February Master Class

1. Think about While you Read

As you are reading the book, think about your own personal thoughts on money. Is money important to you? What do you want your finances to look like as an adult? Do you see any parallels between Babylon of the past and our nation today? Watch for principles. What principles about money also apply to other areas of life? 

2. Read

The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason. 

3. Share

Choose one of the following: 

• Memorize the definitions of this week’s 25 terms for cultural literacy game night. We recommend you use index cards to write the term on one side and the definition (in your own words if you like) on the other side.
• Create a prezi, poster or display teaching us one of the following: The 7 Cures for a Lean Purse, the 5 Laws of Gold, or the camel traders formula for “paying off debt and having a little gold to jingle in your pocket”.
• This month we are talking about balance and finding joy in trials. Did any of the characters in the book encounter trials as they tried to become financially independent? Choose one of them and do a character T-chart or graphic summary of their situation and how they handled it.
• In the forward of the book, the author tells us that “Our prosperity as a nation depends upon the personal financial prosperity of each of us as individuals”. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? If each of us as individuals were managed money well, how would our country look and run differently?  Find a way to teach us your answers to these questions.
• We are often told that the scriptures tell us that “money is the root of all evil.” Find the scriptural reference sited. Is this scripture quoted correctly, and if not, compare the meaning of the quote to the true meaning of the scripture. Are they the same? Use one of the teaching ideas to represent your ideas.

4. Find and apply

Brainstorm one or more principles that you can learn from the book The Richest Man in Babylon. In your notebook, journal, or computer, write four things about this principle. Ideally you're not just jotting a phrase for each point below, but thinking about it and writing more of a journal entry for each:

• First write about how this principle applies to the book. 
• Find one or more example in your own life where this principle has applied to you or your family. 
• Find at least one example in the scriptures that shows this principle. 
• Write about how you’ll apply this principle in your own life. 
• Then choose a way to present this principle and how it applies to you and in the scriptures.  You can write a paper, give a short speech, create a poster, a graphic summary of it, etc. See teaching ideas if you need more ideas. Bring it to class to share.