LIBRARY OF CONGRESS iilillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllillli 014 357 059 9 * SUGGESTIVE LESSON PLANS FOR TEACHING THE TX326 BUDGET .W8 Copy 1 Prepared by Helen C. Goodspeed Supervisor of Home Economics State Department of Public Instruction Issued by C. P GARY, State Superintendent Madison, Wisconsin 1918 -.L b ^1) ^. of D, Uo 10 j9ig SUGGESTIVE LESSON PLANS FOR BUDGET TEACHING The followi'ig material consists of two lesson plans for a dramatic exercise inspired by the folder "Learning How to Save" contributed by a g'l'onp of Home economics workers. The folder is published by the National War Savings Commit- tee, United States Treasury Department, which will send copies on application. The first lesson is on Children's Bud- gets and Personal Accounts, the second on the Household Bud- get and Accounts; the dramatic exercise also presents the household budget. These plans may be suggestive to those teachers who have found the budget hard to present to the immature pupil. The subject matter in Lesson I may be used in the grades begin- ning with the fifth. Lessons I and II may be easily adapted to upper grades and first year high school students. The dramatic exercise ' ' Our Budget ' ' which follows the les- son plans is one way of popularizing the idea of the household budgets, and suggests possibilities of dramatization of House- hold Arts subjects. Both the lesson plans and the exercise have been used successfully. LESSON PLAN FOR CHILDREN'S BUDGET AND PERSONAL ACCOUNTS Teacher's Aim: To encourage personal and patriotic thrift by means of War Saving Stamps. To show how, even with a smaU aUowance each week, some pennies may be saved. — 4 — Points to be Taught Method of Presentation Teacher tells. I have in mind a little girl named Dorothy Martin who receives $.25 a w^eek to spend. One day I asked her to tell me hovp she had spent her money for the week previous. She was unable to tell me. She knew she had bought some candy and gone to the movies, but aside from that she could not account for it. Points to be Taught Method of Presentation Why Dorothy will not be able to Do you think that when Dorothy handle money wisely when she grows up she will be able to spend grows up. money wisely? 1. She is developing careless hab- its of handling money. 2. She is not developing the habit of saving. Why the good business man knows Supposing I asked a good business for what he has spent money. man to account for the money that he had handled during a week. 1. He keeps an account. Would he have any way of telling definitely for what his money had been spent? I told Dorothy to keep an ac- count for a week and at the end of the week she brought liie her note- book. As I took the book I said, "Well, Dorothy, I hope you showed good judgment in spending." Dorothy seemed to be ashamed of her items. Dorothy's Account Teacher writes on board. Amount rek;'d Amount spent Prom parents, 25c. Mon. candy $.10 Wed. game $.10 Fri. candy $.05 Why Dorothy was ashamed of items: Can you tell why Dorothy was 1. All for herself. ashamed of these items? 2. All for something of no lasting value. 3. Nothing saved. 4. Not patriotic to eat so much candy. 5. How Dorothy mig-ht change the How could Dorothy have changed items so she would not be ashamed those itenas so that she would not of them: be ashamed of them the next week? 1. School supplies 05 2. Self 10 3. Church 05 Points to be Taught Method of Pi-esentation What we call the young man who can but won't go to war — Slacker. What is the young man called who is able to go to war but yet hangs back? Pennies that could work for Uncle Sam, but don't — Slacker pennies. Then what might we call pennies which we could lend for war work, but which we often do spend for extra self gratification; How lend $.05 to Uncle Sam? S'ave it toward buying a thrift Stamp. Dorothy has $.05 left. How can s.*^ie lend that to Uncle Sam? First step in house-building. Plan. What you need before cutting a dress. Pattern. The spender of money needs 1. Plan for spending or a Budget If you were thinking of building a house, how would you begin? If you were going to make a dress, what must you get' before you begin to cut? What does anyone who handles money need before spending it? Teacher tells. Budget or Money Plan for Week I expect to receive On hand $ From earnings From trifts From parents .25 Total.. $.25 I expect to save For W.S. S. .05 For For.... .05 Just as a plan for building is - made before the construction work begins, so a plan for spending is ^ spend* *° made before one begins to spend. I am going to show you a plan that both you and Dorothy could For School .$.05 "se. Self 10 Church.. 05 Teacher explains and illustrates J 20 with board. — 6 — Expense Account Balance on hand Amount received S.25 Received from Parents Amount Sijent Spent for Amt. saved Mon Tues-... .20 Wed 15 Thurs... .10 Kri 05 Sat 05 Sun 05 Total.. .00 $.05 .6.5 .05 .05 Pad Red Cross Candy .05 sTeo Church «.05 Pupils are asked to copy the above forms to keep accounts for a week and report. LESSON II. LESSON PLAN. THE HOUSEHOLD BUDGET AND ACCOUNTS Teacher's Aim: To teach how a household budget will help the family to buy W. S. S. Points to be Taught Method of Presentation How many made a budget and kept accounts last week? Discussion of results follow. Teacher tells — Dorothy Martin tried the budget and accounts for a week just as you did. One evening Mr. Mai^tin was particularly disturbed at the size of the grocery bills. Mrs. Martin de- clared that she had no idea they were getting so enormous. Then Mr. Martin said, "Why don't you try Dorothy's budget scheme, and then you'll know at the beginning just how much you can spend for groceries and we'll try to live with- in it." Then Mrs. Martin replied, "Well, I suppose I could keep ac- counts." How to live within our means — 1. Budget. 2. Learning to spend wisely. A budget is a plan for spending money. But supposing she had been keep- ing accounts. Would just that have reduced the size of those grocery bills? Would accounts alone help her to live within her means? What would? What is a budget? 