The FiCycle Math Curriculum

An engaging, research-based math course integrated with personal finance.

Our Unique, Proven Approach

FiCycle’s research-backed curriculum mutually enhances students’ knowledge of essential financial concepts along with the core math skills required to use those concepts successfully. In contrast to the typical method of embedding financial topics in a math class, we instead outlined the most crucial personal finance issues. This allows the underlying math to organically fall out of those topics. From the very first introduction of a finance concept students work through the mathematics. In doing so, they gather a more complete understanding and are ready to make their financial decisions.

“The FiCycle curriculum has been a great benefit to our students and teachers. The curriculum gives our students the skills necessary to navigate the financial situations that they will encounter throughout their lives. In addition, the curriculum’s emphasis on embedding upper high school level math skills in practical ways allows our students to apply what they learn in their traditional math classes to topics they are already interested in. Our teachers feel very supported by the comprehensive resources provided and the availability of the FiCycle team.”

Colin HealyAssistant Principal, AECI Charter High School

“I taught FiCycle during its Pilot year. As a public high school teacher, a crash course in finance was something I never thought I’d get to teach my students so I jumped on the opportunity. Needless to say, the FiCycle curriculum proved to be one of the most rewarding courses my high school had to offer. My students soaked up the knowledge it offered and classes were often led almost on inquiry alone. It was clear to me that students are hungry for the information offered in FiCycle. It’s not just an engaging course, but an essential one!”

Karina MinchuckFiCycle Pilot Year Teacher

Top five reasons to implement FiCycle Math in your school or classroom today

A great fit for any classroom environment, any qualified math teacher can implement this standards-aligned, high-rigor math program. FiCycle Math is…

Interest-bearing ― Students and educators alike report that our real-world relevant course increases their interest and engagement in math content.
Built on a wealth of expertise ― Our team has decades of experience and advanced degrees in math, education, financial analytics, and research. We’ve combined that expertise to build and augment a standards-aligned math and finance curriculum of the highest quality.
Budget-friendly ― Any school or classroom can get started today with the full course and associated resources for free. There is only a low cost for additional years of implementation.
An investment in the future ― Students gain invaluable knowledge of personal finance along with the math skills to use that knowledge effectively. This sets them up for success in understanding and managing their financial life cycle.
Math you can take to the bank ― Research demonstrates the efficacy of our approach. With integration between rigorous math instruction and education on financial concepts, knowledge in both domains is increased, enhanced, and long-lasting.

Course Curriculum

Unit 1: Financial Statements – Students learn about wealth by creating income statements, balance sheets and budgets. This incorporates the mathematics of spreadsheets and a review of Algebra I.

Unit 2: Earning Interest – Students learn how transferring money to the future increases value through compounding. This incorporates the mathematics of exponents, exponentials and logarithms.

Unit 3: Regular Payments – Students learn the math underlying regular cash flows such as mortgages and retirement savings. This incorporates the mathematics of sequences, series and limits.

Unit 4: Insurance and Expected Value – Students are introduced to risk and making decisions in the face of uncertainty. This incorporates the mathematics of probability and expected value.

Unit 5: Stocks and Risk – Students learn about the stock market, with a focus on the efficient market hypothesis and the statistics related to diversified and systemic risk. This incorporates the mathematics of correlation and normal distributions.

Alternative Unit: The Role of Government – Students gain an understanding of the government’s role in shaping the environment in which individuals make financial decisions. This involves applying mathematics to real-world situations.

Alternative Unit: Complex numbers and trigonometric functions of the unit circle – Students learn complex numbers and trigonometric functions of the unit circle. This builds on the mathematics of compound interest to develop functions of complex numbers on the unit circle.

Alternative Unit: Advanced Extensions – Students investigate more advanced mathematical models of the financial topics discussed in the previous five units. This may provide advanced students with a strong foundation to go on to a first course in calculus.

Are you interested in implementing the FiCycle Mathematics program?