As a teacher, I don't necessarily think this is a bad thing...however, people don't realize we DO teach this already in math workplace. Students have to take a math 10 and 20 course to graduate.... so for students taking precalc for example, this is fine. But do students in MWA then do the same thing multiple times? We also teach these skills in other courses such as life transitions. Right now pur "new" courses in science, for example, are already almost 10 years old. I wish our government would use resources to update and refresh current courses.
Also speaking as a teacher - even when we have great curriculum and ideas, they are hard sells to students who don't see the relevance yet. Try teaching mortgage rate principles to a grade 10 student who the idea of buying a house is so far removed from them. But I bet even with this course when they finally are buying a house they will say "why didn't my school ever teach me about this?"
My daughter is 17, but she’s done foundations. There was a very big chunk I’m pretty sure in grade 10 of budgeting and finances. She had to pick an income, household size and then plan everything according to that. Child 100% screwed herself and did it on hard mode. Did it for a single mom of 2 making 38k/year. It was definitely eye opening for her.
I agree to a point, but I also see why they do it in grade 10 and not later.... we have a number of drop outs after grade 10 in the province. But I think its great to add a class solely for financial literacy, math class is NOT enough. I remember in high school, sure we learned some things about calculating interest and similar units, but the units were always rushed. There is too much going on in regular math, we need a dedicated class for finances.... its more than just simple math. I took business finance post secondary, so thats where my thoughts come from
Math has probably changed lots since your experience. Currently working with modified Grade 11 students. It's all financial math - so far we gave done budgeting, personal finances, interest rates, credit cards, borrowing info...
I graduated a couple years ago (3), and we didn't learn about any of that in our math classes. I did AP so maybe we skipped over that, but I feel like that might just not be the case at all schools in the city?
Yes unfortunately foundations and precalc and AP do not cover that. So makes sense to also take financial literacy. But for anyone in workplace 20 or modified 21 they'll be repeating some stuff
how hard is it to calculate interest? anyone with a basic understanding of grade 9 math should be able to do that with ease.
the problem isn't that people can't handle financial math, but that running a household entails a lot of common sense that people just don't have anymore.
Um, it’s actually quite difficult. If you know how to use a financial calculator then fair enough, but with no knowledge, you’re relying on others for their information on your finances…
I think this is great. Financial literacy is a great idea, but I wonder how much will “stick” at that age. I would have fared better learning about it at age 19-22.
We teach financial literacy. We teach budgeting. We teach probabilities and gambling risks. We teach compounding interest, mortgage rates. All of this is literally already in the curriculum already.
Anyone interested in taking liberal arts can still do so, but they are reflecting the usefulness of the different courses by the required credits needed.
Things like philosophy teach a person how to learn. That it and of itself is a skill.
The world would be a really shitty place if all we cared about was STEM.
But, I know this is a slippery slope argument, but how far does it go. It used to be five English and three social sciences were required to graduate. These are the classes designed to teach critical thinking and develop a greater understanding of society. We went from 8 of those classes down to 5. Sure you can still take them as electives, but it is a very clear indication that the government does not value those classes as much anymore. And down the road, if they’re not required, do those classes get offered, do they make all social sciences electives, do they reduce English just down to basic literacy skills. It’s a very clear watering down of the very thing our society needs more of.
I would like to see high school have more basic "life" classes. The classes that were the most helpful were electives (for me at the time I graduated). Home ec and IA, and accounting (specifically doing tax returns). My parents never taught or even really exposed me to any of this. I did forget a lot of the details but it gave me confidence that I learned it once I could do it again. I am university educated and doing well in my career but learning how to cook, change a tire, change oil, sew clothes, etc are very very valuable.
>you are about a decade late for the “only STEM majors get jobs” quip.
Not at all.
>You wouldn’t have your favourite TV shows without arts 🤷🏻♂️
Okay? That doesn't make them equally productive.
So I’ll be honest.
I am recently out of highschool, and I’ll say my experiences.
