03 Jun New family financial literacy resources encourage families to openly discuss money
ABC Life Literacy Canada (ABC) is pleased to announce that its HSBC Family Literacy First program has been renewed with a new focus on family financial literacy. ABC will design three new “Numbers & Cents” family financial literacy modules, all of which will be available in English, French and Simplified Chinese.
The funding renewal and new program focus was announced by HSBC Bank Canada (HSBC), the program’s title supporter, on Saturday at the opening of a new branch in Brampton, Ontario.
The first module is available now at FamilyLiteracyFirst.ca and covers topics such as counting money, making change, and adding and subtracting. Two additional modules which will cover essential financial literacy skills such as budgeting, expenses and saving for the future, will be released at the end of summer.
Workbooks are written in clear language for families with children aged six to 11 and have customized curriculum grids to support provincial and territorial curriculum. Additionally, facilitator training materials will be available for free download through an online learning platform.
These new resources aim to bring parents and children together to practice family financial literacy – something that is often overlooked.
“Everyone knows it’s important to read to your kids, but we often forget the importance of talking openly about money,” says Mack Rogers, Executive Director of ABC Life Literacy Canada. “Helping kids set good habits from a young age and acting as a role model with money is vital to improving children’s confidence and success in financial literacy. We’re thrilled that HSBC has renewed its support to develop valuable resources that are extremely popular and helpful for not only families but literacy practitioners as well.”
To celebrate the launch of the new resources, ABC is hosting workshops at community literacy organizations in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Calgary where HSBC staff volunteer-tutors will work directly with families using the new workbooks.
“Financial literacy education is becoming increasingly important. We are so happy to evolve our partnership with ABC Life Literacy to focus on this vital life skill,” says David Kuo, Head of Branch Network, Ontario and an HSBC executive sponsor of ABC Life Literacy. “Having volunteered with the organization myself, I have seen first-hand how the connections between volunteers and participants create the kinds of connections that help communities thrive. I am excited to help future participants learn the important money management skills that will support them throughout their life.”
HSBC has been a long-time charitable partner of ABC since 2011. The HSBC Family Literacy First program was introduced in 2015 and since then, the program has reached over 40,000 individuals and the materials have been downloaded and distributed more than 320,000 times. More than 300 HSBC employees have volunteered with the program.
The free workbooks are available for download at www.FamilyLiteracyFirst.ca.