Financial confidence starts young — and builds every year. These packets carry one clear through-line from kindergarten to senior year: that money, given time, grows on itself. Each grade meets students where they are, in language they get. Built by a CPA, free for any teacher to download and photocopy.
Choose your grade
One continuous series, kindergarten through senior year. Not sure which fits your class? Many schools run a little ahead — grab the next level up if yours does. The grades 6–12 packets each end with a real-world capstone project.
También en español. Every grade is also available in Spanish for bilingual classrooms and Spanish-speaking families — tap “En español” on any card below, or visit the full biblioteca en español →
Elementary · K–5
Recognizing coins, counting to ten, more-or-less, sorting money from not-money, saving, and tracing — with read-aloud directions and picture cues for the youngest learners.
Download Kindergarten packet →En español →Meet the coins, count pennies and nickels, needs vs. wants, saving in jars, a saving goal, earning, and a magic coin that doubles.
Download Grade 1 packet →En español →Counting mixed coins to a dollar, making change, spend–save–give, a $10 saving goal, earning with a chore chart, and doubling dollars.
Download Grade 2 packet →En español →Dollars and cents with bills, making change by subtraction, building a $20 budget, needs-first budgeting, multiplication for earning, and real money growth.
Download Grade 3 packet →En español →Money in decimals, adding and subtracting, change for multiple items, comparison shopping, a weekly budget, and saving over a year.
Download Grade 4 packet →En español →Percents, sales tax and tips, simple interest, a real monthly budget, opportunity cost, paychecks, and compounding with real numbers.
Download Grade 5 packet →En español →Middle school · 6–8
Unit rates and best-buy math, percents behind tax, discounts and tips, a percent-based budget, and a checking register.
Project: Plan the Class Party Download Grade 6 packet →En español →Percent change, markup and markdown, commission, simple interest, debit vs. credit, and comparing bank accounts.
Project: Run a Small Business Stand Download Grade 7 packet →En español →Exponents and the compound-interest formula, the Rule of 72, simple vs. compound, the cost of waiting, and inflation.
Project: Your Money in 40 Years Download Grade 8 packet →En español →High school · 9–12
Gross vs. net pay, reading a pay stub, the 50/30/20 budget, banking, an emergency fund, and SMART money goals.
Project: Budget a Summer Job Download Grade 9 packet →En español →Credit scores, APR, the minimum-payment trap, the true cost of car and student loans, and good debt vs. bad debt.
Project: Compare Two Credit-Card Offers Download Grade 10 packet →En español →Stocks, bonds and index funds, risk and diversification, the employer match, Roth vs. Traditional, and investing for a child.
Project: Build a Retirement Projection Download Grade 11 packet →En español →Taxes and take-home pay, a net-worth statement, renting, insurance, the true cost of a car, and building credit from zero.
Project: Your First Year on Your Own Download Grade 12 packet →En español →Scope & sequence, K–12
The same core ideas spiral upward every year — each grade revisits money, choices, and growth with bigger numbers and more independence, until the high-school years turn them into credit, investing, and adult decisions. Use this to see what comes before and after your level.
| Grade | Money & counting | Spending & choices | Saving, earning & growth | Core math |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| K | Name coins; count to 10; more or less | Needs vs. wants (pictures, read aloud) | Save in a piggy bank; money can grow | Counting, sorting |
| 1 | Coin values; add coins to ~25¢ | Needs vs. wants; spend or save | Saving goal; earn by chores; a coin that doubles | Adding within 20 |
| 2 | Mixed coins to $1; make change from 100¢ | Spend–save–give | Multi-week goal; chore chart; doubling dollars | 2-digit add/subtract |
| 3 | Bills & coins; change by subtraction | Build a $20 budget; needs first | Weekly saving; earn by multiplication; real growth | $ add/subtract, × |
| 4 | Money in decimals; add & subtract | Better-deal shopping; weekly budget | Save over a year; hourly earning | Decimals, unit price |
| 5 | Percents; tax & tips | Monthly budget; opportunity cost | Simple interest; paychecks; compounding | Percents, decimals |
| 6 | Unit rates; percent of a number | Tax, discount & tips; checking register | Percent-based budget; banking basics | Ratios & percents |
| 7 | Percent change; markup & markdown | Debit vs. credit; choosing a bank | Commission; simple interest; pay yourself first | Proportions, I=Prt |
| 8 | Powers of growth; the compound formula | Inflation; reading a growth chart | Rule of 72; cost of waiting; monthly saving | Exponents |
| 9 | Gross vs. net pay; pay stubs | 50/30/20 budget; needs vs. wants | Emergency fund; SMART goals; APY | Percent modeling |
| 10 | Credit scores; APR | Minimum-payment trap; good vs. bad debt | Car & student loans; total cost of borrowing | Rates & formulas |
| 11 | Stocks, bonds & index funds | Risk & diversification; Roth vs. Traditional | Compound growth; employer match; investing for a child | Exponential models |
| 12 | Taxes & taxable income | Renting; insurance; the true cost of a car | Net worth; college ROI; building credit | Financial decisions |
Standards notes in each packet are general (Common Core mathematics; national personal-finance / Jump$tart standards). Confirm alignment to your state’s standards before formal adoption.
- Black & white is best — all art is line-drawn, so color is never needed.
- Print single-sided so students can spread sheets out and you can collect one page at a time.
- Print the whole packet or just the pages you need — the cover is page 1, the “how to use” guide is page 2, worksheets are pages 3–11, and the answer key is the last page (keep that one for yourself).
- “Fit to page” off — print at 100% / actual size so the type stays large.
Why we made these
- Free, always. Download, photocopy, and use them in class — no signup, no cost, no catch.
- Built by a practitioner. Written by a CPA and former public-company CFO, so the concepts are right and the language is plain.
- Print-ready. Big type and black-and-white art designed for a classroom copier.
- A real through-line. Each grade builds toward the same idea — that money, given time, grows on itself — the foundation every future saver and investor needs.