Lesson sheet · Module 6
Alternatives to money — mutual credit, time banks, local currencies, gifts
The aim of the lesson
Every alternative is good as long as the benefit comes from the exchange itself, not from recruiting new participants. Ask: where does the benefit come from?
- 👧 Child: secrets about money are told to a grown-up.
- 🧑 Teenager: helping is good; "pay to profit from others" is not.
- 🧔 Adult:
- clear rules and a register;
- the taxes remain;
- no "guaranteed" returns;
- the "can I leave?" test.
Your step in Pecuvo: (1) Create a space called "Swaps and gifts" — record what you give and receive, as a euro equivalent (for clarity, not for payment). (2) Set a goal of "one hour for the community each month" or "one thing to swap". (3) Write in a note which register you check before you join a group.
The topic (chapters of the module)
- Chapter 1 · Three ways to exchange value
- Chapter 2 · Swapping (barter) and why it is hard
- Chapter 3 · Mutual credit: WIR and Sardex
- Chapter 4 · Time banks
- Chapter 5 · Local currencies — and the honest story of the Bristol Pound
- Chapter 6 · Gifts and communities
- Chapter 7 · The law and taxes: a swap is also a transaction
- Chapter 8 · When the "alternative" is a trap
For the youngest · ages 6–7
🐣 The youngest: You can give something in three ways. You can give it as a present, swap it or sell it. You can also give time — one hour of help. Grandma helps you with your letters, and you help her in the garden. That is a swap too.
Play together (5 minutes): Make "help tickets" out of paper: "one game together", "watering the flowers". The child gives or swaps a ticket with someone in the family. Then tell each other how it felt.
A question for the evening: "What can you give someone that is not money?"
Questions for the class — 3 per level
- 👧 1. What are the three ways to exchange value? 2. Why is it hard to swap a pear for an apple? 3. What do you do if someone secretly asks you for money?
- 🧑 1. What is a time bank? 2. Why is barter hard? 3. How is a real community different from a pyramid scheme?
- 🧔 1. What is mutual credit, and what are its limits? 2. What lesson does the Bristol Pound teach? 3. Why can a swap also be taxable?
A 45-minute plan
- 5 min
- The question for the evening or one from “Check yourself” — what do the pupils think? No right or wrong answers.
- 15 min
- One or two chapters of the module at the level of the class (the “child · teenager · adult” buttons on the page).
- 10 min
- The game or the calculator for the topic — in pairs or on the board.
- 10 min
- The questions for the class. If you like, the open test — everyone writes down only their code.
- 5 min
- The iron principle in the pupils' own words and one small step for home.
Tools for the lesson
- The whole module on the website pecuvo.eu/en/modules/alternatives-to-money/
- The open test (9 questions) — pupils write down only their code (e.g. K4B11), no names; the class distribution is shown on the same page pecuvo.eu/en/test/
- The Glossary — terms explained simply pecuvo.eu/en/glossary/