Does anyone know of a program I can teach to seniors as a preparation for the real world?

Question

I want to get in to helping out seniors kinda know what to expect from the real world. Does anyone know of this kinda thing?

Answer 1

My senior year we had a class that we were given a "job" (not a real one) and given a set salary.  We had to look in the classified ads to find a place to live, budget money for groceries by looking at grocery store ads, looked at car ads for car payments, etc.  Then we had our own "mock" check book that we had to budget our money.  Our teacher would throw us loopholes like, you have to change your car tires, or some unexpected bill.  It was very eye opening but fun to do.

Answer 2

I'm not sure of a pre-made program, but you could design something.  Picture a set of containers--jars, baskets, boxes--each labeled with an area of life:  education, finances, relationships, responsibilities, resources (job or lack of employment, sudden illness, unexpected windfall or disaster), and so on.

Each area could have slips of paper with a related condition or situation for that life area. Eg., in education it could be HS drop out, College sophomore, Voc Tech degree, Bachelor's degree.  In finances, each slip could be a monthly or yearly allotment of finances--a limited (or unlimited amount of money to work with for a designated time frame). Relationships could be single, married, single parent with toddler/school-age/or not-yet-born child. Responsibilities:  $$school loan debt, car payments--GAS!, Rent or mortgage pymts, etc.  Each student draws from the containers to randomly create his/her own "life situation" and then figure out how to manage with the "luck of the draw." Later, they might discuss what choices they might make in their own life to structure the kind of life they want to create. Much like the Baby-Think-It-Over dolls that help students experience parental responsibilities and stresses, a practice experience can help them focus on the reality that life has ups, downs, unexpected joys or problems--and even a good plan may need adjusting along the way.