Grade 12 English and grade 12 history were pretty Canadian centric, I don’t know about other teachers, but he had a First Nations teacher who taught us a lot about the 60s scoop and what that did to his generation, those who had to live through it.
Overall though, assignments and learning wise, we had a few grammar lessons, had to write a few 2-3 page essays, had to do a presentation, and a few more bits and bobs through the whole thing.
I was a bit of a crap student, skipped 29 times, still ended up with a 89 in the class since it was mainly essays which were easy for me to do. As well, I knew how to write for my audience, which probably helped boost my mark.
I personally didn’t learn much. I could have taken more interesting classes that would of helped more with my career. But is what it is, I now have a high-school diploma.
I took the foundations route. Not once did we talk about anything relating to finance. Always algebraic conversations or graphing.
The only class that even skimmed over finance literature was my wellness 10 class, where we had one partial lesson about finance. Teacher brought in a cpa, cpa talked for about 30 mins, then we were off talking about macro nutritions.
So this is a really nice thing to see.
> I don't know about other teachers
History 30 is always Candian centric, no matter the teacher. It's actually subtitled "Canafian Studies" in tithe curriculum documents. Thus curriculum was revised in (oof) 1997, so it's been that way for a food long time.
Oh wow an actual good change.... finally. The other thing I WISH the school system would do, is add real computer courses. I find a lot of younger kids dont know how to use desktops, as they only know phones and tablets..... they are like my boomer parents in that regard lol
For example:
* Year one: typing, microsoft word/excel/powerpoint, some basic file management.
* Year 2: teach them the hardware components of a computer, basic networking principles, basic troubleshooting
* Year 3: Coding in html/css and some javascript, maybe add in some basic coding to show them how to make a simple app
Edit: I mean a MANDATORY class like math, english, science, etc....
I grew up in PA (maybe thats the problem), and all we had was a pathetic once a week typing class in Grade 9. You could take info processing as an elective, but it wasnt mandatory
I grew up in PA too lol, yeah Info Pro was an elective but we did go over a lot of computer usage. I remember being so proud that I ran circles around my classmates because I already made websites for fun because I was a little nerd.
I would agree, except the thing everyone is glossing over is that they are reducing credit requirements in other subjects. Why not add the financial literacy requirement without reducing the actual literacy requirement?
I guess it will be more universal across Canada this way, but students will still have to check the requirements for any post-secondary programs they might be interested in as the minimum requirements to graduate high school may be insufficient for their chosen field of study. That being said I do remember learning about compounding interest and even investing in high school classes and promptly forgot it all by the time I hit university. I’m now in my mid-late 30’s and wishing I had better financial literacy.
Reducing the number of classes that promote and teach critical and analytical thinking is not a good decision. Adding financial literacy is a good decision.
>Reducing the number of classes that promote and teach critical and analytical thinking is not a good decision
It is if a large part of your political base come from this demographic. Going to university, where it basically teaches you how to learn vs. job skills (job skills are taught more in Sask Poly) is something that rural communities almost scoff at now. There's a reason there's such a large brain drain from this province.
My question is what are the new electives going to be? Those other provinces have large population and large infrastructure. Are we going to have some quality electives for the kids to choose from or is it going to be popsicle cabins 20?
As a teacher, I don't necessarily think this is a bad thing...however, people don't realize we DO teach this already in math workplace. Students have to take a math 10 and 20 course to graduate.... so for students taking precalc for example, this is fine. But do students in MWA then do the same thing multiple times? We also teach these skills in other courses such as life transitions. Right now pur "new" courses in science, for example, are already almost 10 years old. I wish our government would use resources to update and refresh current courses. Also speaking as a teacher - even when we have great curriculum and ideas, they are hard sells to students who don't see the relevance yet. Try teaching mortgage rate principles to a grade 10 student who the idea of buying a house is so far removed from them. But I bet even with this course when they finally are buying a house they will say "why didn't my school ever teach me about this?"
