Chinese-American families often do not talk about money with their children. Yet managing money is an essential life skill, and an early start pays off over a lifetime. The program runs in two stages and meets on weekends, every other week.
The Two Stages of Money Basics and Finance Lab
- Money Basics workshop (G1–G3): basic money concepts, selling, and communication. Children get a chance to connect with the real world and form an early understanding of how money works.
- Finance Lab (G4–G12): students work through more complex decisions in real situations, moving from managing personal income and spending to basic judgments about pricing, cost, and investment.
What Happens in Finance Lab Class
Younger students start with things they can see. They learn where money comes from and the difference between wants and needs. They split their allowance into a part to spend and a part to save. A small charity sale lets them experience pricing and talking with buyers.
Older students move on to questions closer to adult life. They build a personal budget and stick to it. They see how compound interest widens differences over time. They learn why risk and return rise together, and which costs make up the price of a product. The course uses simulated trading, group decisions, and real cases. Students must explain the reasons for their choices and review them once the results are in.
How Finance Lab Differs from School Math and Economics
School courses teach calculation and concepts. Finance Lab trains students to make decisions with incomplete information and to live with the results. In a classroom, the compound interest formula is an exercise. Here, it is a concrete choice about whether to spend the money now. Making decisions and owning their outcomes is the main difference between this course and academic subjects.
What to Take After Finance Lab
Students who want to turn an idea into real transactions can continue with the Real Sales Challenge. Students who want to go through the full startup process can continue with the Startup Incubator. For the competition and academic route, see Business Competition Intro, AP Microeconomics, and business competitions.
Finance Lab and Future Skills Membership
Finance Lab is for Life Lab members. Every step is logged in the Human Skills record kept with our partner nonprofit, Project Next Foundation (PNF), and in high school points toward a formal Congressional Award application (age 13.5+).
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Contact a course advisorFinance Lab: Frequently Asked Questions
Is early elementary too young to talk about money?
No. Money Basics is built for G1 to G3 and stays at that level: basic money concepts, selling, and communication. Chinese families rarely talk money with children, yet financial literacy is a survival skill, and an early start pays off over a lifetime.
How do we choose between Money Basics and Finance Lab?
By grade. G1 to G3 attend the Money Basics workshop and G4 to G12 attend Finance Lab. Both meet on weekends, every other week.
How is this different from an Irvine public school class?
School courses teach the subject knowledge; this program works on applying money concepts to real situations. The early stage connects children to the real world through basic concepts, selling, and communication, and Finance Lab carries that forward from G4 onward. Sessions run in small in-person groups in Irvine, with an online option.
What comes next for an Irvine high school student?
On the entrepreneurship track, students continue with the Real Sales Challenge and the Startup Incubator, applying what they learned to a real product, its price, and its customers. Both are for G9 to G12, and students at Irvine public high schools are advised to join in a term when the course load is settled.
Can we enroll in this program on its own?
No. It is open to Life Lab members only. Every step a member takes is logged in the Human Skills record kept with our partner nonprofit, Project Next Foundation (PNF), and members receive a growth report.
