Elementary School.

Elementary
School (K-5th)

Junior Achievement’s curriculum, crafted by JA USA with national pedagogical experts, provides sequential, grade-specific offerings from kindergarten to 5th grade.

Our elementary school programs are well-tested, hands-on programs with five 45-minute sessions that typically occur in a “JA in a Day” format where all sessions are delivered in one day but can be taught in a week-to-week classroom model or during after-school activities.

Trained volunteer presenters facilitate these engaging learning activities focused on financial literacy, work and career readiness, and entrepreneurship. This approach enriches the learning experience and helps students connect what they learn in school with the world outside the classroom.

All programs are available at little to no cost to educators.

JA Ourselves (Kindergarten)®

JA Ourselves introduces students to the intersection of financial literacy and early elementary social studies learning objectives. Through hands-on classroom activities, the program provides students with an introduction to personal economics and the choices consumers make to meet their needs and wants. It also introduces students to the role of money in society while providing them with practical information about earning, saving, and sharing money.

JA Ourselves Overview

JA Our Families (First Grade)®

JA Our Families explains how family members’ jobs and businesses contribute to the well-being of the family and of the community. The program introduces the concept of needs and wants and explores the ways families plan for and acquire goods and services. Students analyze their own skills to determine ways they can support their families.

JA Our Families Overview

JA Our Community (Second Grade)®

Through JA Our Community, students are immersed in the daily life of their community—the people who work there, the money decisions they make, the flow of the community’s economy, and the importance of being an involved and responsible community member. They are introduced to the types of skills and knowledge necessary to be a worker in the community: the experience of working as a team in a pizza shop, buying and selling goods and services in exchange for money, getting paid and paying taxes, exercising their civic duty to make decisions for the good of the community and using digital tools.

JA Our Community Overview

JA Our City (Third Grade)®

JA Our City, featuring Cha-Ching, introduces students to financial literacy and learning objectives for third-grade social studies, including how people manage their money and the importance of economic exchange within a city.

JA Our City Overview

JA Our Region (Fourth Grade)®

JA Our Region introduces students to entrepreneurship and how entrepreneurs use resources to produce goods and services in a region. Students operate a hypothetical hot dog stand to understand the fundamental tasks performed by a business owner and to track the revenue and expenses of a business.

JA Our Region Overview

JA Our Nation (Fifth Grade)®

JA Our Nation® provides practical information about the need for employees who can meet the demands of the 21st-century job market, particularly high-growth, high-demand jobs. Through hands-on classroom activities, students learn about the free-market system and how it is an economic engine for business and careers. It introduces the need for entrepreneurial and innovative thinking and the concept of globalization in business. By the program’s end, students will understand the skills, especially in science, technology, engineering, and math, that will make their futures brighter.

JA Our Nation Overview

Interested in a Program?

If you would like to request a Junior Achievement program for your school, please complete the form below, and an education team member will be in touch.

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