Louis & Financial Literacy

By Chloe Grant, Read to Them Staff

Hey there readers! As we’re getting deeper into The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White, we wanted to take a moment to recognize the importance of financial literacy within this title. These themes will continue to develop as the book progresses, but we’d like to go ahead and offer additional insight and resources to help guide you through this program.

Without giving away any of the fun to come, throughout Louis’s journey we’ll see him work in an attempt to make some money. He’ll have some friends who help him out along the way, by doing things like sharing opportunities and teaching him new skills to help him thrive. Louis is a very lucky swan. In the same way that the folks in Louis’s life help guide him, we wanted to do our part in making sure our readers are equipped with the tools they need to have a successful read!

Along with the Family & Financial Literacy Resources that our team at Read to Them has created, we’ve gathered supplemental resources thanks to the help of our friends in the banking industry to bolster your experience. As we watch the financial facets of Louis’s story come to life, we encourage you to check out these links and videos.

Banzai and Hometown Financial have joined forces to create a website offering tools and resources for students and families to learn more about a variety of financial topics. Here is a link to get you started. On this page you’ll find content spread over a variety of topics including saving, investing, budgeting, and more! Their webpage offers articles, calculators, and coaching sessions. As we continue our reading, we’ll see Louis learn about saving and spending, and Banzai is an excellent platform he would have benefited from using!

Are you interested in learning about credit and understanding how it works? Check out this video by the Virginia Bankers Association covering that topic! Similarly, if you’re interested in the fundamentals of banking, here’s a video that may appeal to you!

Or, if you’d like to do some financial literacy activities that follow along with our read, check out these videos offering weekly financial literacy activities created by Towne Bank:

• Week One - Creating a Dream Board

• Week Two - Making a Financial Planner and Spend/Share/Save Containers

• Week Three - Acts of Kindness

We’ll be back on Friday to close out our first week reading The Trumpet of the Swan. Until then, enjoy exploring some of these financial literacy resources and getting to dive further into Louis’s story!