing, repayment, interest, credit history, and identity protection.
04
Investing fundamentals
Explore time, risk, diversification, and long-term thinking through simulations only.
05
Entrepreneurship
Shape a useful idea, name the customer, estimate costs, and explain value with confidence.
06
Digital business & e-commerce
Learn the basics of online offers, ethical marketing, privacy, customer service, and safety.
07
Careers & income
Connect skills, education, earning, benefits, taxes, and multiple career pathways.
08
Wealth-building habits
Practice patience, consistency, protection, generosity, and learning before acting.
Shared value
Designed to strengthen the whole learning circle.
For students
- Practical vocabulary
- Decision-making practice
- Goal-setting confidence
For schools
- Flexible delivery formats
- Applied, cross-curricular learning
- Family connection tools
For families
- Judgment-free conversation guides
- Take-home practice
- Shared financial language
For communities
- Volunteer engagement
- Career exposure
- A durable youth-development pathway
How participation can work
Start with the setting. Build the right format together.
1
Share the need
Tell us who you serve, what students are learning, and the time available.
2
Choose a format
Select a classroom series, after-school experience, family workshop, or community event.
3
Prepare the experience
Align activities, adult roles, accessibility needs, and practical take-home tools.
4
Learn and improve
Use attendance, feedback, and age-appropriate learning checks to guide next steps.
Ways to collaborate
A practical role for every part of the community.
Partnership details are shaped with each organization; the site does not imply confirmed commitments.
Bring practical financial learning to your students, families, or community.
Share your setting and goals. We’ll follow up about fit, format, and current availability.
Curriculum structure is informed by publicly available middle-school resources from the Illinois State Treasurer and FDIC Money Smart for Young People. TJ & Friends is independently responsible for its program design and delivery.