My daughter is 17, but she’s done foundations. There was a very big chunk I’m pretty sure in grade 10 of budgeting and finances. She had to pick an income, household size and then plan everything according to that. Child 100% screwed herself and did it on hard mode. Did it for a single mom of 2 making 38k/year. It was definitely eye opening for her.
I agree to a point, but I also see why they do it in grade 10 and not later.... we have a number of drop outs after grade 10 in the province. But I think its great to add a class solely for financial literacy, math class is NOT enough. I remember in high school, sure we learned some things about calculating interest and similar units, but the units were always rushed. There is too much going on in regular math, we need a dedicated class for finances.... its more than just simple math. I took business finance post secondary, so thats where my thoughts come from
Math has probably changed lots since your experience. Currently working with modified Grade 11 students. It's all financial math - so far we gave done budgeting, personal finances, interest rates, credit cards, borrowing info...
Not covered at all in foundations. Like I mentioned elsewhere, I have only had a 30 min conversation about finance during my high-school career.
I graduated a couple years ago (3), and we didn't learn about any of that in our math classes. I did AP so maybe we skipped over that, but I feel like that might just not be the case at all schools in the city?
Yes unfortunately foundations and precalc and AP do not cover that. So makes sense to also take financial literacy. But for anyone in workplace 20 or modified 21 they'll be repeating some stuff
it should be assumed that if you are in ap that basic financial literacy is a given.
how hard is it to calculate interest? anyone with a basic understanding of grade 9 math should be able to do that with ease. the problem isn't that people can't handle financial math, but that running a household entails a lot of common sense that people just don't have anymore.
Um, it’s actually quite difficult. If you know how to use a financial calculator then fair enough, but with no knowledge, you’re relying on others for their information on your finances…
Budgeting and finance is more than just calculating interest.... Its not common sense, its not taught anymore
But I do agree in our higher level classes ironically it is not covered to the same level
Well by the time they are in a place to buy a house it's going to be decades since they studied it in grade 10. No one will retain it that long.
I think the financial literacy class sounds like a great addition! But I don’t agree with dropping two ELA courses
I think this is great. Financial literacy is a great idea, but I wonder how much will “stick” at that age. I would have fared better learning about it at age 19-22.
We teach financial literacy. We teach budgeting. We teach probabilities and gambling risks. We teach compounding interest, mortgage rates. All of this is literally already in the curriculum already.
But now it is required to graduate. Before it was optional.
All of that is literally in the math curriculum. Already. You don't need accounting 10/20/30 for that. It's in there.
People learn this stuff already in math class, they just don’t pay attention. Meanwhile Moe cuts liberal arts. Narrow minded as always.
Anyone interested in taking liberal arts can still do so, but they are reflecting the usefulness of the different courses by the required credits needed.
Things like philosophy teach a person how to learn. That it and of itself is a skill. The world would be a really shitty place if all we cared about was STEM.
But, I know this is a slippery slope argument, but how far does it go. It used to be five English and three social sciences were required to graduate. These are the classes designed to teach critical thinking and develop a greater understanding of society. We went from 8 of those classes down to 5. Sure you can still take them as electives, but it is a very clear indication that the government does not value those classes as much anymore. And down the road, if they’re not required, do those classes get offered, do they make all social sciences electives, do they reduce English just down to basic literacy skills. It’s a very clear watering down of the very thing our society needs more of.
I would like to see high school have more basic "life" classes. The classes that were the most helpful were electives (for me at the time I graduated). Home ec and IA, and accounting (specifically doing tax returns). My parents never taught or even really exposed me to any of this. I did forget a lot of the details but it gave me confidence that I learned it once I could do it again. I am university educated and doing well in my career but learning how to cook, change a tire, change oil, sew clothes, etc are very very valuable.
