Beatrice's Goat Q&A
Use these questions with children 8 to 10 years old to discuss the following economic concepts in the book Beatrice’s Goat: income, saving, and savings goal.
View all of our Parent Q&A resources.
Teachers: View the lesson plan using Beatrice's Goat.
Book written by Page McBrier (ISBN-13: 978-0-689-86990-7).
Questions and Answers:
1. What did Beatrice yearn to do?
Beatrice yearned to go to school.
2. What work did Beatrice do?
Beatrice helped her mother hoe and plant in the fields, tend the chickens, watch the younger children, and grind cassava flour.
3. Income is the money people earn for the work they do. How did Beatrice’s family earn income?
The family sold cassava flour at the market.
4. Why couldn’t Beatrice go to school?
Beatrice’s family didn’t have the money to buy the uniform and books she needed to attend school.
5. How did the goat, Mugisa, help Beatrice’s family?
The goat’s milk provided the family with nutrition, so they were healthier, and the milk provided an income because the family sold the milk they didn’t drink.
6. What did Beatrice do with the coins that people paid her for the milk?
Beatrice saved the coins in a small woven purse.
7. What was Beatrice’s savings goal?
Beatrice wanted to save enough to buy a new shirt for Moses and a warm blanket for the bed she shared with Grace.
8. What was Beatrice’s mother’s short-term savings goal?
Beatrice’s mother wanted to save enough money to pay for a uniform and books so that Beatrice could go to school.
9. What was Beatrice’s mother’s long-term savings goal?
Beatrice’s mother wanted to build a house with a steel roof that didn’t leak when it rained.
10. Beatrice named the goat Mugisa because it means luck. Was this a good name for the goat? Why or why not?
Yes, it was a good name because the goat brought good luck to the family. By selling the goat’s milk, the family was able to save enough money to buy a uniform and books for Beatrice to go to school, and they could sell one of the baby goats for enough money to build a new house.
---
If you have difficulty accessing this content due to a disability, please contact us at 314-444-4662 or economiceducation@stls.frb.org.
