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FitMoney $upersquad
Pros: The interactive games let students practice the concepts in an easy, no stress setting.
Cons: Teachers may have trouble keeping track of how much their students are understanding.
Bottom Line: These videos and games are a great, game-based introduction to complex topics that are often ignored.
The FitMoney $upersquad videos and activities offer a great way to start learning about topics that are often overlooked, but teachers will likely need to put in some effort to supplement the learning. Have students make their own way through each module, and then get them involved in a related classroom activity. Alternatively, teachers could present the videos to the whole class or small groups and have students decide together which choices to make in the activities. Either way, engage students in discussions about each new topic. And teachers looking to assess student learning will need to create their own tools.
FitMoney $upersquad is a free web-based interactive game that covers the basics of financial literacy. Kids watch videos, answer multiple-choice questions, and play mini games to learn about saving vs spending, wants vs needs, budgeting, basic banking models, and more. The first stop in the virtual world of Fitonia is the Meet Your Money module where students learn about the basics of what money is, how to value it, and how to recognize and count U.S. coins and bills.
Subsequent modules cover topics like saving and spending, credit and banking, shopping, budgeting, insurance, earnings and taxes, and investing. Module 4 helps kids learn about how to track income and spending, and protect the purchasing power of their money. Module 5 dives into earning and explores concepts like entrepreneurship, taxes, and even invites students to visit a career fair.
When students complete a module, they get a certificate as well as a learning guide that details what topics the module covered and offers a few suggestions for extending the learning. In addition to the modules, kids can also personalize their avatar using coins they earn through game play. The games are text-based, but there’s an audio button to hear the text read out loud. At the time of review, FitMonday $upersquad was in beta version and there were a few technical problems that sometimes made advancing through the activities a little confusing.
FitMoney $upersquad introduces important financial literacy topics in a simple, accessible way. The curriculum relies mostly on videos, though there are enough interactive games to encourage students to think more deeply and practice the topics covered in the modules. Explanations for complex topics are mostly presented in easy to understand language, though younger students may need some additional help. Things also move pretty quickly and some topics will need a lot more practice. There’s some limited feedback when students answer questions incorrectly, but nothing in depth.
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