Primary-Grade Students’ Knowledge and Thinking About the Economics of Meeting Families’ Shelter Needs

Abstract

The traditional K–3 social studies curriculum has focused on cultural universals, including shelter. To gather information about children’s prior knowledge and thinking (including their misconceptions) about economic aspects of this topic, individual interviews were conducted with 216 K–3 students. Their responses indicated that most of the students understood that people have to pay for shelter and that most people prefer houses to apartments. Some students confused apartments with hotels, and most were vague about what is involved in renting apartments and why some people choose to do so. Only a few understood that renting is a profit-making business or that people can get mortgage loans to allow them to move into a house before they have accumulated its full purchase price. These and other findings are discussed with reference to curriculum and instruction in the primary grades.