{"id":1898,"date":"2009-10-26T15:56:49","date_gmt":"2009-10-26T20:56:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/archives\/1898"},"modified":"2009-10-26T15:56:49","modified_gmt":"2009-10-26T20:56:49","slug":"teaching-economics-with-childrens-literature-the-hard-times-jar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/2009\/10\/26\/teaching-economics-with-childrens-literature-the-hard-times-jar\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching Economics With Children’s Literature: The Hard-Times Jar"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Hard-Times Jar<\/a> written by Ethel Footman Smothers and illustrated by John Holyfield explores the exciting ideas of economics by following the life of Emma Jean Turner and her family.\u00a0 The Turner’s were migrant workers who had to follow the crops, so money was often difficult to come by in their house.\u00a0 Emma’s mother, whom she referred to as “Mama”, created a jar that was called “the hard-times jar” to collect every little bit of change possible.\u00a0 The hard-times jar was only supposed to be used in an emergency if the family runs out of something important before payday.\u00a0 This colorful books explains\u00a0 Emma’s desire to spend the money in the hard-times jar on a store-bought book.\u00a0 The Hard-Times Jar<\/em> teaches students\u00a0 the importance of working hard for money and valuing the money they have.\u00a0 The Hard-Times Jar <\/em>also explains the idea of scarce resources and how those scarce resources can effect a family.\u00a0 The students will enjoy following Emma as she leaves the family apple picking group, attends school, and eventually buys her first store-bought book.<\/p>\n

Here are a few excerpts from the book.<\/p>\n