I didn’t know anything about the stock market, but both of my kids learned about the stock market while playing a free, online game and having fun!
Throughout my kids’ middle and high school years, their math courses often didn’t follow the typical schedule. I believe that it is a parent’s responsibility to ensure their children have the life skills they will need for everyday life.
Our kids need mathematics, even if they don’t have visions of becoming an engineer or doctor. Even your non-mathematician kids will need to know how to take care of their own finances and file their taxes. So, be sure to teach them how to do both before they graduate.
While there are children who will need upper-level mathematics, such as Algebra 2 and Calculus, that doesn’t include every child and is the exception, not the norm, to be honest.
Rather than require my children to cover mathematics that they had no interest in and wouldn’t be helpful for their immediate future, we stuck to mathematics classes and courses that would be useful no matter what they do in life.
I have never had any interest in the stock market personally, but in middle school, my son showed interest in learning about the stock market and how it worked. So, I went in search of resources that could teach him about all things stock market.
What I happened upon was better than I could have imagined. My kids have always learned best using hands-on learning activities and experiences, but I didn’t think that would be possible for such a unique topic as the stock market.
After all, I didn’t know any day traders or stock market pros. If you do, that’s fabulous! Make sure you utilize that resource!
Starting with the correct foundation, children will learn with understanding — and they will ENJOY math!
With Math Mammoth, students will be set up for success in algebra and in real life!
Get a taste of Math Mammoth materials – download the Add & Subtract 2-B and Percent books for free!
How My Kids Learned About the Stock Market
During my searches online, I stumbled upon this free virtual stock market simulator by TD Bank®. This amazing resource was a huge hit with both of my kids!
Since I knew nothing about the stock market, I was thrilled to have found it and handed them over to learn by doing — the way most kids learn best!
TD Bank®’s Virtual Stock Market Simulator is completely free and allows teachers to sign up an entire class of students, students to sign up individually and even independent investors who want to learn as they play on their own or with friends.
This isn’t just an online game; it is much more! There is a learning center that teaches things from portfolio diversification to trade ideas, from cutting your losses to the art of market timing and much, much more! (Be sure to click on the dropdown for a better breakdown of the learning center resources.)
There is also a research section of the site where you can research using a company’s stock market symbol, you can see news and media about things happening on the market currently, market summaries and movers and much, much more!
Once you’ve created each of your students an account of their own, they’ll be able to start to “play” as they make virtual simulated trades and learn how the U.S. stock market works.
Each student will have their own portfolio where they’ll be able to see rankings, transaction history, assignments, account balances, etc.
There is truly so much information on this site that you just might want to make an account of your own so that you can educate yourself about the stock market. I know that I have considered it myself a time or two!
If you’re looking for out-of-the-box ways to cover math with your kids, I highly recommend you at least take a peek at this amazing resource by TD Bank®.
The fact that TD Bank® makes it both easy and fun to learn about the stock market makes it an easy addition to your kids’ homeschool math class. Trust me, they’ll have a blast and you just might learn a thing or two from them playing the game!
