• Elementary School
  • JA Ourselves
  • JA Our Families
  • JA Our Community
  • JA Our City
  • JA Our Region
  • JA Our Nation
  • JA More than Money
  • Biz Kid$
  • JA BizTown
  • Junior Achievement $ave, USA Lessons
• Middle School
  • JA America Works
  • JA Economics for Success
  • JA Finance Park
  • JA Global Marketplace
  • JA It's My Business!
  • JA's Biz Kid$
  • Junior Achievement $ave, USA Lessons
• High School
  • JA Banks in Action
  • JA Be Entrepreneurial
  • JA Business Ethics
  • JA Careers with a Purpose
  • JA Company Program
  • JA Economics
  • JA Exploring Economics
  • JA Finance Park
  • JA Job Shadow
  • JA Personal Finance
  • JA Success Skills
  • JA Titan
  • Junior Achievement $ave, USA Lessons
  • Global JA Titan Challenge
• Scholarships
• Correlations
• Evaluations
• Supplements
  • Biz Kid$
  • Economic Investigations
  • Excellence through Ethics
  • JA Current Economic Climate
  • JA Travel and Tourism
  • Microsoft Unlimited Potential Technology Curriculum
  • JA Searching for Savings
• Student Events
• JA AfterSchool ®
  • Overview
  • JA More than Money™ (Grades 3-5)
  • JA It's My Business!™ (Grades 6-8)
  • JA Company Program™ (Grades 9-12)
  • Junior Achievement
    $ave USA™
 

Elementary School Programs :: Overview

JA’s elementary school programs are the foundation of its K-12 curricula.  Six sequential themes, each with five hands-on activities, as well as an after-school and capstone experience, work to change students’ lives by helping them understand business and economics.

JA Ourselves^™ uses compelling stories read aloud by the volunteer, along with hands-on activities to demonstrate helping, working, earning, and saving. Five required, volunteer-led sessions. Recommended for kindergarten.

Concepts–Barter, Benefit, Buying, Choices, Consumer, Costs, Earning, Entrepreneurs, Giving, Goods, Incentives, Income, Money, Resources, Rewards, Saving, Scarcity, Selling, Spending, Voluntary exchange, Wants, Work.

Skills–Abstract thinking, Coin recognition, Decision-making, Drawing, Following directions, Interpreting information, Listening responsively, Matching, Responsibility, Sequencing, Teamwork.

JA Our Families^™ emphasizes the roles people play in the local economy and engages students with activities about needs, wants, jobs, tools and skills, and interdependence. Five required, volunteer-led sessions. Recommended for first grade.

Concepts–Business, Choices, Consumers, Economic institutions, Employment, Family, Incentives, Income, Interdependence, Jobs, Needs, Resources, Scarcity, Skills, Tools, Voluntary exchange, Wants, Work.

Skills–Analyzing information, Decision-making, Differentiating, Drawing, Following directions, Interpreting symbols, Listening responsively, Making observations, Map reading, Matching, Teamwork.

JA Our Community^™ explores the interdependent roles of workers in a community, the work they perform, and how communities work. Five required, volunteer-led sessions. Recommended for second grade.

Concepts–Banking, Business, Choices, Circular flow of money, Community, Division of labor, Economic institutions, Goods, Government, Incentives, Interdependence, Jobs, Money,  Productivity, Taxes.

Skills–Comparing, Critical thinking, Decision-making, Identifying choices, Listening responsively, Making observations, Matching, Problem-solving, Role-playing, Teamwork.

JA Our City^™ studies careers, the skills people need to work in specific careers, and how businesses contribute to a city. Five required, volunteer-led sessions. Recommended for third grade.

Concepts–Banking, Business, Careers, City, Consumer, Economic institutions, Entrepreneur, Incentives, Income, Jobs, Money, Producers, Quality, Resources, Skills, Specialization, Zones.

