Unit 4: Lesson Plan 2
Baby Budget
http://www.teenageparent.org/english/baby_budget.html
Through this lesson students will explore the estimated financial cost of having a baby. I would use this lesson in a unit on Teen Pregnancy and Parenting Decisions. I would begin by having students estimate what they think it would cost to raise a child for a week, month, year, and/or lifetime. They will complete two Baby Cost Worksheets one for estimations and one for actual costs. To get the actual costs, students will have to check sales papers, go to stores, call around, etc. When they have prices for listed supplies they can enter them into an online Baby Budget Calculator to get the grand total. You could then have them think about things not listed like doctor’s visits, medicines, etc. I would then have them reflect on what they learned from this activity in a written essay.
I like this lesson, I wish I could teach what you teach. I wish that we would have had that type of class when I was in school. We had a lot of teenage pregnancies. I was one of them, but I waited until I was almost 20. Anyway, babies are not cheap!
Jennifer Roberts
Posted 1 year, 5 months agoGood. Thanks, Erin.
Woody Trathen
Posted 1 year, 5 months agoErin,
I love this lesson. I can remeber helping teach a lesson similar to this when working with the Teen Living teacher. The students were very surprised to see how much a baby actually cost!!!
Heather Connolly
Posted 1 year, 5 months agoOnce again, a great assignment that really can be used in many settings. I believe I could incorporate this as a writing and research assignment in a high school English class. Considering that the vast majority of my 9th-12th-graders are sexually active, this lesson would be informative and invaluable, with writing and research maybe taking a backseat (pardon the pun). Roberta Wilson
Posted 1 year, 5 months agoErin,
Posted 1 year, 5 months agoThis is similar to a class I do on budgets with my careers class but yours is more sophisticated. What a great idea.
Frank Lilly
Erin,
I really like the idea for this lesson. I was watching a show several months ago that mentioned the cost of raising a child and putting them through college. I remember thinking “Just how did they figure that out?”- I remember it very well because it made such an impact on me. The figure was 843000 and some change. This lesson is a good one because it adds the price up over time. $25.00 a week for daipers does not seem like that much, but it adds up very quickly. $843000 seems quite a bit more daunting. Great lesson.
Mandy Jennings
Posted 1 year, 5 months agoWOW!!! I wonder if that would scare kids from having babies. I think making them aware of how much a child costs, would scare students into being safe and more so not being sexually active.
Posted 1 year, 5 months agoCool!!
Amanda Felts
A practical lesson for sure. Kids don’t really know or understand how much things cost. This lesson will not only shed light on the topic of budget and money spending but kids will learn valuable and practical information as well.
Posted 1 year, 5 months ago