7 — Before making ^lan 1. Know how much you have to spend. Know for spent. what it must be What is the first thing you must know before making a plan for spending? Second thing? Mr. Martin told Mrs. Martin that they had exactly $1,200 per year to cover all the living expenses of their family, Mr. and Mrs. Martin and three children. Points to be Taught Items in the Martin's living ex- penses: 1. Food; 2. Clothing. 3. Rent or taxes. 4. Amusement. 5. Fuel (heat, light). 6. Furnishings. 7. Wages. 8. Insurance and savings. 9. Health. 10. School, church and charity. 11. School. 12. Car fare. Items grouped — 1. Food. 2. Rent. 4. Running expenses including expenses. 3. Clothing. 5. Sundries — Most expensive item — • Food. Why? — 1. We are not only supplying our own country and our own soldiers with food but also our allies. Method of Pi-esentation What are some of the things that a family like this will spend money for? Let's group these items under five main heads. Which item in this group requires the most money today? Why? Teacher tells. Division of income before war. Food, 1/3; Rent, 1/7; Clothing, 1/7; Running expenses, 1/7; Sun- dries, 1/5. Money spent for food: Per year $400 . 00 Per month 33.00 Per week 8.33 According to this division with an income of $1,200, how much could the Martins spend for food each year? Per month? Per week? Could a family of five be fed on $8.33 a week now? At what rate has the cost of food increased? Inci-ease in cost of food — Almost Teacher tells, double in some localities. Have rents increased as much as Rents have increased but may still food? be considered 1/5. 8 — Points to be Taught To increase food allowance de- duct from: Clothing; Sundries. Result of survey made in a pub- lic school in New York City. Present division of $1,200 income: Food $40 per month Clothing $20 per month Rent $20 per month Sundries $10 per month Running exp $10 per month How cut down on clothing: 1. It is bad taste to be extrava- gant in clothing in war time. Use standard styles. Wear simple clothes. 2. More clothes may be made at home. Old clothes may be made over. 3. More attention to repair and daily care of clothes. Items which must be guarded. Savings. How saving for themselves will help Uncle Sam — Buy War Savings Stamps. Why it is easy to save by means of W. S. S. 1. They can save in small ac- counts. 2. It is convenient to get the stamps. 3. Even the children can save for thrift stamps. 4. They will get back more than they put in. Points to be Taught Method of Presentation If the Maitins are now spending about one-half of their income for food instead of one-third as formerly from which of these groups should they plan to take the extra money? Teacher tells. What will help the Martin's to cut down on clothing? Similarly discuss economy in housekeeping items like fuel, wages, personal gratifications, etc. If the Martins are looking for- ward to educating their children, which items especially will they need to guard? How can the Martins save for their own future and at the same time help Uncle Sam? How do W. S. S. make it easy for the Martins to save? Teacher explains the system of W. S. S. Method of Presentation Now I will show the chart that Mrs. Martin is using for her house- hold expenses. Teacher outlines on board the chart for the household budget and accounts. The students are urged to copy these charts and explain them to their parents and report. — 9 — HOUSEHOLD ACCOUNTS Week beg-inning Name . . On hand at beginning of week Total Budget or plan to spend: For food Rent Clothing Running Expenses . . . S'undries and Savings Total HOW MONEY WAS SPENT First day Second day Third day Article Cost ; Article Cost Article Cost I'ourth d:iy Fifth day- Sixth day Seventh day Article Cost Article Cost Article Cost Article Cost Weekly food expenses Total weekly expenses For— Amount For- Amount Bread , cere als 1 Food $ Meat, fish, e&gs Rent Milli, cheese Running: expenses (fuel, light, supplies, wages, utensils. Fruit, veg'etables Butter, butterine Sugrar, syrup, etc clothing Cocoa, tea. coffee Sundries (insurance, medi- cine, fares, school, recrea- tion) Other foods War-Savings Stamps 10 OUR BUDGET (A Dramatic Exercise) The exercise requires 11 girls. One girl represents the in- come ($100 per month) and recites the first and last verses. Each of the remaining ten girls represents a ten dollar bill. Four girls represent the expenditures for food; two girls, clothes; two girls, rent; one represents running expenses and one sundries. One girl in each group recites the appropriate verse and carries the poster which indicates the amount which must be set aside for that item. The back of the posters may be deco- rated with flags and the girls who do not carry posters may carry flags. When the income girl says "Our Country" in her last speech, posters may be turned about and flags flourished for emphasis on the patriotic lesson involved. The income fig- ure and the amounts set aside for the different items may be changed to suit any community. OUR BUDGET Income — $100 For a family of five I'm the average income. In these hard times That's a very small sum So I must be divided , To the very last cent Among- food, clothing, running ex- penses Sundries and rent. Each one of the girls Whom soon you shall see Represents ten dollars Or one-tenth of me. Clotliing — $20 For clothes, two tens Is all we can spare. That means we must clean And press and repair. Rent — $20 We're the two tens That are needed To pay for the rent. Think of us when you plan How your money must be spent. Food — $40 Now put us aside For food we must go. I know it is high, The war makes it so. Running Expenses — $10 For running expenses Like heat and light One ten must be allowed . To come out right. 11 Sundries — $10 When you figure and plan, Sacrifice and divide I am for sundries Into these four items Such as carfare and recreation And savings beside Also War Saving Stamps. You're helping our Country Buy more and help the nation. And our Allies still more Won't you make a budget now If you never have before? LIBRARY OF CONGRESS llliiiii' 111111111111111 ir 11 III mil I ii[ 014 357 059 9