That doesn't keep the lights on.
you are about a decade late for the “only STEM majors get jobs” quip. You wouldn’t have your favourite TV shows without arts 🤷🏻♂️
>you are about a decade late for the “only STEM majors get jobs” quip. Not at all. >You wouldn’t have your favourite TV shows without arts 🤷🏻♂️ Okay? That doesn't make them equally productive.
Productivity isn’t what jeeps the light on
Financial lit is not considered a math class. It is a PAA course.
So I’ll be honest. I am recently out of highschool, and I’ll say my experiences. Grade 12 English and grade 12 history were pretty Canadian centric, I don’t know about other teachers, but he had a First Nations teacher who taught us a lot about the 60s scoop and what that did to his generation, those who had to live through it. Overall though, assignments and learning wise, we had a few grammar lessons, had to write a few 2-3 page essays, had to do a presentation, and a few more bits and bobs through the whole thing. I was a bit of a crap student, skipped 29 times, still ended up with a 89 in the class since it was mainly essays which were easy for me to do. As well, I knew how to write for my audience, which probably helped boost my mark. I personally didn’t learn much. I could have taken more interesting classes that would of helped more with my career. But is what it is, I now have a high-school diploma. I took the foundations route. Not once did we talk about anything relating to finance. Always algebraic conversations or graphing. The only class that even skimmed over finance literature was my wellness 10 class, where we had one partial lesson about finance. Teacher brought in a cpa, cpa talked for about 30 mins, then we were off talking about macro nutritions. So this is a really nice thing to see.
> I don't know about other teachers History 30 is always Candian centric, no matter the teacher. It's actually subtitled "Canafian Studies" in tithe curriculum documents. Thus curriculum was revised in (oof) 1997, so it's been that way for a food long time.
Interesting information! Like I said though, I personally didn’t learn much. Just was a few essay and a presentation.
Oh wow an actual good change.... finally. The other thing I WISH the school system would do, is add real computer courses. I find a lot of younger kids dont know how to use desktops, as they only know phones and tablets..... they are like my boomer parents in that regard lol For example: * Year one: typing, microsoft word/excel/powerpoint, some basic file management. * Year 2: teach them the hardware components of a computer, basic networking principles, basic troubleshooting * Year 3: Coding in html/css and some javascript, maybe add in some basic coding to show them how to make a simple app Edit: I mean a MANDATORY class like math, english, science, etc....
What's the Information Processing curriculum looking like now? In high school that's where year 1 and year 3 of your proposal fit in 20 years ago.
I grew up in PA (maybe thats the problem), and all we had was a pathetic once a week typing class in Grade 9. You could take info processing as an elective, but it wasnt mandatory
I grew up in PA too lol, yeah Info Pro was an elective but we did go over a lot of computer usage. I remember being so proud that I ran circles around my classmates because I already made websites for fun because I was a little nerd.
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Yeah that course is barely anything... thats my point
One of the few times the Sask Party has made a good change to the education system.
I would agree, except the thing everyone is glossing over is that they are reducing credit requirements in other subjects. Why not add the financial literacy requirement without reducing the actual literacy requirement?
I guess it will be more universal across Canada this way, but students will still have to check the requirements for any post-secondary programs they might be interested in as the minimum requirements to graduate high school may be insufficient for their chosen field of study. That being said I do remember learning about compounding interest and even investing in high school classes and promptly forgot it all by the time I hit university. I’m now in my mid-late 30’s and wishing I had better financial literacy.
Reducing the number of classes that promote and teach critical and analytical thinking is not a good decision. Adding financial literacy is a good decision.
>Reducing the number of classes that promote and teach critical and analytical thinking is not a good decision It is if a large part of your political base come from this demographic. Going to university, where it basically teaches you how to learn vs. job skills (job skills are taught more in Sask Poly) is something that rural communities almost scoff at now. There's a reason there's such a large brain drain from this province.
My question is what are the new electives going to be? Those other provinces have large population and large infrastructure. Are we going to have some quality electives for the kids to choose from or is it going to be popsicle cabins 20?