Paid program · Grades K–8 on the listing · Ontario strand from Grade 1

Set up a classroom economy your students can run

What a classroom economy is

A classroom economy gives students jobs, pay and a class store so they practise earning, spending and saving with classroom money.

The paid program is Classroom Economy Program, Grades K to 8, Digital, Automated, on Teachers Pay Teachers. This site does not sell that file. The public listing describes an automated banking system, student accounts, printable job cards, a salary chart and reward-store setup. This page has not opened the download, so it does not describe how a spreadsheet calculates.

There is a separate on-site preview, the Classroom Economy Lab, with 7 fictional lessons. Preview only. Purchasing and downloads are unavailable.

How the Ontario financial literacy summaries read

On ontario.ca, the financial literacy strand starts in Grade 1, not Kindergarten. The public grade summaries do not print expectation codes, so this page does not invent them.

The Grades 1–8 math curriculum is the 2020 curriculum. The ontario.ca page was updated on June 18, 2025. It names six strands: number, algebra, data, spatial sense, financial literacy, and social-emotional learning skills and mathematical processes.

Manitoba and Alberta set their own curriculum. This page does not describe those courses. Manitoba resources are on the Manitoba hub. Alberta resources are on the Alberta hub.

  • Grade 1: recognize Canadian coins and bills and compare their values.
  • Grade 2: different ways to represent the same amount, including coins to $1 and bills to $100.
  • Grade 3: change for simple whole-dollar transactions.
  • Grade 4: different ways to pay, and whether an item is good value.
  • Grade 5: e-transfers and cheques, cash totals and change, best value, basic budgets, and credit and debt. The public summary does not name sales tax.
  • Grade 6: payment methods, financial goals, interest rates and fees, and trading, lending, borrowing and donating.
  • Grade 7: exchange rates, financial goals, interest on savings, and the cost of borrowing.
  • Grade 8: a plan to reach goals, balanced budgets, and simple and compound interest with a spreadsheet or a loan calculator.

A labelled example week

This example is invented so you can see the arithmetic. It is not a result from a real class.

Imagine a class of 26. Each student has a weekly job that pays $10 in classroom dollars. Rent for a desk is $6. The student who pays rent and saves the rest has $4 left. You can post the ledger where the class can see balances without tying them to a report-card mark.

Canada stopped distributing the penny on February 4, 2013. Cash final totals round to the nearest five cents. Cheques and electronic payments stay exact. A class store can use that cash rule and still keep a ledger in cents when pay is not cash.

Keeping balances out of marks

A class-store balance is not a math mark, and it is not a learning-skills rating.

Growing Success (2010), page 55, keeps the evaluation of learning skills and work habits, apart from any that are part of a curriculum expectation, out of a student's grades. Do not fine a student for an IEP need or for something outside their control, such as a late bus. Offer jobs that do not depend on bringing money or supplies from home.

Growing Success, Chapter 5, says evidence for evaluation is collected over time from observations, conversations and student products. A ledger can be one product. It does not replace the other two.

Questions teachers ask

Each answer below stands on its own and names the source it comes from.

What is a classroom economy?

A classroom economy gives students jobs, pay and a class store so they practise earning, spending and saving with classroom money. The paid program on Teachers Pay Teachers is listed for Grades K–8. Ontario’s public math summaries start the financial literacy strand in Grade 1. (ontario.ca, updated June 18, 2025.)

Which Ontario grades mention money?

On ontario.ca, Grade 1 students recognize Canadian coins and bills. Grade 3 makes change for simple whole-dollar amounts. Grade 5 works with cash totals, change, budgets, credit and debt. Grade 8 plans budgets and simple and compound interest. The public summaries do not print expectation codes. (ontario.ca.)

Can I use store balances as marks?

Keep economy balances out of subject marks and out of learning-skills ratings. Growing Success says that, to the extent possible, learning skills and work habits should not be considered in the determination of a student’s grades. A class-store balance is not evidence of a curriculum expectation. (Growing Success, 2010, p. 55.)

What counts as evidence of learning?

Growing Success says: “Evidence of student achievement for evaluation is collected over time from three different sources – observations, conversations, and student products.” A ledger can be one product. It does not replace conversations and observations, and it is not a mark by itself. (Growing Success, 2010, Chapter 5.)

How should a class store round cash?

Canada stopped distributing the penny on February 4, 2013. Cash totals round to the nearest five cents. Cheques and electronic payments stay exact. A classroom store can use the same cash rule and keep a ledger in cents for non-cash pay. (Government of Canada news release, February 4, 2013.)

How do I keep the economy fair?

Do not fine a student for an IEP need or for something outside their control, such as a late bus. Offer jobs that do not depend on bringing money or supplies from home. Keep balances off the report card. An invented example: a class of 26, a $10 weekly job, $6 rent and $4 saved. (Growing Success, 2010, p. 55.)

Where to go next

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Sources

These are the pages the facts above were taken from.

Updated 2026-10-26.

Made by Brandon Robert, Ontario Certified Teacher.