How to Teach the Third Grade About Taxes
Teaching children about the workings of the economy from an early age can ensure that they are financially frugal in later life. While the issue of tax is complicated even for professional economists, with a bit of imagination, you can get children in the third grade engaged in tax topics, such as income tax and the advantages and disadvantages of sales tax. This will boost their knowledge of how society works and their responsibilities in it.
Instructions
-
Instructions
-
1
Use real-life examples of services that are funded by taxes. For instance, talk about who benefits from the local fire service or police department, as well as the school. Expand on this by asking the students who should then be expected to pay for these services. This introduces youngsters to the idea of income tax. In the third grade, students are usually introduced to multiplication, division and decimalization. Bring these into play in tax lessons, for example, by simplifying the tax system of a local town and asking how many taxpayers it would take to fund a school or hospital.
-
2
Make use of the student's home life to further expand on the idea of income tax. By the time they reach 9, most children will be carrying out chores around the home in return for pocket money. Ask the students if their parents pay them for chores, and if so, whether they think they should give some of this back to pay for their food and accommodation. Implementing this kind of lesson plan can also be a useful way of meeting other education goals for third-grade students, including introducing the idea of social responsibility and empathy.
-
-
3
Give simple, real-life examples to explain the concept of sales tax to the children. Ask everyone in the classroom if they have ever been confused when a purchase unexpectedly cost more than they had planned.
-
4
Role-play and make a mini-society within the classroom. Divide the students into three different groups, with one group playing the richest members of society, another the poorest and the third the middle-class. Lead an open discussion, asking who should be expected to pay the most for services everyone uses. Facilitate a debate of the pros and cons of both progressive and proportional systems of taxation.
-
5
Make use of online resources geared toward explaining taxes to kids in the third grade. For example, the Money Instructor website offers free, downloadable games and exercises for the "classroom economy," suitable for students around 9 years old.
-
6
Explain to students differing views on tax. Explain that just as they are likely to disagree on many issues, society is divided by those who are for higher tax rates and those who are against. Since it's in the third grade that children start to learn about American history, use examples from the past to bring these ideas to life. For example, the story of the Boston Tea Party could serve as an effective means of illustrating some of the arguments against high taxes, while contemporary news stories can also help keep lessons topical and engaging.
-
1
References
- Photo Credit young boy studying image by Stepanov from Fotolia.com
