Overview
Created by award-winning author and financial educator Sam X Renick, Classroom Songs and Stories: Teaching Kids Great Money Habits brings the power of music, storytelling, and habit formation into elementary school classrooms.
This classroom-ready financial education initiative is designed to make teaching money simple, engaging, and repeatable.
As the school-based complement to our Bedtime Songs and Stories, it extends the same habit-first philosophy into structured learning environments where children gather each day.
Because when it comes to money, what children hear repeatedly, practice consistently, and talk about comfortably becomes part of who they are.
A Standards-Aligned, Easy-to-Use Format
Designed specifically for elementary school teachers, this standards-aligned program brings engaging songs, short stories, and a habit-first approach directly into the classroom.
Each lesson fits naturally into:
Morning meetings
Literacy blocks
Social-emotional learning time
Financial literacy units
Short, repeatable mini-lessons
The materials are thoughtfully developed to align with financial literacy standards, literacy skills, and social-emotional learning competencies — making implementation both simple and flexible.
Teachers may choose to use one lesson per week, one per month, or integrate them throughout the year.
The key is consistency and repetition.
What Teachers Receive Each Week
Every week, a 4-Part Teacher Kit arrives in your inbox, providing everything you need to turn everyday classroom moments into meaningful financial learning experiences.
Each kit includes:
1) A Featured Song
Catchy, age-appropriate melodies designed to make financial concepts “stick” through the power of music.
Includes: High-quality audio file + high-engagement read-along lyric video.
Listen to a featured song: Follow the Money Rules
2) A Teacher Guide
Your practical guide for leading confident money conversations. Includes full song lyrics and simple, no-stress discussion prompts, and a standards-aligned lesson plan.
Includes: Quick-reference PDF.
View sample lesson plans for the song Follow the Money Rules:
3) A Short Story
A gentle, engaging narrative that reinforces the week’s money habit.
Includes: Downloadable PDF + interactive digital storybook.
4) A Classroom & Family Activity Guide
Low-prep, high-impact ideas that bring the week’s lesson to life during your normal classroom routine — with optional extensions for home connection.
Includes: Printable activity PDF + links to online interactive games.
Throughout the year, teachers will also receive occasional motivational and momentum-building messages from the author, along with access to bonus content such as additional activities, creative downloads, and student recognition opportunities designed to keep the learning journey engaging and rewarding.
More than a collection of songs and stories, this initiative is a movement to bring schools, students, parents, and communities together — helping children build the financial habits that support a better, brighter future.
A Habit-First Approach to Financial Education
Most financial education focuses on information.
This program focuses on behavior.
Children learn best when concepts are:
Simple
Repeated
Connected to daily life
Reinforced in positive ways
By combining rhythm, storytelling, and guided discussion, Classroom Songs and Stories helps students begin to:
Save regularly
Think before spending
Set goals
Understand earning
Talk about money with confidence
These are not just financial skills. They are life skills.
Designed for Elementary Learners
This program is especially well-suited for:
Grades K–5
Early financial literacy initiatives
Title I schools
After-school programs
Community-based education partnerships
Because the content is story-based and music-driven, it supports a wide range of reading levels, learning styles, and classroom environments.
A Complement to Home Learning
While Bedtime Songs and Stories supports families at home, Classroom Songs and Stories reinforces those same money habits at school.
When children hear consistent messages both at home and in the classroom, learning deepens.
The shared language of “money habits” becomes part of daily conversation.
And that is when real, lasting transformation begins.
Stay Connected
If you are a teacher, administrator, education partner, or community organization interested in bringing Classroom Songs and Stories to your students, we invite you to stay connected.
More details about pilot classrooms, partnerships, and program rollout will be shared soon.
Together, we can make it easy and enjoyable to teach children great money habits — one song, one story, and one classroom at a time.
CONNECT NOW
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Meet the Creator: Sam X Renick
Sam X Renick is an award-winning financial literacy pioneer, author, songwriter, and social entrepreneur whose life’s work is dedicated to helping children and families build the great money habits that lead to brighter futures. He is the founder of SammyRabbit.com and the creator of the beloved educational character Sammy Rabbit, the face of a global mission to make financial education fun, engaging, and accessible to all.
Sam’s journey into early-age financial education began in 2001 with the launch of his first book, It’s a Habit, Sammy Rabbit!, which went on to win the 2008 Excellence in Financial Literacy Education (EIFLE) Institutional Book of the Year Award.
The spark for his mission came during his career as a financial advisor, where he frequently listened to adults express deep regret over not learning essential money skills during their youth. Driven by the belief that "Great habits give all kids a better and brighter future," Sam transitioned from managing wealth to building it at the foundational level: the family unit.
Since then, the Sammy Rabbit universe has grown into one of the world’s largest resource libraries for financial literacy, featuring a rich collection of books, songs, and activities including: Sammy’s Big Dream, Get in the Habit, Dream Big Journaling, etc.
Sam’s impact is truly global; he has personally engaged with more than a quarter-million children across eight countries and 40 U.S. states. Whether he is reading a story or "singing off-key" (as he famously jokes) to a gym full of enthusiastic students, Sam’s unique blend of joyful presentation and expert insight has earned him top industry honors. These include the National Financial Educators Council (NFEC) Financial Educator of the Year Award and the New Jersey Coalition for Financial Education’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
A sought-after speaker and media contributor, Sam has been featured by CNN, NPR, The New York Times, Kiplinger, and MSN Money. Through Sammy Rabbit’s Money School, he continues to develop innovative tools that make financial confidence easy to learn and empowering for all ages.
Now, Sam is proud to introduce a new initiative and complementary enterprise designed to bring these lessons into classrooms and homes!
Discover more about Sam at SamXRenick.com!
Also Preview Our Complementary Home Program
While Classroom Songs and Stories: Teaching Kids Great Money Habits helps bring financial education into schools, we are also preparing a complementary home-based version of the program:
Bedtime Songs and Stories: Teaching Kids Great Money Habits Before They Fall Asleep
Designed specifically for parents the program brings the same engaging songs, short stories, and habit-first approach into homes.
Just like the classroom experience, the home series focuses on helping children become comfortable hearing, speaking, and practicing positive money language — because strong habits are built through consistent exposure, repetition, and encouragement.