Skills–Applying information, Conducting research, Decision-making, Filling out forms, Interpreting directions, Map reading, Math computations, News writing, Role-playing, Teamwork.

• JA More than Money^™ teaches students about earning, spending, sharing, and saving money, and businesses they can start or jobs they can perform to earn money. Six required, after-school, volunteer-led sessions. Recommended for grades three-five.

Concepts–Advertising, Banking, Business planning, Consumer, Deposit, Earn, Employee, Estimate, Expense, Goods, Income, Market research, Money management, Profit, Role model, Save, Self-employed, Service, Share, Spend, Withdrawal, Work ethic.

Skills–Active listening, Analysis, Applying information, Brainstorming, Chart data, Compare and contrast, Computation, Critical thinking, Deductive reasoning, Decision-making, Drawing, Evaluating data, Follow written and verbal instructions, Group work, Mind-mapping, Problem-solving, Recording deposits and withdrawals, Role-playing, Self-assessment, Taking turns, Teamwork, Vocabulary building.

JA Our Region^™introduces students to entrepreneurship and how entrepreneurs use resources to produce goods and services in a community. Students solve problems by weighing risks and rewards. Five volunteer-led sessions required. Recommended for fourth grade.

Concepts– Advertising, Business fundamentals, Capital resources, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneur characteristics, Expense, Finance tracking, Human resources, Inventory, Loss, Manufacturing, Natural resources, Price, Products, Profit, Region, Resources, Revenue, Reward, Risk, Services, Supply, Supply chain, Trade, Transportation

Skills–Analyzing information, Categorizing data, Decision making, Evaluating alternatives, Following directions, Mathematics, Oral and written communication, Reading for understanding, Working in pairs and groups

JA Our Nation^™ provides practical information about businesses' need for individuals who can meet the demands of the job market, including high-growth, high-demand jobs. Further, it introduces the concept of globalization of business as it relates to production materials and the need for students to be entrepreneurial in their thinking to meet the requirements of high-growth, high-demand careers worldwide. Five required, volunteer-led sessions. Recommended for fifth grade.

Concepts– Advertising, Capital resources, Career preparation, Communication, Competition, Corporation, Demand, Employees, Employers, Engineering, Entrepreneur, Free enterprise, Global competition, Goods, High-growth, High-demand jobs, Human resources, Natural resources, Opportunity costs, Partnerships, Price, Products, Profit, Resources, Resume, Scarcity, Services, Skills, Sole proprietorship, Specialization, Stock, Stockholders, Supply, Technology, Technophile, Technophobe

Skills–Addition and subtraction, Brainstorming, Conceptualizing and designing advertisements, Creative thinking, Critical thinking, Decision-making, Drawing conclusions, Estimating, Evaluation, Following directions, Graphing and graph interpretation, Listening, Map reading, Problem solving, Reading and writing, Reasoning, Role-playing, Teamwork, Verbal communication, Working in groups.

JA BizTown™ provides a simulated community where students assume the roles of workers and consumers. Follows a series of classroom sessions about business and jobs. In-school, teacher-led activities; pre- and post-on-site experience. Recommended for fifth grade.

Concepts– Banking, Business, Careers, Charitable giving, Citizenship, Competition, Conservation, Consumers, Demand, Division of labor, Employment, Exchange, Goods, Marketing, Markets, Money, Needs, Opportunity costs, Producers, Production, Quality, Resources, Saving, Scarcity, Services, Skills, Specialization, Supply, Wants.

Skills– Analysis, Applying information, Budgeting, Cause and effect, Critical thinking, Computation, Data collection, Decision-making, Following directions, Graphing, Interpersonal communication, Listening, Negotiation, Observation, Planning, Predicting outcomes, Problem-solving, Reading, Research, Role-playing, Setting goals, Spending, Taking responsibility, Teamwork.

All JA programs are designed to support the skills and competencies identified by the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills. These programs also augment school-based, work-based, and connecting activities for communities with school-to-work initiatives.

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