To Teach or Not to Teach the Cent Sign?

I love it when I’m right.  The other day I was having a friendly debate with another teacher about whether or not to teach the cent sign with the new common core standards.  After all, sometimes students use the dollar sign at the same time along with the decimal point and get them confused.  I argued, however, that you still see the cent sign at times in stores , but this person argued that you don’t see the cent sign anymore…well, here you go…the cent sign at back to school time!  Seventeen cents for a spiral bound notebook.  My proof that IT IS STILL IN USE, so we still need to teach students how to read them!

I’ll let you in on my little secret.  Now beware it is a little simple and silly, but kids love silly and so my story works.

The cent sign at one time was the dollar sign’s girlfriend, but they broke up.  Then the dollar sign and the decimal point got married, so they are seen together almost always.  The cent sign got her feelings hurt when the dollar sign got married to the decimal, and so she ran away.  THE END.

Adapt and embellish the story to fit your personal style.  Now just remind your kids of this story any time they get confused about the notation of dollars and cents, and they will remember which sign to use.