The innovative teaching methods of a third-grade teacher from North Carolina, Shelby Lattimore, have become an internet sensation.
Lattimore’s classroom is a simulated economy where students are charged “rent” for their desks and chairs and can purchase classroom perks, such as homework passes, to learn financial responsibility. Her instructional videos documenting these activities have become a huge hit on TikTok, with over 27 million likes.
In Lattimore’s Charlotte classroom, students earn fake money for doing various jobs such as holding doors open, cleaning up, and assisting the teacher. The jobs have different salaries, and students receive their earnings on Fridays, which they can spend on rewards like lunch with their teacher, free time, or homework passes.
The ultimate prize of being a teacher for a day costs $30 in the imaginary currency. Lattimore reminds students to always keep $5 to cover “rent” for their chairs and desks. To simulate real-world scenarios, students can incur fines for late payments or missed deadlines. Lattimore’s lessons include other valuable financial tips, such as counting change and avoiding handing over an entire wallet to a cashier.
In one of her TikTok videos, Lattimore explains that many of her students come from families living paycheck-to-paycheck and may not be in the best financial situation. Therefore, she believes it is never too early to teach children about money management and how to use money effectively.