Education and demonstration – Psychology
Reexamination Certificate
2001-11-13
2004-05-04
Harrison, Jessica (Department: 3714)
Education and demonstration
Psychology
C434S323000, C434S350000, C434S30700R, C463S007000, C463S040000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06729884
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to children's educational games, and more particularly to an Internet-based game for teaching personal values and financial responsibility to a younger child.
In 1995, American children between the ages of 4 and 12 spent $24 billion of their own money. Also, children influenced how their parents' money was spent. A study estimated that children between the ages of 4 and 18 influenced family expenditures of another $500 billion in 1995.
Due to varying social changes in family life, e.g., fewer children per family, a rise in the number of single parent families, older parents and dual-income families, children are becoming knowledgeable consumers at younger ages. With fewer children per family, parents have more money to spend for each child. With the rise in the number of single parent families, many children assume more home related and purchasing responsibilities at younger ages. With the rise in the age of new parents in the work force, older parents are often in a better financial position to provide more money to be spent on their children. With both parents working, children often have more money and more responsibilities.
Since children at earlier and earlier ages have larger amounts of disposable monies and in some cases have responsibilities of purchasing food, clothing, or school supplies, or are purchasing toys and games, movies, arcade games on their own, many parents have recognized a need for educating their children in financial matters. The risk of a non-financially educated child losing or mismanaging real money is serious. Parents have looked to schools for help.
Attempts have been made to educate younger children in financial matters in our schools, but our schools are just not doing the job well enough. Hereinthroughout, the terms “younger child” or “younger children” mean a child or children in the age group of 8 years old to 12 years old. Even our older children are not making good, or even adequate, financial grades. A recent survey of “Personal Financial Information” completed by 12th graders from across the country showed that the 12th graders only scored 51.9% on the survey. These older children were weakest in financial matters such as money management, savings and investment and credit.
Parents have tried to supplement their younger child's financial education using financial education products such as, books, websites, on-line games, off-line games (board games) and toys. It is known to provide games for teaching financial skills to players; such known games are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,106,300, 6,032,957, 5,826,878, 4,913,446, 4,856,788. It is also known to provide on-line computer websites geared to teaching children financial concepts such as Bonus.com's (http://www.bonus.com) “Money Center” games (which are similar to board games), The Stock Market Game™ (http://www.smgww.org), and “Kids Money Cents” (http://www.kidsmoneycents.com, an off shoot of the popular “Dollars & Cents,” book and money management camp for kids). With today's children being raised in an environment of fun entertainment such as video games and MTV, these aforementioned financial education products provide fun without the financial content, or financial content without fun.
In addition, some financial institutions (including asset based money management companies) have tried to help parents by offering programs geared to educating children in financial matters. It is known for financial institutions to provide on-line computer web-based game sites geared to teaching children (typically children ages 3-6 or high school students) financial concepts; for example, these include Fleet Bank's “Fleet Kids” (http://www.fleetkids.com), Aetna Financial Services' “2020 Green” (http://www.2020green.com), Republic Bank of Florida's “Coolbank.com” (http://www.coolbank.com), Firstar Bank's “Escape from Knab” (http://www.escapefromknab.com), Chase Manhattan Bank's “Smart Cents” (http://www.chase.com/chase/SmartCents), Sovereign Bank of New England's “Kidsbank.com” (http://www.kidsbank.com), Liberty Financial Companies “Young Investor” (http://younginvestor.com), and Consumer Credit Counseling Service of the Mississippi River Valley et al.'s “Wise Pockets” (http://wisepockets.com).
These on-line sites have problems in introducing adult financial concepts at a level suitable for a child, e.g. simplifying adult concepts for kids, in mimicking a financial text book without providing entertainment value or in providing some entertainment value while providing little or no further learning of financial concepts in terms of providing a “kid economy” for investing, trading and communicating in the community. Furthermore, most financial institutions treat younger children as small adults, providing the children with credit cards, debit cards and on-line banking, but failing to provide them with a context in which to use these adult financial tools and failing to recognize that each generation has different financial needs than that of its parents.
It is also known to provide free reading motivation programs for children in grades K-8 via the web, for example “Book Adventure” (http://www.bookadventure.com), by giving points for mastery of materials. It is also known to provide an Internet-based store, school catalog and on-line merchants with parents and the community to raise money for schools K-12 nationwide, as for example, “Schoolpop” (http://www.schoolpop.com). Furthermore, it is known to provide children's game sites via the web where kids can accumulate points by playing games and trading points for collectibles and swap collectibles with other kids as for example, Nickelodeon's (http://www.nick.com). However, neither “Schoolpop” nor “Book Adventure” nor Nickelodeon provide an adventure story content for teaching financial concepts, nor do they provide the younger child with real-world learning opportunities by providing an elaborate kid economy for investing, trading and communicating in the community. Nor do the aforementioned websites provide back-end technology for “near-money” (i.e. non-financial units of value which behave in ways similar to financial currencies) and customer profiling applications.
Typically, neither schools nor the family provide younger children with enough tools to understand the abstract and complex notions about money and finances. Nor is this shortcoming met by financial institutions. Younger children need opportunities to experience the realities of markets without incurring all of the risks. Parents and teachers are in need of better ways to provide younger children with a concrete understanding of the abstract concepts surrounding financial markets and monetary systems, in ways that the children understand and are comfortable with.
What is needed is a fiscally safe enviroment, geared to engage younger children's interests and compatible with their developmental stage which holds their interest through stories and activities to teach them personal values and financial responsibility, and which provides rewards to them for their efforts. What is also needed is a technology which is enlargeable for near-money and customer profiling applications.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention includes an Internet-based game that engages the younger child through activities that mitigate financial risk and closely mimic a child's values. The game is for teaching personal values and financial responsibility to the younger child. It is an on-line interactive computer based game that integrates entertainment, education and commerce, providing a concrete understanding of an ever-complicated financial system to the younger child. The game comprises a set of computer interactive selectable game events, a scoring system in playing the game events and indicia of account information associated with the younger child. The game events have an adventure story activity and an educational activity. The adventure s
Dempster Jim
Gomoll Tom
Kelton Patricia
Marcus Matthew Aaron
Priebe Tim A.
Harrison Jessica
Metavante Corporation
Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c.
Sotomayor John
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