taxes

Teaching Students About Revenue and Taxes

One of the things I like most about being a teacher is having days off for the holidays. I’m wrapping up a 4-day weekend (bliss!) for Easter and using that time to stay caught up on all the details of my life. One of those details is paying my taxes. While definitely not the most exciting part of my weekend, it’s on my task list. I dearly love to check tasks off a list, and I like to keep the government happy so getting my taxes paid is high on my priority list for today!

Tax Time in April

With tax season upon us, I like to teach my 4th graders about revenue and taxes. Specifically, I focus on…

  • teaching them why taxes are collected
  • different types of taxes
  • how taxes (or revenue) is spent by the government

Life Lessons

Economics can be a real challenge to teach. Translating so many technical terms into language kids can understand is not easy – revenue, cost-benefit analysis, investing – are all difficult to comprehend, much less apply to life. However, economic lessons are extremely applicable to real life. Probably without even realizing it, our students have paid sales tax on items they’ve purchased at a store with their own money. Being knowledgeable about money and how to manage it is a very important life lesson. Find a way to help your students connect how economics and taxes related to their own life. Once this idea clicks with students, they are much more motivated and engaged to learn about economics.

Resources about Taxes

Here are some links you may find helpful when teaching your own students about taxes…

I hope these resources help you with planning about to teach this important concept to your students. Happy teaching!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *