<b>It’s Never Too Early: A Pilot Study of Financial Literacy for Young Children and Professional Development for their Educators</b>

<p dir="ltr">In this paper, we present our financial literacy pilot study with two classes (kindergarten and Grade 1/2, N=37) and their educators (N=3) in Ontario, Canada. Teachers were provided with two days of professional development about five concepts of financial literacy (scarcity, saving, money, exchange, and giving) as well as picture books and accompanying lessons to teach the concepts through a teaching unit. A financial literacy pre-assessment was conducted with each student, the teachers taught the financial literacy unit for three weeks, and then students were reassessed on their financial literacy skills. Students’ scores were 35% higher on the post-assessment compared to the pre-assessment. Kindergarten students had greater gains in scores than the Grade 1/2 students. Educators were also interviewed before the professional development sessions and after they taught the financial literacy unit. Educators believed the program was successful and engaging for students, expressed the desire to continue to teach financial literacy after the study was complete, and felt more confident in their abilities after participating in the study. We advocate that financial literacy needs to begin early and needs more attention in early childhood education programs so students develop skills over time.</p>