In Ms. Jeanine Ging’s sixth grade honors math class, the students worked on a project about managing money. This project was called the Game of Life. There are two parts to Game of Life. In Part 1, the students are allowed to pick two instances from three different states, New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. They are assigned a job randomly and have a monthly balance, having to account for taxes, cars, and mortgages. They can also buy extra things like internet service, a TV, vacations, and a dog. They must not go into debt.

There is also Game of Life Part 2, which requires more research. They can get any job they want, buy anything they want, and live anywhere they want. The students will have to go online and find the current prices for the things they want. 

“I liked [Game of Life] because you had to really think about what to buy without going into debt,” Ryley Tavern, sixth grader, said. 

“It was like a fun project but kind of complicated. If I could do it again I would,” Sierra Micon, sixth grader, said. 

Ms. Ging thinks that the impact that this has on kids is “Learning real world math skills, and how to manage a budget. It gives students a realistic look at how they can spend the money they earn.”